REMM Journal--#1

(Over the next few days I am going to include excerpts and reflections

from the journal I kept in Romania)

Friday, June 6, 2008

Well, I am safe in Beius, RO. We arrived about 11 PM Romanian time, or about 3 PM, Iowa time. The trip, including my drive from Hull to Des Moines, took about 29 hours.

Everything went pretty smoothly with the exception of the a delay of our flight from Detroit to Amsterdam. There was a broken lavatory in the front of the plane, of all things. This caused us to miss our connecting flight from Amsterdam to Budapest, but they had us re-scheduled by the time we landed at the Schiphol airport. I guess that's one advantage of a 7.5 hour flight. (With our Dutch last names, and apparent Dutch features, it was strange to walk through Schiphol airport as an American. I didn't even try the limited Dutch phrases I do know. I think the natives would have been offended on how I would abuse the mother tongue.)

Ferihegy Airport, Budapest

The airport museum of old planes that I was going
to tell Leah was our mode of transportation into Hungary.

We arrived without incident at Budapest. Our driver was waiting for us, and we packed up and left the city. It was a five hour drive from Budapest to Beius, including our border crossing from Hungary to Romania. I've been told that in recent years, the border crossing has been much less stressful. In the early days of the REMM trips, my mother speaks of the border crossing as being a tense time with the guards looking for bribes and abusing their authority. She said she remembers it being, "little boys with big guns, trying to be tough." I'm glad those days appear to be over, but we were glad to be across the border with passports in hand, nonetheless.

The countryside is beautiful. Hungary is flat, at least the part I drove through, with many large fields of corn and sunflowers. Romania has rolling hills with small fields and large pastures. Mountains sit on the edge of the horizon. On that first day, since we arrived so late, I didn't have the chance to see Beius by light. I am looking forward to the new day to investigate.

Hungary by highway.

On the road in Romania.

Along the way, I met some interesting people. On the flight from Des Moines to Detroit, I met Arnold Gordon. He is the president of a scale manufacturing company out east. He is an observant Jew, who ironically makes equipment that will be used weighing hogs. During the flight, we talked about the importance of putting our faith in action in the world around us. I had a chance to throw in some good Kuyperian/Calvinist perspective. Other than our perspective on the Messiah, we had a lot in common. He was kind enough to give me his card and offer an invitation to his home on Long Island, if I found myself in the area.

On the long flight overseas, I met Nasrin (sp?), a Turkish woman who was returning home to Istanbul to visit her parents. She had been living in the States as a student, did some social work, but basically was making money to support her travel habit. She had aspirations to be a full-time world traveler.

Anyhow, we made it safe and sound to Beius. I will be anxious to stretch my legs tomorrow. Tomorrow will essentially be a rest and organizational day. Everyone else on the trip seems to be holding up well--my folks, as well as Dr. Vande Zande and his daughter, Nicole. I am looking forward to the next two weeks.

I am going to put a few notes together for some preaching I have to do out here, and then turn in.

(Next post: June 7, Rest, Recuperation, & Reconnoitering)