Being alone is nice every now and again, it’s important to be comfortable in your own presence some people struggle with this , both Alex (my Sister) and I can quite easily do this and i think as you get older its important to find that peace as you are not always going to have someone batting in your corner.
Today is Thursday and i need to start with my plans for the next week or so as i will be flying out of Heathrow on the 1st of September .
I get up and make my way across the courtyard to a coffee shop that specialised in cooked breakfasts and they serve something that is more traditional to what home offers in the way of breakfasts food, i order a fry up and also cant help myself to a slice of the delectable cheese cake as it would be rude not to treat my self… it is Thursday after all.
As i sit down a couple sit down next to me and they are speaking English i listen closely and eventually discover one is from Texas and the other is from Australia, i strike up a light conversation and discover that they are on a top deck tour for 18 days and have just arrived in Bucharest this morning via Bus and will stay here for 2 days before heading out to Bulgaria.
Top deck seems to attract a slightly different customer than a Contiki, the Contiki customers seem to be ages between 19-27 and top deck are older , however i bet they both part just as hard as the next tour group that goes on tour.
I finish of my conversation and give them some basic places to go and also some ideas of where to eat and we spilt paths.
Today i need to get some camera gear as i have found i cant save a my photos to my iPad as there isn’t enough storage and to top it off my 17-42MM Camera lens is great for wide scenery and portraits…. however its not good for taking long range shots so i need a bigger lens.
Camera shops are almost a novelty now as everyone uses their phones for photos, but if you look hard enough in most large city’s you will come across some great camera outlets.
I find a shop called F46 which is only about a 1.2KM Walk from the Old town and they are a dedicated camera specialist and it is a photographers wet dream, when you walk in it is wall to wall of cameras and drones, the cameras arrange from 300 Euro to 30,000 euros and they have pretty much every base cover. I make my way to the lenses and start looking, i only want a second hand lens as if it has been well looked after it wont matter weather it has been pre loved by another owner… my lease is a 42mm receiver and takes only Red orientated lenses… I struggle to find what i am looking for and eventually as one of the shop attendants for help.
His name Is Chris and he speak perfect english, i explain to him what i am after and he goes over to his computer and starts tapping away.. momentarily he returns with a beautiful black cylinder that is a 75-300MM lens which is perfect for getting close ups from a distance, i asked him how much it was and he taps away on his calculator and show me $300 Euro which is reasonable as if i wanted to buy a new lens of this size i would probably be looking at around 1500 Euros , on top of that i also get a 23Cm Tri-pod as when you are taking long view shots when you press the capture button, the slight movement you create by doing this distorts the imagery.
About 355 euros later i walk out a happy man!
Today i will be visiting a Non-Profit organisation that call them selves SOS children’s Village, they are one of the largest nonprofit organisations that specialise in taking in orphan children and giving them the tools and education to succeed in life.
The village is situated around 6KM from the old town so i decide to catch an Uber as it is A) Very Cheap here … and B) its peak heat again and I’m over getting destroyed by my friend in the sky each day.
The Uber ride takes around 15 minuted and costs me a wallet breaking 7 NZD as 12PM is a peak time for taxi cabs, the Uber driver is curious about my destination and mentions that he has had a few odd request over the years from Sex clubs, abandoned military complexes but never a children’s village, i explain that i want to go and see what the children’s conditions are like and also make donation to them as well,
When we pull up there is a gate with a guard, the man on the gate doesn’t speak a drop of english so I have to pull out my translator and explain that I would like to make a donation, he looks around trying to figure out what he should do …. i don’t think they have people the genuinely rock up to there gate wanting to enter the village and make a donation out of the kindness of there own heart…. the security guard fumbles for a pen and writes down my passport number on a scrap f paper, i would swear it was his first day on the job!, the he escorts me to the “administration building” and hands me over to man that must be early 20’s but speaks strong english, he is one of the main fundraisers and even he cant understand why someone is on there door step wanting to give them money.
He takes me into the office and pulls out the receipt book and ask’s how much i would like to give , i tel him 300 RON which is about 120 NZD, they are very appreciative of this and i ask if it would be possible to have a quick tour of the facility to see how the children live.
I get introduced to a young lady called Alina, she is 23 and has worked with the children for 4 years.
The Village is made up of 15 buildings and the village in Bucharest houses around 50 Children, the children will be put through a strong vetting process to ensure they are right for the programme, each house will house around 4-5 children and in each house there is a house mother they will look after the child from the age they are 4- 16 years, after the children reach 16 they will be sent of to apartment blocks from there they will live their till they are 27.
During there time in the SOS Programme they will be given
Healthcare
Primary Education
Secondary eduction
Mental health services
Education
Basic skills
tertiary education
There success rate with the programme sits at 90% re-integaration into society.
When the children become to the age of where they are vetted out to the Apartment complexes they live in dorms of 16 and have one mother there after, the kids are always housed with people they have grown up with as they consider themselves brothers and sisters and look out for each other.
The SOS Programme raises around 10,000,000 Euros each year via Fundraisers and Govt contributions to the cause and from that so far they hav changed the lives of almost 1000 Children, unfortunately this is only a drop in the ocean, there is estimated to be 20,000 children in slave labour in Romania and they just cant help them all.
Out of the 50 children that attend the village naturally they have to have 50 Birthdays every year, the birthdays are consolidated into months and once a month the children will attend a birthday part for the 3-4 Children each month, there largest month is is 5 birthdays and it is a party that all the children look forward to.
Today the children have taken an outing to one of the local parks as it is there summer holidays and in 3 months there will be a snow covered courtyard so during these weeks they make sure the kids sped lots of time outdoors in the gardens and at local swimming holes.
There is no education facilities on site but the children go to the local school in the area and each morning they will leave together and return together, there house mothers ensure each night the homework is completed and they are ready for the next day at school.
There is a food hall where all the children eat together and they can talk about there day and intermingle with kids in other houses, it is important that the share communal meals as it helps with there social development. Originally they children used to eat in there homes with the House Mother however they noticed as the children grew up the would become segregated and as they started to get older there would be a lack of family environments around the camp.
I had been there for an hour and Alina had been very eye opening to how some of the abandoned children do still get good luck in the government system, unfortunately i didn’t get the chance to meet any of them how ever as i was leaving a small group had returned from the park, due to privacy reasons I couldn’t take any photos of them as privacy for these kids is important, but if i was to walk past one in the street you would thing they were like any other child, there hair is groomed, clothes clean new shoes and a smile from ear to ear… it is so good to see that someone in Romania cares about the children who are born into very little.
I thank Alina and also shake the security Guards hand on my way out and start my commute back to the Old Town.
Making a donation seems to have a selfless way about it, no one has to make a donation and for people that have more than most i think it’s important to remember that you don’t need a lot in life to bring simply happiness and these children only need a simple life style and someone to care about them… and as they say “every little bit helps”, so I encourage you that when you get the chance donate to a cause that means something to you!
My walk back to the old town is relaxed walk, i stop at a overpass bridge that looks out across another waterway and sport some men that are fishing, i stop and watch for a while… however the only thing they caught was a few plastic bags and empty bottles…. there is a lot of pollution over here, even at sacred historic buildings there is rubbish everywhere.
I remember on Tuesday night when kamilla and i hopped out the Volkswagen she took a deep breath in and said that the smell of Bucharest was amazing….. i tend to disagree it smells rotting rubbish …
My walk takes about 1 hour 10 Minutes and i walk through a part of town that i have never been in , its very similar to the other streets however it does appear to be more suburban and more families tend to roam the local area.
It’s bridging onto 4.30 PM and naturally i think its time for a beer, i am heavily behind in my blog and playing catch up is proving to be a bit harder Thant i thought as each blog is about 2000 words long.
I get back to the hostel and unload my day pack to lighten my load Gerald can stay in my locker for the rest of the day , although he doesn’t weigh much he is like an insulator to the bag and the heat that builds up leaves a very big wet patch on my back every time and it get exhausting sweating every day till you have no fluids left.
I head out of the hostel and make a left to walk though the bars and restraints, i don’t think the quality of the bars is actually that good they all seem to offer the same and in the old town i have worked out that beer, wine and Apperello are the most expensive drinks as they are what people like to drink on the hot days.. so hey why not charge a premium if your going to sell it either way.
I sit at this bar for about 3 hours slowly devouring the local draft beer and trying to navigate through each day with as much detail as possible, having to recall 72 hours ago is a lot of mental energy and Beer seems to help with this the clock tower chimes to alert me to the fact its 8pm and i have to go home and do a pack out as tomorrow i need to figure out my next step
I arrive back at the hostel and start my usual procedure of folding my clothes , separating my washing and start charging my devices to ensure efficiency that will be needed to book tickets or arrange accomodation.
I haven’t quite decided where to go, Alina (Alex’s sister) has caught wind that i am in romania from Christian i presume and has made contact via facebook so i might be off to Timisoara tomorrow, if not I’m quite tempted to go to Sophia as i have heard some great things from the people i have met along the way…. but who knows….
Once I’m done with pack out the two British guys who are staying in my dorm they are both from London one is Chris and the other is Aaron, they went out on a bender last night and didn’t rise from the dead until about 2PM, they will repeat last nights antics and ask if i would like to come along, i don’t have any intention of going out till 3 AM but i am quite happy to join them for a drink or 2.
At about 10PM we hit the Local Beat and make out way to a British pub called “Big Ben” we all get a pint and some food and exchange some conversation and devour our food, these 2 guys are the best of friends and have some very funny stories about growing up in London and are a good laugh for the journey however it is 12 Am and i need sleep as i will need some mental energy to make decisions on my travel plans for tomorrow!
Noapte Buna
Good night
“To mistake selfishness for selflessness is like mistaking a Jackal for a Lion”
-Mohatma Gandhi
Quantum Entanglement 