A view of life on the road in Romania

IMG_7367 Sharpening Pencilsx, originally uploaded by oamcsinger.

Pictured: Louise Craig, center, author of this blog posting, sharpens pencils with Zach Parks and Estee Pummel.


By Louise Craig
Written Sunday, morning, April 19, 2009
In Iasi, Romania, Orthodox Easter Sunday

This morning is the convergence of two rare events -- we have an extra half hour before we have to board the bus AND this room has Internet access.

If I haven't already told you, you can read a blog about our trip at www.oamc.org (you may have to type this address into the address line as my Internet service does weird things to links). Some of the chorus have a little more time to find Internet access.

Just a quick review of our days - breakfast at 7, load the luggage at 8 (quite a feat for nearly 200 people, making sure all of music instruments and supplies and the tech equipment are on the right bus), leave at 8:30-ish (very ish-ish), arrive at next destination in time for lunch between noon and 1:30.

The admin and tech teams have to be in the concert hall by 2:30 to set up for 3:30 rehearsal. Concerts start at 6. If we're lucky, supper at 9 for most of the chorus. We have to put everything away before getting supper.

The big hotel didn't have enough rooms for everyone, so the admin and tech teams are staying at the Little Texas pensiune and restaurant (that's res-TAW-rauwnt to you). The rooms are quite nice AND THERE IS IN-ROOM INTERNET ACCESS. It is 7 a.m. Sunday morning. Since we're not near the hotel, we have to be on board the bus by 8:30 so the bus can get to the hotel for 9:30 departure today. They get an extra hour this morning.

I wouldn't exchange this accommodation for the extra time. We dragged in about 11:30 last night. I worked on the program for tonight, with the door open to this adorable balcony. We're right next to an Orthodox church. On a nearby hill sits another Orthodox church -- they're everywhere. They celebrate Easter today, starting with a midnight service. About 12:30, the bells all over began to peal. I got stereo of loud ringing, with faint echoes from all over the city. Then I heard the chanting and singing. I stopped typing and sat on the terrace soaking it all in. It was worth the short night. I can catch some z's on the four-hour bus ride coming up.

One of the reasons we were so late is that supper was served at a restaurant owned by the parents of Alin Apostol. He's been one of the main reasons we're here. He was in the U.S. for his education, where he became acquainted with the Oregon Adventist Men's Chorus. It's been his dream to build something like that here. Iasi (yawsh) is his hometown. A good part of the crowd last night was related or somehow acquainted with him. You can imagine the reception he got when he took to the podium to conduct a couple of numbers.

At dinner last night, Dave and Mary Jo Cannard shared one of the reasons they came to Romania. When they were members at Tabernacle Church in Portland, they had John Wesselin as pastor. John came to Romania for a mission project and became acquainted with a young, promising Romanian boy. When he returned to Portland, he told his church about this young man and asked their help in bringing him to the U.S. for schooling. Dave and Mary Jo were among those who financially supported the boy through his time in the U.S.. A couple of nights ago, they heard Alin tell his story of meeting John Wesselin, how John worked it out for him to get to the US to study, and Dave and Mary Jo realized that this was the boy they had helped sponsor.

Along with the excitement, there have been some tears. Janet Williams’ father died unexpectedly a week ago Friday. Another team member's brother died two days ago. His death was not unexpected, but that hurts nonetheless. One member is struggling with terminal cancer, which has spread to his bones – a very painful disease. But he determined that nothing would keep him from making this trip. I'm amazed at his attitude. Some younger, healthier people have complained about the pace and lack of down time, but he just soaks it all in. These three people are an inspiration. They are doing more to encourage others than those who ought to have more to share.

We've had full houses with people standing around the outside aisles. No fire marshall, OSHA, or safety inspections here! Extension cords and wires run amok. We understand the second concert we added in Bucharesti is filling well. Wish I could say I have seen scads of new birds, but fast-moving vehicles and little free time have greatly curtailed my birding. NOTE TO LISA VAIL: I did have an accidental exposure to your favorite birding taunt. Tried to avoid it, but there you go!

The pace is so brutal, some of the young Romanian guys are dropping out (18- to 20-year-olds). We elderly keep on truckin'. I'm so tired, I keep losing things with the constant living out of a suitcase. I lost one of the two skirts I brought along. We were told we had to wear skirts at the concerts, but we notice that some of the Romanian women wear slacks so that relieves the pressure a bit. Last night I couldn't find my nightgown. I remembered then that I had gotten it wet and hung it to dry while I went to breakfast. It's probably in a trash can in Bacau now. There will be no shopping today. It's Orthodox Easter.

Vio Rasco, a Romanian who pastors in Hillsboro, OR, was asked by one of the Americans if the Romanians could pick us out of a crowd if we were walking down a street. He said absolutely. He said our carriage and demeanor would make us stand out. He tried to think of ways to describe it – Americans are more relaxed, readily smile at strangers in the street, and look strangers in the eye. Romanians absolutely avoid interaction with strangers – a holdover from Communism and the fear of trusting anyone. One of Alin's dreams was that the American men would model for the Romanian men a more open and accepting nature. Based on what I have seen this past week, we are succeeding. One of the men even commented last night that he appreciated the way our men greeted strangers.

To those of you who are praying us, thank you – and please continue praying. The Romanians have been waiting for the Americans to land since 1944. We thought Edi Ciobanu told us that in jest, but last night, one Romanian said this night would have made his father the happiest person on earth – the Americans finally came. He had tears in his eyes. So many more stories to share, so little time. My journaling has gone down the tubes. I'm relying on others for pictures, which I have already promised to shamelessly plagiarize. Driving here is not as crazy as Africa or India, but it is still hair-raising. We play chicken constantly, but we're so much bigger than we usually win. So thank you for the prayers!

It's past time for me to have packed and dragged my bags to the bus, so la revedere until the next chance encounter with the World Wide Web!


P.S. (Received Monday, May 4, 2009)

I had the opportunity to talk with the director of the seminary at Cernica last week. He kept thanking us for the excellent work we had done in Romania. I told him that if we had helped the church in Romania in any way, we would be pleased. He said, very solemnly, You have helped the church in Romania in ways that you may never know or understand. People in Targu Mures are still talking about the concert there. Not only the quality of the music and the performance, but on the very evident spirituality of the group.