John and Tootsie (Rita), are our contacts here in Ville Tecii. We are living with a gypsy family in their gypsy community. John is a missionary from the states that has fully immersed himself into the Gypsy culture. He is married to Tootsie and they have a two year old son named Holden. John has put our team to work spring cleaning and helping families prepare for Easter (which is celebrated a week later than it is in the states). This is Stella’s garden that has not been touched since before the long, hard, winter. It took three days to put a dent in it.
Stella is a fifty five year old woman who lives with and cares for her seventy five year old mother. I took this picture when she walked by our house the other day on the way to the whiskey distillery. John explained that she was going to fill her bottle so that she could pay the doctor with liquor the following day. She appears pregnant but she has a condition that causes water to collect in her belly. John says that she is preparing her home for her own funeral.
Libu, the neighbor, sits in front of his home every afternoon and evening. He owns the Plum Whiskey Distillery behind John’s house. I love that life is so slow here. It is a hard life because of the conditions but it’s simple. In the evenings, we usually take a walk and see all the grandmothers sitting outside.
The whiskey distillery “moonshine” is around the corner from the house. We checked it out to see the process. This is the finished product ready to be bottled.
Meet our favorite bunicas (grandmothers)… most days we stop to talk to them. They speak to us in Romanian and we speak to them in English. It’s amazing that we carry entire conversations…and no one understands a thing. People just want company. They want someone to sit with them and listen.
The village is beautiful. The main road is lined with churches that have exceptional colors and super steeples. Most of them are have been abandoned. I am not sure that this one is in use.
an old building built under communism
The children are beautiful. The Romanian kids have light skin with dark
eyes. The gypsy children are darker and some have blue eyes…the
perfect combination
eyes. The gypsy children are darker and some have blue eyes…the
perfect combination
This is the view from the hilltop on our walk at sunset. It looks out
over a series of stock ponds. and imagine…this area has just reached the beginning of spring. Soon all the cherry trees will blossom!!!
over a series of stock ponds. and imagine…this area has just reached the beginning of spring. Soon all the cherry trees will blossom!!!
