Sunday, Aug 17, "Happy Birthday, Marius"

A little bit of history: Romania is an intriguing land where legends swirl about as freely as whirlwinds, swooping down from the steel skies, devouring truth and fiction, spinning them together until one cannot be distinguished from the other. But digging for the truth can be as exciting and frustrating as digging for gold. I have to keep in mind that fool's gold appears as shining and sparkling as the real thing. Throughout the years though, Romania's Kings and princes have been sanctified and demonized. Gypsies, romanticized in song and verse by the west, are barely tolerated in a land they call home. Romania's history is muddled from one century to the next because of the invasions of this or that country, beginning with the Tracian and Dacian peoples who lived in the area now known as Romania. In 106 A.D., after two lengthy and brutal wars, and the conquest of the Dacian king Decebal by Roman Emperor Trajan, the largest part of the Dacian territory was turned into a Roman Province. In a short period of time, the Dacians were colonized and Romanized.

The spiritual history of the Romanian Orthodox Church and faith is even richer than her secular history. According to historical documents, one of which comes from Eusebius, Christian teaching was brought to Dobrodgea on the Black Sea, by the Lord's Apostle, Andrew. There are also historical accounts of Bishops who were from the area of present day Romania, being in attendance at the First, Second, Third and Fourth Ecumenical Councils.

The landscape of Romania is as diverse as her history, from the white, sandy beaches of the Black Sea, to the splendid Carpathians rising magnificently above the waves of golden wheat in the valleys below. The blue Danube follows Romania's borders between Hungary, Yugoslavia and Bulgaria, giving birth to Romania's Delta, a haven to a myriad of wild birds and fish, and finally emptying into the Black Sea. In the eastern region of Romania is Moldavia, abundant in monasteries and Holy history. Stefan the Great, one of Romania's greatest kings from this region, living in the 15th century, built a church after each battle fought and won against theTurks. Monasteries grew up around these churches, and actively exist today. Transylvania, the emerald "gem" in Romania's crown, is the northern region, bordered by Hungary and the Ukraine. The forested, Transylvanian land is fertile, minerals abound and the history is rich. Throughout the ages, Transylvania has belonged to Hungary, then to Germany and to the Austro-Hungarian Empire, and is argued over to this day! As you can see from this bit of history and geography, Romania is a Latin island amidst a sea of Slavic lands. Also, Romanian is the closest modern-day language to ancient Latin than any other language on the earth.

Fortunately, or unfortunately, whichever perspective you're coming from, Romania has played a pivotal role in the world's history, staving off marauding Turks from conquering and dominating western Europe throughout the centuries. Because of its physical placement on this earth, Romanians have been a conquered people by one country after the other who came in to help fend off the Turks. All of the mayhem that took place in this part of the world was to literally keep Islam at bay in order to preserve Christianity in the Balkans at the Black Sea, and on into Western Europe.

If you look at a map of Romania, to the north is a city called Cluj-Napoca. It is an ancient city, dating to before the time of the Romans who occupied this area for 200 years, in the 1st and 2nd centuries. Cluj, a major city in Romania and home to many universities, is in the heart of Transylvania, and considered the capital of the region. Transylvania is as beautiful as its name, and is as full of legends as writers have penned about it.

Jacomin at work on the streets

High above Cluj, overlooking the entire city from east to west, stands the Belvedere Hotel (now known as the Transylvania Hotel). From here you can view the whole of Cluj, spotting quite easily the magnificent, domed Orthodox Cathedral. Down the street from that is the spire of the Catholic Church, its gold cross gleaming in the sun. The muddy Somes River rapidly races through the city. New bank buildings of glass rise above the streets, waiting to break free of the surrounding scaffolding and to be open for business. Parks, large and small dot the landscape. On the street across the river, electric trolleys, smartly painted with advertising of all sorts, whiz along tracks, trying to keep to their schedules. Ascending to and ringing the hotel is a lovely, forested park where lovers stroll, wealthy tourist staying in the hotel take glorious, scenic photos, people walk their dogs, joggers take their workout, and families picnic under the canopy of trees. So, what's wrong with this serene picture? Nearly 60 meters or so down from the hotel, children are living in grottoes no less than 2 meters away from the stairs running from the hotel to the hustle and bustle of the streets below.

It was here that I brought the promised toothbrushes and toothpaste to the cave kids on Friday night along with their meal. It was such a pleasure to see the delight on their faces as each realized they now had their own toothbrush and toothpaste. Craig Goodwin had also thrown in some deodorant for the two older boys, Jacomin and Claudiu. As dirty as the cave kids are, they WANT to be clean. Jacomin is now keeps asking for a comb.

It was here, overlooking this beautiful city I love so much, that I wept for them today. Saturday night brought terror to the kids. Two were away at the market in the square nearby, four were asleep. Around 3:00am, they were awakened by two older boys and a man. The man had a knife. They threatened the boys with death if they did not come out of the cave "NOW." In the part of the cave where they sleep, there is also a "back" entrance, and three of them tried to go out that way, but the two older teenagers with the man blocked their way. The man crawled into the larger entrance and began slashing at Jacomin. The other two strangers began pummeling the smaller boys trying to escape the back door of the cave. From the translation I was getting, (I completely understand the phrase, "something was lost in the translation") I was led to understand the boys somehow managed escaped, but Jacomin, trying to protect the younger ones, received the worst of the assault. Once they all escaped, the man and his two cohorts ransacked the kid's belongings and stole everything, including the clothing Ole and I brought to them along with the toothbrushes, toothpaste and deodorant. "Tot" (everything) was taken from them.

Happy Birthday Marius!

Only Marius was at the cave when we arrived, and he was the one telling this tale of midnight terror. I tried to choke back my tears, not very successfully, as Marius continued to explain what had happened. In the midst of explaining the events of Saturday night, Marius' face lit up with his charmingly bright smile and he proudly announced, "Today is my birthday." I blinked away the tears, grinned at him and congratulated him, "La mult ani!" which is to say, "Many years," or "Happy birthday," and gave him a kiss on the cheek. No cake and ice cream, no balloons, no presents, no celebration for this 14 year old boy trying to grow up, one day at a time.

Happy Birthday, Marius, I love you, our Lord knows you and loves you.

I asked where the other boys were. "Oras" he said, pointing to the town. They were already back on the streets, begging money. Life goes on.

Wednesday afternoon, I experienced in a very small way, the prejudice and anger they endure daily, simply because they are homeless and/or are Gypsy, and/or are simply different from the rest of their countrymen. I was going downtown with a girl named Doris who lives in the block next to me. She and I have become friends over the summer. She speaks English very well and has become fascinated with the pictures I've shown her and with the stories I have told her about the cave kids. She wanted to go with me that morning to change money and help buy food for the boys. As we were turning a corner, Doris spotted Jacomin, recognizing him from my pictures. I called out to him and stopped the car. He came running up to us with Cristi, one of the children who recently returned to live in the cave. They were both hungry, so I took them to one of the local hamburger stands and while I was buying them 4 hamburgers, fried potatoes and a cola, an older man with gray hair came walking up to me, got right in my face and began ranting something in Romanian, gesturing wildly with his hands. I had absolutely no idea what the deal was! Jacomin and Cristi kept looking straight ahead at their hamburgers being made, seemingly oblivious to this crazy man raving on and on. Doris was appalled! She could only translate a little bit of what he yelled at me because she said he was so angry, he was slurring his words together. Essentially it went something like, "You're crazy! Even if you are American, why are you buying food for these dirty Gypsies?! They only use you. You are a stupid woman. You do no good. They don't deserve this." He went on and on, but essentially he was upset that anyone would be foolish enough to buy food for these "dirty, Gypsy children."

As I've related similar stories to Romanian friends, their response has been, "They are used to this kind of life." My reaction to this is, "Why should 13 to 18 year old children have to be used to cruelty of all sorts? Why should they be used to being hungry? Why should they be used to being beaten by older and larger teenagers and men? Should they be used to this because they are Gypsy? Some of the kids living with them are NOT Gypsy and they are used to the same abuses!"

Tomorrow the cave kids say they are "moving" to another part of the park surrounding this marvelous hotel. Ironic, isn't it? They pointed out to me today, the area where they are moving. I don't know if there's a cave or any kind of shelter on the other side of the hotel, or if they will only be covered by the branches of trees. I'll let you know when I see their new "home."

I've been deeply wounded because of the cruelty the cave kids face every day, hence the "therapy" of writing it out. Therefore Virtual Romania VII has come about much sooner than even I expected.

Please continue to pray for the cave kids.

Cu mult drag. . .Zan (With much love)

Down the trail with Zan to Volume VIII ...
You may want to go back and check out the St. Philothea Mission page.