Wednesday, October 2, Pro Vita

The rain stopped today and after a morning working on curtains some of us walked up to the village.  The curtains had to be set aside when the sewing machine stopped working. Our chief seamstress, Judy,  thinks it needs a different needle but who knows how many villages away that might be.  We have a weekend trip planned to Transylvania and we'll be able to shop in Brasov for the miscellaneous things we need.  The guys are itching to find a hardware store.  So some continued hand sewing little cases for cell phones that they hope to sell at a shop they're going to set up in Bucharest.  I think they are pretty cheesy looking but I'm reminded of cultural differences, and this might do well here.  All I know is every cell phone I've seen has the same kinds of cases you see in the States.

We invited the developmentally disabled women to our dining area to teach them some crafts, but they insisted upon making friendship bracelets for us instead.  All of them have at least a little English and some a good bit, and we had fun trying to teach each other a few words.  They left reluctantly when our leader needed the room for one of the mothers to come in to speak to us.  She came to Pro Vita from an abusive relationship and brought her three kids.  She was asked to care for two others.  She now has eight kids and they call them "adopted" children, though it isn't a formal, legal arrangement.  She and one other mother have a house with twelve children they care for.

ChiChi is making me a bracelet.  I just have to hold the end

Dinner tonight was meatless, since Wednesdays and Fridays are what they call vegan days.  Technically they aren't vegan because fish, dairy and eggs are permitted.  The Church is pretty powerful, and a major benefactor here so meatless we are.  Our chores this evening were to sweep and mop the two top floors and the stairs. With all the mud getting tracked in, it gets done twice a day and its still filthy.

3208 steps (how pathetic is that?) 1.4 miles