Can We Get There From Here?

Here are the highlights…

It’s taken them 2 days to go 400 miles. Not because they’ve stopped and “touristed” but because they are driving in the mountains on roads that make Kentucky country roadways look like landing strips and on switchbacks where you not only meet yourself coming and going…but you meet yourself running away and stopping for prayer as well. You will meet yourself in these many positions because of the way Romanians drive. Kevin said that there is only one apparent goal for a Romanian behind the wheel of a 2-ton death machine and that is…to pass another Romanian. So cars careen around the mountains passing other drivers only to be passed by others who were likewise overtaken by another hell-bent motorist. This would be an interesting experience except that the roads are narrow and go both ways. After several hours of muttering “we’re all gonna die” Kevin encouraged everyone (except the driver) to put their heads down, close their eyes, and hope for the best. His hope was that the next time they all opened their eyes it would either be at their destination or in heaven.

They didn’t see many sights on their drive through the mountains(mostly because their eyes were closed, duh!). But they did see several signs pointing to possible sights. Among these were Dracula’s Castle and the turn off for the World’s…or Eastern Europe’s…or Romania’s Largest/Longest Castle… or Fortress… or Fortified church. Compare and Contrast them and let me know what you think.

One other thing about the driving. Kev said the trick to staying sane while riding along Romania mountain roadways is to make it like a video game or a 3-D movie in your mind. The terror of death is then diminished to the level of “thrill” and you begin to root for the driver to “win” the “game.” Personally, I think some sort of controlled (or uncontrolled) substances would be much easier…but all they had were the granola bars and cheese and crackers and candy that I sent…so they had to (unfortunately) work with that. The irony of it all were the signage, which occurred at amazingly regular intervals, and which depicted a curvy road and said “No Passing” so plainly that even non-Romanian speakers/readers could understand it.

Interestingly, Kev had driven the same route 19 years ago at Christmas time. He remembered parts of the trip…and commented that the most stunning thing was how far the country has progressed in nearly 2 decades. He said you see the old communist apartment buildings...but now they are covered in personal satellite dishes. He also commented about the vehicles (because he is a guy), “I’ve never seen so many Audi, Porshe’s, and BMS’s anywhere,” he said (and we love him for it).

Yesterday they had lunch with the first (and possibly only) Romanian Cosmonaut to run for the Senate (or possibly Mayor, depending on who's telling you). In fact, we think he’s the only Romanian to ever go into space, so he has that going for him as far as name recognition, which carries a lot when running for office, or so I’m told.

They are at that stage where many commonplace cultural differences are becoming increasingly funny. As just one example: Italian restaurants are very popular there and pizza is often found on the menu. Today the menu listed at least a dozen pizzas and then described them. Each one had, as their first ingredient, “dough.” Not “a delicious crust of…” or not “stone-ground wheat crust” or even “decent crust.” No…it was simply uncooked, unadorned “dough.” Soon they were saying things like, “Look! Pizza #8! It’s got dough!” “Thank goodness! I was wondering what their pizzas were made of.” And “You’ll never guess what they use in Pizza #4…Dough!” “Woo-hoo!” See what I mean? Drugs (and serious ones) may be the only solution.

Meghan said the trees are beautiful there and are turning such beautiful colors. The weather is very similar to Louisville with many days having nearly identical highs and lows. She said she doesn’t like sleeping on the bus because it keeps her on Kentucky time and she wants to be on Romanian time since she’s there so she’s been watching the trees and listening to George Winston. If you do not know George Winston, you can meet him here.

She also said that she would be happy to stay a lot longer (she sounded sad that the trip was almost half over!) if she had three things: 1) Ale 8, 2) her friends, and 3) snack food because they don’t eat on our time schedule. She failed to mention “her mother” in the list…and I’m…sniff…OK with that…sniff, sniff. I’ll just keep myself busy…sniff, sniff…Don’t mind me. SOB!

One final food observation: Today, when they finally got to eat Linner or Dunch (It’s too late in the day to call it Lunch but a bit too early to call it Dinner), the team was so hungry that they started snarfing down the bread brought to the table while the Romanian translator and driver watched them with amusement. Meghan looked up and realized what was happening so she sat back and looked around. She said, “Mom, I watched everyone attack the bread and the Romanians watching with odd expressions on their faces and thought ‘could we be any more American?…I don’t think so.’” Kevin is still looking for the elusive Skittles and Dr Pepper. He thought he found some at one of the modernized prisons…(of which I will tell you more later) but it was an illusion.

It’s my understanding they left Bucharest and drove northwest to Brasov (to a prison), then to Sibiu and Cluj-napoca (the college where Wurmbrand spoke), then, I believe to Baia Mare and possibly Satu-Mare (another prison). Their next goal tonight is Iasi, which is almost directly East of Satu-Mare but on the Moldavian border as the crow flies. Unfortunately they are not crows, nor are they flying so their route will be longer and consist of more meetings of themselves (in various positions I’m sure).

I'm missing them horribly at: marcyjoybryan@gmail.com