Waiting for Mayor Boc

As I have mentioned in previous posts, I had the opportunity along with the city of East Lansing to host the Mayor of Cluj, Emil Boc when he came to visit MSU in 2005.  Since I was hoping to meet the Mayor on this trip, I offered to East Lansing Mayor Vic Loomis and State Representative Mark Meadows that I would be willing to present Mayor Boc with a letter or gift from them.  Mayor Loomis sent a letter along with a city of East Lansing Wind Breaker and Rep. Meadows sent a letter along with a state flag.  Patrick had brought Loomis’s gift from Michigan and Meadows had his sent to me in Los Angeles. 

Little did I know that during the time I was in Cluj, it was a few weeks before the local elections.  The national election would follow the next month.  In addition to serving as Mayor, Emil Boc was the head of the national ruling party.  He was their Howard Dean.  Along with his own election, he was traveling throughout the country and region trying to shore up his party’s chances in other local elections.  Regional collaboration was a key issue and his party was running a candidate against the sitting incumbent of the county government.  The Mayor’s people were confident of his reelection but were hoping to unseat the county chairman, which they acknowledged was a harder task.

Mayor Boc was very popular because of his aggressive economic development that created an environment for growth for the 400,000-person community.  The city of Cluj is a hub for education housing many universities and colleges with a population of 100,000 among them.  I never told people I knew the Mayor so when I asked their opinion I was given candid feedback.  To the person they were highly supportive of him and the work his administration had done.

Because the Mayor was out of town for most of the time I was there, I began to think we would not have the opportunity to meet one another. I thought I would only see him on the election posters that were spread all through the town.  Emilia told me not worry that they would figure out something because she knew he wanted to see me.  We eventually found a window of time for us to meet.  Since I was spending time with the delegation from Albania, I needed to be discreet.  They didn’t have the opportunity to meet the Mayor and subsequently were hosted by the Vice Mayor.  It might look bad that the former politician backpacker was meeting with the Mayor and not the official delegation. 

The Mayor was his usual charming self.  I presented the gifts from my Mayor and State Representative both who he had the opportunity to meet before.  He was pleased to hear about their successful elections.  We talked about my journey and then he had a glimmer in his eye.  Because it was election time, his camera and video people were following him.  He quickly handed me off to them and I was doing an interview about why I came to Cluj and the work I did with Habitat for Humanity.  As an artful politician, he saw the opportunity to make this a story about our international connection between East Lansing and Cluj- a connection between the US and Romania. I was impressed.  I wished him the best in the elections and then we were off to quietly join the Albanian delegation for lunch.

Postscript- Mayor Boc won his reelection 75% to 25% and his candidate beat the incumbent County Chairman.

Romania- Reconnecting with old Friends

Pictured: The Cluj Botanical Garden.

One of the people I was able to reconnect with was Emilia Botezan, the director of international relationships for Cluj.  During our first week, she invited Patrick and I to have dinner with her and her husband, Olly, at their favorite restaurant.  Emilia and Olly had come to East Lansing in 2006 and we hosted a dinner for them at the All Season’s Bistro.  We reminisced about their time in East Lansing.  They were supposed to be on vacation and Emilia had set up a number of meetings at city hall and MSU.  Olly very gently would remind her of that a number of times during their trip in East Lansing.  I found it very amusing.

Pictured: Sam, Emilia, and Patrick at the Julis Mall.

Emilia mentioned that there was a delegation coming from Albania the following week and that we were more than welcome to join them on the sightseeing portions of their visit.  It worked out perfectly because that was when our work ended with Habitat for Humanity.  We joined the delegation for lunch on the first day.  The Mayor of was in his first year and as trying to reestablish their ties with their sister city of Cluj.  The delegation included the President of the City Council, the director of tourism, the public works director and the director of international relationships.

Pictured: The Albanian delegation with City of Cluj officials.

I don’t know what they thought of their two new guests that shadowed them at many of their events.  They were very cordial and Patrick and I tried not to be too intrusive.  We had the opportunity to see the Cluj Botanical Garden, a university museum on geology, city hall and the Julis Mall.

I wasn’t very interested in going to a mall but Emilia was very proud of it and the economic development that was surrounding it.  I will admit it was one of he most impressive malls I have been to including the ones in the US.  It had everything a typical mall had plus a casino, hotel, gym, pool and upscale restaurants.  There was housing that was being developed around the mall.  The big issue the mall was creating was with traffic and parking, a common issue we see in America.

We also met with my friend Cristina Albu. She was a study abroad student that interned at East Lansing City Hall. She joined Patrick and I for a few drinks one night.  She was now the executive director of a transportation company.  At one point, we discussed what it was like under communism.  She replied like every other Romanian that we had talked to about the same subject.  "You can never imagine what it was like."  She talked about food rationing, fuel rationing and not trusting your neighbor because they could be spying on you for the government.  She mentioned relatives who just disappeared.  In the end no matter how much I had heard from Romanians about their time under communism, I could never really understand the trials and tribulations that they went through on a daily basis during that time.

Anything but Rest and Relaxation

We had two days of rest and relaxation over one of the weekends during our Habitat Humanity build.  It was obvious that our weekend was put together at the last minute.  Our American team leaders were still trying to put it together a few days before we left.  They were well intentioned but they tried to put too much into two days.  We ended up spending more time on the bus during the two days then we did visiting sites.

The first day we went to see a salt mine and a canyon.  The salt mine beyond being a mine for salt was supposed to have healing properties.  I don’t know if I felt any better but it was good to be off the bus for an hour.  The canyon was nice but didn’t require us to go three hours to see it.  It was no Grand Canyon.   Overall, we spent eight hours on a bus and four hours at the sites and lunch.  We made it to the hotel by 10 p.m. and we our out the door at 8 a.m. for day two.

The second day was better in comparison.  We were going to go to see Bran’s Castle or Dracula’s Castle.  It sounded good on paper.  I have always been interested in the legend of Dracula and hey- we were in Transylvania.  Little did I know that “Dracula’s Castle was nothing more than a tourist trap.  I have been to tourist traps on this journey but nothing like this.  The character of Dracula was supposed to be based on Vlad the Impaler, a prince known for his cruel punishment of his enemies.  “Dracula’s Castle” had nothing to do with Vlad the Impaler.  Bran’s Castle was the primary residence of Queen Marie and Princess Ileana and they think that Vlad might have stayed there for a night or two.  So I spent all of this time on a bus to see a fairly unspectacular castle that had no connection to the Dracula mythology.  To its credit the castle and tour made no mention of Dracula, but all of the stores near the castle pimped Dracula paraphernalia like it was going out of style.

Our next stop was the Peles Castle, the royal palace of King Carol I.  Finally something worth seeing!  It was an incredible palace with intricate woodwork and an amazing collection of weapons.  Unfortunately, there was a hefty fee to pay if you wanted to take pictures so I don’t have any pictures of the castle from the inside. 

We then made the trip to the quaint city of Brasov for lunch.  Brasov is a must for people touring in Romania.  Instead of spending the day there as most people do, we only had enough time for lunch before hit the bus again.  We were back in Cluj around 8 p.m. that evening.

In the end, I would have skipped the first day entirely and would have spread the second day over two days so we had more of a leisurely time.  It was supposed to be rest and relaxation after all.

Habitat for Humanity Roundup in Romania

The Build Site

Our primary task on the build site was to put in the foundation for a four-plex apartment style building.  It would be the final building on the site that contained three other Habitat apartment style units. This building along with a few others were being prepared for a corporate blitz build. A Romanian telecommunication company and its employees were coming in a few weeks to finish the houses and apartments by putting up drywall and the other finishing touches.

I spent most of my first day putting supports around the base of the foundation to ensure that it could handle the weight of the concrete that was coming at the end of the week.   The on-site construction manager, who I nicknamed Boss Man, would test that the foundation’s structure was level by setting up his trusty plum line.  Others in our group dug a trench for the sewer line while the rest prepared the site for additional work. By the end of the week we were ready for the cement.  Luckily, we had a cement truck unlike in Costa Rica where we made cement by hand.

Leadership Styles
It was interesting to watch the two leaders of the group because each had such different leadership styles.   Our team leader, Mike, was from Lexington, Kentucky and was an investment banker by trade.  The Romanian on-site construction manager, Boss Man, was a former Habitat for Humanity recipient that was eventually hired by the affiliate to manage the site because of his construction background. 

The Boss Man was very dramatic so if something were wrong he would throw up his hands and start yelling.  Most of his communication was with his hands and he would get frustrated quickly if people didn’t understand his instructions, which would happen often due to the language barrier.  A few in our group found it difficult to work with him.  After a day, I figured him out and ignored his dramatics and focused on the issue on hand.  The Boss Man and I got along fine.  His antics and flailing arms would make me chuckle throughout the day.

Mike, on the other hand, was more level headed and played the role of coach and buddy.  He would spend much of the day going from team member to team member to ensure that everything was going well.  He was what I called a “backslapper.”   He would come up to you slap you on the back and tell you that you were doing a good job.   It was more than I needed on a daily basis but appreciated by others in our group.

There were a few in our group that had construction experience and so they would often have different strategies they would want to use.  Mike and Boss Man would often discuss these with the help of our interpreters.  Boss Man with his hands in the air and Mike slapping him on the back telling him to give it a try and by the way he was doing a great job. It was comical at times.

In projects like this, there is a level of frustration that comes up because of different methods used by the local affiliates or the lack of tools or machinery that would be on site in the US.  I found myself having to remind people that this was part of the process.  Each place is different and as their guests we were learning their methods.

The Families

Each day there were a number of the families that were working side by side with us.  A couple of them knew some English but most didn’t.  It was interesting to hear their perspectives and their stories.  Many of the people who were working or living on the site were single mothers.  One of the women was divorced but because of the high cost of living in Cluj had found herself living still living with her ex-husband and his parents.  Habitat became one of her only options to start her life with her kids anew.

One of the families we worked with had their house reclaimed after the transition from communism.  They had received their house during the communist time as land and property was being redistributed to the masses.  After the transition to a democracy, another family was able to prove the house was rightfully theirs prior to the redistribution and the house reverted back to them.  The Habitat family had done nothing wrong and followed the rules but was caught between the transitions of communism to a democracy.

Though the language barrier made the connections difficult, it was evident that the families appreciated our work.  Working with the families gave us a better understanding of what life was like for them in Romania and would serve as a contrast for me as I met with city leaders later in the week.  The most interesting learning for me was about the difficulties of making the transition from communism to democracy.  I always thought of the big systems that would have to change but the consequences to the average citizens was a good eye opener for me.

Habitat for Humanity- Romanian Style

The Cluj-Napoco affiliate of Habitat for Humanity was formed in 1999. In under a decade, they have developed a strong and effective program. They have a two-prong approach on helping people move into or stay in affordable housing. The first was the traditional building of new houses and apartments. The second program was renovations to existing housing. The renovation program is growing rapidly and is a great compliment to the building of new housing, especially in a city like Cluj that is urban and very developed.

I had some interesting observations on how this affiliate operated. The first is their aggressive sweat equity initiative with their partner families. Sweat equity is a hallmark of Habitat Humanity’s work internationally. Each family that benefits from a house is required to put in a number of hours working on building their house or another house for another family. The Cluj affiliate, in addition to the traditional sweat equity program, required all families interested in joining the program to work 100 hours before they could even apply to be a Habitat family. The 100 hours wasn’t a guarantee that they would make it into the program but illustrated the family’s interest in the program.

The other interesting thing I noted was the staff and volunteers, outside of the families and the construction team, were young and mostly in their 20’s and 30’s. One of the reasons I surmised was the cultural change from a communist state to the current democracy. As I talked with Calin, the volunteer coordinator, he mentioned that it was difficult to recruit volunteers because the term has such a negative connotation with people. In the communist days the government “volunteered” people to do things vs. it being done on their own initiative. It was easier for the younger people to make the shift because they lived in both worlds with the last 18 years being in a democratic system. 

The Cluj affiliate, when working with the international Global Village program, had to manage the language barrier issues carefully. During my Habitat build in Costa Rica, we had language issues as well, but there was enough understanding of each other’s language that we could manage without formal interpreters. Though many people in Romania understand English, the families and construction team we worked with had a very limited understanding of it. In our team, we had only one individual who spoke Romanian so we needed the help of interpreters. Two of the volunteers on site, Cris and Ally, served as our interpreters and later in the trip helped manage our sight seeing experience during our time off. They did a fantastic job bridging the two groups and the two languages.

Pictured: Me and our two volunteer interpreters, Cris and Ally.

Habitat for Humanity Reflections

Dear Gentle Readers,

As you know, I have started to blog about my Habitat experience in Romania.  Due to a combination of a stomach virus and lack of wi-fi access, blogging hasn't been my number one priority.  I received an e-mail from my friend Vickie Ott who worked on my Habitat build in Costa Rica.  Her firm, Haley & Aldrich, helped edit her video into a very professional piece outlining her experience in Costa Rica.  So until I feel beter, take a look at her video.

Cipro don't fail me now!

Meeting up with the new Habitat for Humanity Team

We had decided to join this Habitat For Humanity build because of the location.  I was pleasantly surprised when I saw there was a build opportunity in Cluj-Nopoca, Romania.  When I was Mayor and a councilmember, we had a number of opportunities to host delegations from Cluj in East Lansing.  It was a perfect combination of providing service and catching up with old friends.

The Habitat For Humanity group was first meeting in Budapest, Hungary and then taking a bus over to Cluj, Romania.  Jeanette and Mike Heitz, who between the two of them had been on seven other international builds, were organizing the group.  The group was much different than the group we worked with in Costa Rica.  It was mostly an older group and people were mostly in pairs.

Along with the leaders were their two kids with their significant others. There were two other couples, one from California and the other from New Zealand.  The most senior member of our group, Jack, was an interesting character from Denver, who was finishing his 40^th Habitat For Humanity build.  Jack had recruited, John, a businessman from Ireland who was doing work in Hungary and Romania. 

The last three people in the group, Ray, Marcia and Jerry were the ones I felt I connected to the best.  I think it was because they were with the group as individuals. When people travel by themselves they are more apt to meet new people.  Not that the others in the group weren’t social and interesting but we were more apt to eat meals together or grab a drink after our workday together.

Another Small World Experience

When I first met Ray in Budapest, he came up to me and asked where I lived in East Lansing.  He started laughing after I told him my address.  He was originally from East Lansing and when growing up there, he lived exactly one block from my current house. He informed me his father was still living there and stubbornly was still mowing the lawn himself every summer.  I am quite sure I have met his father because I have walked that street so many times during my previous political campaigns. Another small world experience!

My Next Habitat for Humanity Build- Romania

Many of you know that I was hoping to be selected to attend the Jimmy Carter Work Project with Habitat For Humanity in New Orleans during the second week of May.  Patrick and I both put our applications in via the web.  We had contemplated contacting a few of my contacts with Habitat For Humanity both in Michigan and at the International office to see that our applications would get due consideration since it is a very competitive process.  In the end, we decided against contacting them and left in the control of the travel gods.  Prior to heading off to Antarctica, we got the rejection e-mail.  I will admit, I was pretty disappointed.

It is strange the way fate sometimes works out.  After the rejection, we went onto the Habitat For Humanity website to look at other Global Village projects and there was one at the same time frame of the Jimmy Carter Work Project in Cluj-Napoca, Romania.  A smile went over my face.  This was why we were rejected from the New Orleans trip.  The travel gods always know best.

While I was in elected office in East Lansing, we had created a relationship through Michigan State University with Cluj-Napoco.  In 2005, we hosted delegation from the city that included the Mayor, city council members and a number of leaders from Babes-Bolyai University-the city's major university.

Pictured-David Ringsmuth and Calin Hintea-Faculty at Babes-Bolyai University and me.

In a little less than a month, I will combine service with meeting with old friends and colleagues in a city that I didn't think I would be able to make during the Singh Around the World Tour.   Rule # 1-it always works out in the end.

As you know I really cherished the work and friendships in my last build in Costa Rica.  I finally had some time to develop the video that I took while I was there.  I hope you enjoy it.