Tuesday

It is now Tuesday morning at midnight and you guys are just getting up or finishing you Monday day. When you go to bed tonight I will be getting up. Confused, trust me not as much as I am . Krista has become the keeper of the Oklahoma watch and is always trying to tell me what time it is back there. I will probably figure it out by the time I get back. Let me begin to tell you how my day went. I was up at 6:00 am on Monday here, that is Sunday night at (I think) 11 pm your time. I couldn't go back to sleep. So they were up moving around so I got up. Adela drove her younger three children to school and then brought me back some wonderful warm fresh bread. Can you tell how delicious it was. After we ate we walked about 10 minutes to where Krista and Shirley are staying at a hostel. It was the busiest street I think I have ever been on and the most interesting. No trucks or large vehicles were anywhere. Cars were parked on the sidewalks and rushing everywhere. I don't think I have ever seen any worse drivers in my life, but that is another story for later in the day. After we got Krista and Shirley we came back to Adela's house. Did I tell you she lives on the fourth floor of a 9 story building with 28 apartments in it. I have walked up more steps in these two days than I have in the last 20 years, but then again that is another story. We then went to the salt mines. Tell Mr. Hibdon that I got as much pictures as I could from the car as we were driving by. Did I mention how crazy they drive, oh that is another story. We first stopped at the place to pick up our tickets for the sleeper train that we are taking to Bucharest on Friday night at 1 AM. That was 75 lei each. Figure that out in dollars. The streets were amazing. People were everywhere and I do mean everywhere. The streets were lined with couches and soft chairs with umbrullas for the people to sit on the streets. We saw people selling lottery tickets, sell the use of their scales to find out how much you weight (for 50 lei), ice cream stands, restrauants (even saw a KFC and McDonalds), stores everywhere and the most fabulous clothing stores. The problem is that we can't figure out the money, so we don't know if we are getting a good deal or not. The we were off to the salt mines about an hour away. Now for the crazy driving stories. The speed limit (or should I say the speed limit they don't have) is supposed to be 80 miles a hour. But that would have been nice. No one gets a driving license until they are 18 years of age. I can understand why. Adela would not have a drivers license in our country for long. She passed on no passing zones, drove right on a person's bumper, went around corners with out looking both ways and then so many other things I can't even explain. I closed my eyes most of the times, because I was SCARED to death and was nearly killed once. She passed a 18 wheeler on a hill, going around a corner, in a no passing zone, with a horse drawn carriage in front of it, and other cars around. Not only did the 18 wheeler that almost hit us hit his horn, but so did they 18 wheeler that she passed. And the driver of the horse buggy yelled things that I can only imagine they meant. Let's just say that we were all praying and saying our good byes, because we thought we were goners. She just laughed and said that as long as she didn't get caught, that she was a good driver. NOT!!!! I have never been more nervous about getting into a car with anyone in my life. So if I die from a car accident you will know why. That was only one incident and this went on all day. I finally just decided to keep my eyes closed the whole time back. I won't mention the words that Krista and Shirley said when this was all going on. We tried to explain our laws to her, but I don't think she thought they were good. I forgot to tell you that over here if you have an accident and it is your fault you automatically loose your license for 2 months. How do I know this, her husband lost his and is getting it back at the end of this month for a fender bender. Now if he is caught driving without a license during that time he automatically goes to jail for 6 months. I don't think I would drive and risk it. No one can get their drivers license until they are 18 over here. They have to take lessons, take a written test, then a driving test, and then get their license. But I don't think that is enough and I think you will agree after you watch the video I took from the back seat of her car.
The salt mines were awesome. We drove into this mine about a mile under ground. The driver of this drove nuts too. There was no room between the wall and the bus, so I don't know how he kept from hitting the wall, but thank god he did. We walked down about a half a mile further in the ground. Remember I said I had walked a lot today. Well, this was just the start, no the stairs down 4 flights was the beginning, this was the continuation. The mine was awesome. I can't wait to show you the pictures. The mine goes back to the Roman time. It has a full play ground in it. Along with a church that has regular services in it. It was beautiful. There was play equipment throughout it. The salt mines are great for the asthma children and helps clear out their lungs. So they want the children to have a good time down there, so they have TV's and all kinds of games and rides in it. I even tasted the walls, and yes they were salt. The floor looked like glass, but it is salt too. When our time was up, then it was the long walk back up the steps. Now, Adela's daughter said she only counted 268 steps, but I think she missed a few. All I know is that when I get back I should have the best looking thighs there are in our school or I won't be able to move and be in a wheelchair until they return to normal. Then we went to the Bear Lake. They wouldn't let us go through the bear cave, because they were working on it, but we got to see where it was. Then we stopped at several stores along the way back. She has made us wonderful suppers of many of Romanian treats and believe it or not they are good. I even liked the one with duck pate in it. I wasn't sure about it at first, but I gave it a try and really liked it. They start every mean with soup, then a meat and vegetable, then dessert.
Now teachers are you ready for how much money she makes a month. Hold your horses because you won't believe it, $300 a month. Her rent is $35 a month for a one bedroom, one bath, and one living room/bedroom. She leaves water by her door for the lady that cleans the steps. It would cost her $50 a month to rent a garage for her car, but she can't afford it. She pays $100 for utilities. The children do NOT spend any time on the TV. You heard me, they are not glued to the TV after school. They are either playing games or on the computer playing games. She has to pay for a child minder for her younger children until she gets home from work every day at 6 PM. They usually have supper around 8:00 PM. Only the oldest can speak a little English, but the youngest can say (and does say) cheese every time he sees a camera.
It was a long day and I am getting tired. Tomorrow we go to the school and teach a lesson and meet the students. On Wednesday, they have arranged for us to go with a group of students and other teachers to visit Dracula's castle. Just what I wanted to go on field trip and watch a group of children on my vacation. Just kidding. I think it is great that they arranged their trip to go along with our visit. We will be traveling on a school bus with other teachers. I will post more tomorrow. I hope you all miss me as much as I miss you.