Happy New Year!

A happy new year to everyone,

from the Szakal family.

Airport incident

Bucharest, Otopeni Airport, 30 December 2007, 11:27 am.
A Tarom flight after getting the permission to take off hits a van which was stopped by at the airport runway. All people aboard frightened, the plane already had 250 km/h speed. Due to the skilful pilot the plane managed to stop finally. Within one and half minutes everybody left the plane succesfully at the emergency exit. As a result of the accident the plane was seriosly damaged. The van was destroyed entirely. There were no casualties but most passangers were extremely frightened, and considering sueing the airport.
This was a very serious incident as the airport officials noted. Still many questions remaining, and especially: how can a flight get permission to take off while the runway is not clear? These things happen in Romania...

Merry Christmas!

Today is Christmas day. Been in church with the family, both morning and evening services attended. Christmas gifts received by the kids last night, when we all went to bed very late.
In the evening it was a Christmas concert in the church (probably the same as last year), and quite a lot of people were there (more than usual).

On this day we pray for John Roche, may the Lord heal him, and have a succesful operation, and also for Peter Tolson, let the Lord give him quick recovery after the operation.

I am also thankful for the gifts we received, for all the Christmas greetings.
May God bless all the team members!

Team Visit

The team visit was good, was short, was done. Did a lot of shopping, especially for the hospital, than bought presents for the patients, and for the school. Nina also joined the team from early morning till late night (wonder she knows any limits). The head nurse had a needing list like usual, but this time was different, food weren't the most important. Most important was the electrical bulbs and fluorescent tubes and also pots for the kitchen. We managed to buy all, plus extra food what she remembered later on that she needs, plus the gifts for the patients.

Had an evening in Brasov, where is a beautiful Christmas tree in the centre.

We visited the school in Mina, which is going through a transformation: after having all new double glazed doors and windows, now they have new central heating system installed with new radiators. Good for them.

Team arrival

Laura and Andy arrived safely, in time. The road conditions however were quite difficult as there was a lot of fog, and often very dense fog. Stopped at Busteni at the Caraiman restaurant (very nice rustic one) for a meal.

Quite warm in the flat as the new radiators were hot, and they were pleased about it.

And there is a new radiator in the toilet as well.

Some changes in the flat

Today as I been in Mina, I brought out the food for the team, turn on the fridge, checked the flat turned on the heaters. As in the past few weeks a new central heating system is being installed they went up to the flat and fitted new radiators there. The old ones were removed, and now there is a radiator in the kitchen, a radiator in the big bedroom, a radiator in the living room. The secured room remained as it was: "cold". Actually it was not too bad in the flat, perhaps from now on it will be warmer up there, which may encourage you to come in the winter time too. The door between the kitchen and the living was removed and missing...perhaps they know where it is. I asked the ladies from downstairs to make sure it will be clean by Saturday afternoon.
Downstairs in the hallway there is a small new radiator, I wonder if it will be enough.
I also discovered that quite often the sewing ladies use the flat as a drying room for many clothes and bedding. I told them to disappear by tomorrow. But this is not the first time I find it.
Now as the hospital has new fridge and freezer, perhaps they will ask the team to get some meat for an empty freezer is useless...am I right? I don't know, I just asked the head nurse to be there Monday morning for a meeting. I could not find a water heater bottle.
Have to go now to the doctor, as Amadea has fever.
Looking forward to meet the team tomorrow.

6 December in Mina 1 Mai

6 December is the St. Nicholas day in Romania. People used to exchange gifts too. Well, the hospital, this year had a great St. Nicholas day. I met in Brasov elder G. Val Lofgreen, Karen Lofgreen and Patricia Beer, from the central office of the Mormon mission in Bucharest, Romania. We went to the Metro and purchased a Whirlpool washing machine, an Indesit fridge and a Zanussi freezer for the hospital. With a hired van we transported to the Hospital and gave them as present. They were very happy. Here are some photos when we unloaded all in the snowy Mina.

This is the road to Mina

And this is the surgery in winter

Snowfall in Brasov again

Photo of the heavy snowfall between Brasov and Predeal. Look at the railway...

Heavy snowfall

Heavy snowfall in and around of Brasov, today. Traffic was temporarily closed between Brasov and Poiana Brasov, and also between Rasnov and Brasov. The traffic is with difficulties between Predeal and Brasov. Trains delay about 4-5 hours.
Hopefully by tomorrow things will get better.

Snowing

This morning was snowing again. Very wet snow, but still snow. Of course it's winter time!

This is the view I can see from my flat.

Good weather, good...

Someone once said: there is no such thing as bad weather. There is only nice weather and good weather. According to this we had good weather today, meaning that it was raining all day long and is still raining now. We also had fog, so that is a lovely variety: combined fog and rain, who can complain? Needless to say that all the snow has melted.
Did a few shopping, bought a sleeping bag, some food for the team and some minor gifts for the kids...
Tomorrow evening St. Nicholas will come and give gifts to each child who behaved well, and cleansed their shoes. St. Nicholas (the parents actually) will place the gift in the clean shoes. That is for December 6, but usually we have a night before. The kids are looking forward to this.
Karina was not well today, had fever, so she was not going tot he kindergarten, rather visited the doctor, got some medicines, and hopefully she will be better.

The 1st of December

Today is the national day of Romania. Parades in the major cities, people have a day off and perhaps think that already we are in December getting closer to the end of the year. In the last weeks the Romanian lei (RON) has been losing from value meaning that all the other currencies were more expensive, a GBP was about 4.9 Lei last week, comparing to 4.5 in July. However as we all know in December the Lei will get stronger as millions of Euros will come into the country from the people who work abroad and come back for the holidays. So the Pound's rate will drop again soon.
Romanians are perhaps hated more than ever. The Italians hate us, especially after the fact that the Romanian gypsy has murdered an Italian lady near Rome, and racism exploded, shouting Romanians go home... Why is that a whole nation have to suffer because of the crime of one citizen (who actually was gypsy)?
Also Romanian officials think they are more clever than anyone else. Since the 1st January 2007, since Romania has joined the EU there is a new car registration tax for all the second hand cars from the EU "in order to protect the environment". So a car of 3-4 years old having Euro 2 engine has a tax of 2500 Euros, just for discouraging the import of second hand cars and buy new ones over here. That is illegal. Soon the officials will have to pay back every penny what they have taken as "first registration tax" from the ordinary people.
Some good thoughts at the end, as the national football team has done very well, and we all look forward for Austria and Switzerland 2008. Also the Brasov team is excellent, the best in the second league, they will be back in the first league next year.

Cold, very cold

Today morning when I took Karina to the kindergarten, it was very cold. No wonder as now there is -17C in Brasov, and early morning was -19C, and we are in November! In other words we shall use a lot of gas for the heating again. We have to. It's just it seems to early for this winter...

Hi 5

From now, you can check my profile at szakalist.hi5.com
If you have an account at hi5 we could be friends, just let me know.
Its' good to keep in touch, share photos...
Here are many photos of our family in several galleries.

Some good changes

The good news for you is that on Sunday 9 December I am off all day long. The church service which I had to lead will be held a week in advance on the 2 December. I just found out this morning.

Good bye Phil!

Today are the funerals of our dear friend Phil Connor. We all will miss him. Good bye and rest in peace in the Lord!

England, where are you?

I just wonder what made England so "strong" in football? Why is Croatia better?
Last time Romanians watched on TV as England played, this time England will watch on TV live as Romania will play! So who has a better team?

Elections, elections...

Today is election day here. Voting the first time for the members of the European parliament. Also is a referendum day in Romania. People will decide what kind of electoral system they want: choosing each parliament member individually by their names or vote for the list of party, as it was till now. Neither of these are perfect, in fact both systems have their pros and cons.
I just been voting... for the Hungarians, of course.

Avoid these restaurants

I remember in August, we decided with the team to go out, have a nice team meal together. We have chosen the ESCALA Restaurant from Ghimbav, near Brasov. Actually we were there before, in March, just after the opening and we enjoyed there. But now I must say everything was different. New staff were there, who were young and without much experience (not their fault, but not ours either) than we had a power cut for over an hour, and they instead of dismissing us, they rather wanted to keep us there no matter what... Food came very late, soup was cold, the meal was not exactly what we ordered...They did not had about 75% of the dishes presented in the menu, only one type of wine, instead of ice cream they brought us a certain cream which was tasteless and we gave it back immediately, and... they put that on the bill as well...the bill which was over 750 Lei (about 160 Pounds)...not cheap! We were disappointed. Not recommending it to anyone!

In September I went with the Mormon people to have a meal at Timisu De Sus, a restaurant, named Pensiunea GEIZER. A huge place, entirely empty. It was interesting! The waiter came, who had no idea what meal do they have and what they don't... We had to order and then he came back saying that what is available and what is not. As the cream soup was not available we could only choose between the pork sour soup, and the peasant beef sour soup. These two look like the same but tastes different. I ordered beef the lady next to me ordered pork soup. Than he came with the soups on a big plateau, and he did not know which is which! So he places a soup in the front of me, another one in the front of the lady. I asked than is this the beef soup? he said : "I don't know, why don't you just taste it?"!.... Unbelievable! So I tasted and it was pork, no beef, but what could I do, should I have given to the lady?
What would you have done?

Obituary to Philip Connor, written by Peter Tolson

I just added the below message from the charity's site.

May God rest you in peace dear Phil!

Obituary to Philip Connor who passed away on the 19th November 2007
Philip Connor (Team Member 1993 -2007)

It is with great sadness that the North Nibley Romania Team announces the death of one of its longest serving members.
Phil as he was known to the members was a “Liverpudlian” through and through. He carried with him the typical Liverpool sense of humour which always cheered people who came into contact with him.
He was the charity historian. He was also responsible for our yearly newsletter which was so popular. This was difficult to produce but he never failed to deliver.
Phil has been to Romania on numerous occasions, and in fact my first meeting with Phil was behind the wheel of our van after an epic journey to Romania by road, some 1800 miles each way.
This journey, he was to repeat many times until he encountered heart problems, which sadly spelled the end of the travels that he loved so much.
Everyone who undertook the journey with him grew to love his ready wit, calming manner, and his wonderfully big heart. He was also a very good driver which reflects in the number of trips he undertook.
Even though his visits to Romania ceased, Phil continued to work tirelessly for his Romanian friends, and always included them in his prayers. I cannot remember many meetings where Phil was not present. He always blessed our meetings with a prayer at the start, and finished the meeting with a prayer of thanks. He contributed to our discussions with a wise head, and always kept our feet firmly on the ground.
Phil is one of the bravest men that I have ever met. He knew what the likely future was, but not once did we hear a word of complaint. He always had a kind word for everyone and a word of encouragement where needed.
Phil never wavered in his faith, and was an active member of the Congregational Church in Market Harborough, right to the end.
The world is a better place for the time he spent on this earth.
He did make a difference.
We can only try to live up to his shining example.
God Bless you Phil

Roof tiles and mattresses

Below you can see a few photos, taken in October. About 61 mattresses altogether were delivered to the Hospital. All in excellent quality. Now, these mattresses are used and appreciated.

Also delivered there 1400 roof tiles. These are fitted now. No more rain inside!

This is the road between Codlea and Vulcan. At least they are working on it. Or not?

Mina 1 Mai report

I have just visited Mina 1 Mai. The school just finished the activities for today. I spoke to the caretaker, who informed that hopefully next week the school and the kindergarten will decide about the dates of Christmas celebrations. So they don't know yet...
Recently the school and kindergarten has been decorated, walls are white, but Garofita was asking me last time if I know someone who could paint some nice things on the walls. Actually I do know. There is a baptist pastor in Sacele, (about 6 miles East from Brasov) who has a degree in arts and is a professional painter too. He could do it. But I am not sure if the school will be able to pay him?

Going further at the hospital I met the head nurse and the doctor, Ropotan's daughter. I informed them about the donation of the Mormon's, the fridge, the freezer and the washing machine. I also pointed that the Mormon people are there because of the NNRT. They should never forget this.
Than I informed them about the team visit between 8 and 12 December. Made an appointment for Monday 10 December between the head nurse, Laura, Andy and myself. Informed them that our intention is to make and give Christmas presents for all the patients. She told me that now there are 145 patients. I bet the patients will be very happy...

I was informed that the medical authorization for the dental surgery is on it's way now. It will be separately from the hospital and hopefully will get to them by the end of this month. However this will be for the last time, as starting from next year, the dental surgery will be part of the hospital and the hospital's authorization will automatically cover for the dental one. That is good!
The head nurse told me that the old boiler house is almost finished being converted into carpenter workshop, and the former carpenter workshop is "almost" finished being converted into wards, they "only" have to lay the floor tiles, and some other minor things. Perhaps by the end of the year they will do it. Perhaps.

She also told me that the roof tiles are all fitted and they were enough and they are very happy as they have no more roof leaking.

Another important thing is that a private company started now to install new central heating system in the hospital. I haven't seen the boiler yet, but apparently will run on diesel (just like the old one) but I have seen new copper pipes laid in the building where we have the flat. In fact they have changed so far several radiators, at the dental surgery, at the sewing ladies, in the toilet area, at the hallway and hopefully they will put new radiators in the flat area too. But everybody complains as the old ones were long ones and the new radiators are small, very small I should say. I doubt that this will be more efficient than the other one. So said the head nurse too. The idea is that in a week or so they will finish this building and than comes the OT room's building and finally the hospital, probably in the mid winter. So this is the Romanian way of doing things around... changing the heating system in January. Wonderful!

As for the flat it was OK. I saw 1 sleeping bag there. Probably I will have to buy another one. Just confirm this please. The storage room was very cold. I recommend for sleeping the dining room and the usual bedroom.

On the way back I stopped at the John Roche medical center dispensary. The fuses were on, and the heating panels were on too. To be honest it was very warm inside, even the thermostats were fixed on 15C. As I saw that, I reduced it to 11C today, for I must say inside the dispensary it was at least 22-23C, which is a bit too high when is not in use.

On the way back I gave a lift to the doctor Boesan, Ropotan's daughter who was asking me to come back to Brasov.
On the road between Mina and Vulcan there was plenty of snow. From the junction the roads were clear and almost dry.

It's just beginning...

Everything has a beginning. Even starting of a blog. Hope that it will serve a purpose...