Romania is a 'sick' country...

As Doina and I were driving to a pharmacy last week so I could get something to take care of a bad cold I had, I asked her why there were so many pharmacies in Arad. She told me.. "Romania is what we call a sick country." There are apparently many factors that contribute to that, not the least of which is what is in the air here. Many many people have bad allergies and severe sinus infections that often require surgery.  Many others, of all ages, have regular trouble with gall bladders and kidney stones ('sand' as they call it in Romania). There is no fluoride in the water so there are many dental issues and there is very limited calcium/vitamin C intake in diets. Anti-biotics are heavily used, which we know makes them ineffective over time. Consider all of that along with the fact that people avoid hospitals/medical care as long as possible because of the expense, you have a real problem.  So pharmacies are everywhere. It isn't uncommon to see two in the same block.  There are so many in fact, that pharmacies are often used as landmarks when meeting someone.  I have already experienced two instances when I showed up at the wrong pharmacy when meeting up with some RCE folks.

x-ray films of a 17 yo with a chronic sinus infection

Romania has struggled with environmental issues for a long time now.  Before admission to the European Union (EU) a few years back, Romania was mandated to make progress in several areas. Among them were the need to demonstrate they could take better care of the orphan children in the country, and another was caring for the environment.  When Nicolae Ceausescu was in power during the communist days, he was very interested in chemistry. So numerous chemical 'factories' popped up all over Romania. Most are abandoned today, but who knows what they let out into the air before they closed. Ovi says that the Romanians are hoping someone from Hollywood will call and ask if they can blow up the factories as part of some new action movies! We just heard on the news today that they have found streptococcus in lots of the bottled apa plata (flat water) in the eastern part of the country.  Tap water isn't a good alternative, so we'll have to see how this plays out.

Abandoned 'chemical factory' outside Arad

This past week was 'Earth Week' in Arad. There were many events scheduled and I even saw something I've never seen here before..a bunch of elementary school students near my apartment picking up trash outside of their school. I'm told this never happens, and only occurred because of 'Earth Week'. And that's too bad, because there is certainly lots of trash to be collected in and around Romania.
To add to the local pollution problem, it turns out that Arad County is a major producer of materials used to make roads and buildings. There are 40 or so quarries in Arad County alone and none in surrounding counties. So there is lots of mining and digging on which means lots of new dust particles being added to the air every day.
Overall, it has been said that lots has improved in recent years regarding the environment, but there is still a long way to go.

Students collecting trash during 'Earth Week'

A few updates/ interesting points:
 - the woman who had had a stroke that I was supposed to go see in her home, unfortunately has had several more strokes. So she's been in the hospital for a while now. But I hear that she is doing better. If she's home before I leave for the US, I will go visit her.

Tomi

- Many of you know 'Imola'. She was adopted into a family from Darius House a few years back. I just found out that she is the sister of 'Tomi' who currently lives in Darius House. Here are their pictures. You can see a resemblance. Apparently they have several other brothers and sisters who are in orphanages and foster homes throughout the area, having all been abandoned.  Several times over the years, we've discovered that RCE has cared for siblings. Teo/Alex and Emilian/Anca to name a few..

- Currency: We found out that a Romanian woman RCE knows was given a US one hundred dollar bill from someone. She was excited until she realized she couldn't exchange it because Benjamin Franklin's head had a small hole in it. They are very strict here on currency exchange. If the bills are old or in poor shape, they cannot be exchanged as they assume they may be counterfeit. Thankfully I had some new twenty dollar bills with me so I was able to trade with her. So I will take head injured Ben Franklin home with me to the US where I am sure he can be used.  If you ever come to Romania remember to bring NEW US dollars to exchange.

- Translation: Apparently when we say 'nervous' in English it translates to 'angry' in Romanian. An American preacher was speaking at a church the other night and before he began he told the congregation he was a 'bit nervous tonight'. The translator immediately translated his words as.. 'I am a bit angry tonight'.  Ooops!

Romanian words of the day:

Pharmacy= farmacie (pronounced the same as pharmacy)
Good appetite/ enjoy your meal= pofta buna (poff-ta boona)

Speaking of enjoying your meal..here's the soup I had today for lunch...Duck and Hen soup! Tasted a little bit like the rooster soup I had last Sunday and the goose soup I had yesterday. In case you're wondering, Duck/Hen soup tastes like goose soup which tastes a tiny bit like rooster soup..