Another Good Week

 This week saw some changes to our usual routine.  First, we had some super warm weather--in the 90's on Friday, and 80's other days.  It meant that we could shed our rain jackets--but lost all those useful pockets!  Thank goodness my work pants have lots of useful pockets, too.  And I wear my string bag all the time I'm at the station.  What do I keep in my pockets and string bag, you ask?  Well...I keep a packet of tissues and lip goo in one pocket, my phone in another, small children's scissors in another, car keys in another.  And the string bag on my back holds the wallet, the hand sanitizer, the facemask, the packing tape, marker and paper for repackaging clothing donations to go to the larger distribution center.  It also holds some new women's underwear (purchased by the church humanitarian services) in various sizes and socks (purchased by some donors) and a couple of children's caps.  Sometimes, when I leave the tent, people who aren't Ukrainian refugees like to go "shopping."  We don't keep roller bags or strollers in the tent, but there are often new shoes or almost new shoes and I feel like we need to do our best to honor the intent of the donors.  Of course, if a Romanian is in need, we are able to find a t-shirt or a sweater or socks for them.   I also carry some small toys in the bag--they come in handy with a child that's having a bad minute. 

 

Just the essentials: women's undies, socks, packing tape,
scissors, garbage bags...

That's probably more than you needed to know...but (clearly) this is stream of conscious writing.

The warm weather has been very pleasant, although it can get pretty toasty in some of the rooms and the tents.  There seems to be more people going back to Odessa and other Ukrainian cities, although there are still many leaving the country.  Our work at the train station doesn't feel as frantically busy as it did in the first few weeks, but it's still pretty constant.  Some of the regular translators and volunteers from the first few weeks have gone back home to their regular, full-time jobs and lives.  Jim and the other missionaries  from our mission still anchor the early morning shifts, and Jim and I are staying a little later every day to try to cover the mid-day transition time for volunteers.  

Some memorable moments this week:

Starting at the end of the week...we had zone conference this week!  When we were in Russia that meant taking a 5 1/2 hour train ride from Petrozavodsk to St. Petersburg and staying overnight, having meetings the next day and taking the train back the next evening.  It was always an inspiring, fun, spiritually and physically rejuvenating experience.  Here in Bucharest, we drove 35 minutes in rush hour traffic to our local church building for an afternoon/evening of teaching and discussion, good company and good food.  Our mission president flew in from Hungary to join us.  And on Saturday morning we had a zone conference service project sorting clothes and helping the ROMexpo facility prepare to move from the large arena to a smaller warehouse on the property.  There's a big music concert happening next week, and the refugee center has to be relocated.  So...our zone conference in Bucharest was different in many ways from our St. Petersburg zone conferences.  But it was inspiring, fun, and spiritually and physically rejuvenating.  And it was the first in-person zone conference that they've been able to have here since the pandemic.  I love the way individuals step up to serve in various ways, from planning and moderating the discussions to planning and preparing food to sorting mountains of donated clothing.  It was a great experience.

Four new senior missionary couples and four Russian-speaking
young missionaries added ##'s to the Bucharest Zone.

Snacks in the parking lot before heading to the ROM 
(in the background).

We had some lovely interactions at the Gara this week.  Here are just a couple.

Alexander and his daughter and a friend stopped by the tent, looking for a few clothing items.  Eventually they asked if we knew where they could get a suitcase, as theirs was broken.  They said they didn't need it immediately, because they were staying near a hospital for at least another week or two.  Alexander had his arm in a sling and a cast, and as his daughter was looking for some sneakers, I asked what had happened to his arm.  He said that he and his son had come under fire from Russian artillery in their hometown of Mykaliev.  He had three through and through bullet wounds on his leg (he pulled up his shorts to show me the scars), but he was walking again and his hand was healing.  But his son had been hit by shrapnel and was in the hospital.  One of his wounds had been infected ("hot") and needed surgery.  For some reason, when I imagined his son I imagined an older teenager.  I told him to come back the next day, that I would have a suitcase for him.  I knew where we had an extra bag and reserved it for him.  

He and his daughter came by later that day and asked if she could interview me.  I said that my Russian wasn't good, but I would call my husband to come for the interview.  In the end they interviewed both of us as well as one of the Elders, Elder Patterson from Ireland, who had come along with Jim.  The daughter is going to school to become a filmmaker and is making a documentary on the Ukrainian refugee and volunteer experience in Bucharest.  She was patient and determined, considering the loudspeaker announcements and musical intro constantly announcing trains arriving and trains departing.  It's hard to hear yourself think during the announcements, much less film it with a phone and get any usable audio.  But she didn't give up and was patient.  

Alexander and Katya in the orange light of Tent 3.

They came by the next day to pick up the bag.  It was a good sized bag, and they were so grateful.  They were very happy.  I asked about the son's surgery, and Alexander said that it went well, that the doctors felt like his son could heal now.  He pulled out his phone and showed me a photo of his wife and son at the hospital.  The boy is only 8 years old.  I was surprised.  I had made a (completely unfounded) assumption that this was an older boy.  I know that this war has affected people of all ages.  But for some reason this really hit home.  This little guy and his family: dad Alexander taking his sister Katya out to help her with her studies and take a break from the hospital; the mom staying at the hospital with her boy.  Juggling kids and hospital and healing and not knowing the future and where they would end up.  But also pursuing dreams and education.  So many things have been shattered, or put on hold, or completely lost--but people have to have hope and a plan.  And it seems to me that's what his family has.  

Another woman and her daughter came by and were looking at shoes for the little girl, which they found (little girl was so excited!) and then asked if there were any updates about getting a suitcase.  She was on a list, but hadn't heard anything.  So many refugees don't have good luggage--they are carrying grocery bags or old bags that have broken during their journey.   But it's hard to keep up with the need, and so there's a list in Red Cross room 4, where people can leave their name and number and how many people are in their family, and when they're leaving Bucharest.  If they're only in town a short while or traveling immediately, they get prioritized.  But there's also a "luck of the draw" element to this process.  There are several places and people at the station that refugees can approach about getting a bag or a stroller, so it's more luck and art than science.  And I think that Tent 3 has gotten a reputation for one of those places.  We aren't able to give a suitcase to everyone that asks, but we have been able to help many people.  I was able to track down a roller bag for this woman and her daughter, and was so glad that I could.  She was shy and uncomfortable asking, and just quietly gave me a hug when I came back from the storage area with a bag (we keep them locked up with other Red Cross supplies).   

Tanya and Senna and their new bag...and more orange light in Tent 3. 

Sometimes people describe to us or show us pictures from their homes or home towns. One family Jim helped this week showed him a series of pictures near their home where bombs had destroyed nearly everything in sight.  Their future is so uncertain.  

Before the war (top) and after the war (bottom) photos
of one family's neighborhood.

Another family today was trying to figure out how to get to Prague but had no money.   They have four children and had a sheep farm outside of Odessa that has been destroyed.  The father was devastated and felt helpless.  They showed pictures of their family, their sheep and their farm as it had been before the war.  Jim, Marcel, and Leview put their heads together to figure out how the family could make their way to Prague on the night train tonight.  The relief on their faces is hard to describe.  Another family today was making their way to Bulgaria, together with their three cats.  The cat carriers seemed to indicate that the cats were either extremely fat, heavy cats, or that the family was hiding precious metals in the carriers.  (Sometimes the bags are so heavy that the only explanation is that they have converted their savings into gold or another precious metal to support them for the indefinite future.) One of the women was describing how certain and necessary it is that Ukraine win this war.  By our being there,  she said it helps show that there are so many people and countries throughout the world who support Ukraine and the Ukrainians.

We had dinner on Saturday evening with Marcel, Leview (aka Zorro--our friend the sound engineer) and a professor of Russian/Soviet History in Bucharest named Armand.  We went to a traditional Romanian restaurant in a quiet neighborhood off the yellow line Metro (we are so happily located, here near our Metro stop!).  It specialized in river fish, and we ate until we couldn't breathe.  It was delicious food, with polenta served at every course.  We started with fried sardines and polenta and a garlic sauce.  I never thought I would eat sardines, but they were good.  Then we had a traditional Romanian soup with carp, a light cream base, and lots of dill and lemon flavors, and (wait for it) polenta.  We put the polenta in the soup, like you might put rice in a curry soup.  It was delicious.  Then we had the main course (Jim thought the soup was the main course--they were huge bowls), which was a river fish with a tomatoes and more polenta.  We finished it off with creme brulee, a soft cheese pastry and a strudel.  When we first arrived at the restaurant and looked at the menu we simply didn't have a clue what to order, so we suggested that Armand and Marcel and Zorro order for us (something I didn't think I would ever do). After some lively discussion on their part, food was ordered.  And they nailed it--it was delicious.  We ate outside under an arbor with lights and it was just a little magical, and the perfect break from the noise and constant people of the train station.  We talked about our work at the train station, the war, our families, the Ukrainians we've met, and laughed at some of our crazy Gara stories.  It was a lovely, mild evening, with good food, friends and conversation.

I need to find a recipe for this soup...and polenta.

Dinner at the Torna Frate ("brother returns") restaurant with

Marcel, Leview, and Armand.

Finally, it's my birthday today, and while we were working at the station this morning Marcel and Zorro stopped by the tent and gave me birthday presents: a t-shirt for Ukrainian heros and a box of truffles.  Yes!  Yum! And Jim gave me flowers and another dark chocolate hazelnut bar (there's a theme here) and will make dinner this afternoon.  And at the linger longer after church today, the branch sang happy birthday in Romanian to me.  Jim has been telling absolutely everyone that it's my birthday.  Good thing I don't mind having everyone know. Tonight we'll talk with all the kids and grandkids, and it will have been a lovely,  once-in-a-lifetime memorable,  perfect birthday! 

"Glory to the Heroes" in Russian 
and Romanian. And chocolate!!!