Farewell to Gagy

We headed out of Gagy in the morning, giving tearful goodbyes to all our new friends. The mayor showed up to see us off as well.

Then it was on to Segesvar/Sighisoara, a German-Saxon town and birthplace of Vlad Tepes, the Impaler (aka Dracula)---who otherwise had nothing whatsoever to do with Transylvania. We entered through a main gate, complete with portcullis. The town is famous for its 17th century clock tower. One reaches the Church on the Rock via a covered stairway with almost 200 steps. One can visit the creepy crypt under the altar. Its beautiful streets also contain a few odd decorations. The Saxons may have been fierce, but were not without whimsy.

Finally, we had our farewell dinner in the beautiful Agape Restaurant, which we knew and loved from our previous stay in Koloszvar. Farewell, Transylvania!

Dancing and Divinity

Sunday began with a joint service by Zoltan and Marta. There was peak attendance as villagers came to see just who these strange pilgrims were, wandering around town. As in many Transylvanian churches, men and women sat in separate pews and the men entered in a group following the ministers after all the women were seated. Their women's choir, led by Zoltan, sang "Spirit of Life" to us in English. Marta asked John to do a solo on the spur of the moment as our musical contribution ("This Is My Song", the official partnership church hymn), which he nailed.

Marta's sermon's theme centered on showing kindness to strangers, an apropos topic to all of us. Zoltan translated it as it was delivered, and then all of us from Arlington read a selection of passages to give our hosts a more complete picture of Arlington. Our hosts were very moved to have us there, and everyone was moved by the whole spiritual experience.

After the service there was a goulash party in the community hall across the street, which about 80 people attended. The goulash was prepared in a large cauldron in the yard. The elders were up front (with the mayor at right). The former minister attended and talked with Marta and Zoltan after giving a five-minute address. As the goulash was cooking, we drank too much of several kinds of palinka, so that when the meal was over the singing began. Our hosts started it off with a hearty Transylvanian anthem, we answered with "If I Had A Hammer", and after they responded with another local song, we came back with "When All The Saints Go Marching In". To the next song, many of the women got up and danced, and we were reduced to teaching everyone the Hokey Pokey.

At the same time as the goulash party (which was the cool place to be in more ways than one since it was over 90 degrees Fahrenheit), there was a local futbol tournament happening up the road. Our friend Lajos was grilling sausages for the hungry players and their fans. There were about five teams, all of which played six short games lasting into the evening. As Michael watched with a complimentary beer in his hand, he was asked to play. Unfortunately it was just before needing to leave to meet up with the rest of the pilgrims (which was ok considering he was still in his church clothes and it was so hot).

We then visited Kismedeser---a very small village a few miles from Gagy. Zoltan preaches there once a month to the handful of residents that remain. To get to the church, you must ford the Gagy River, where the bridge was washed out a number of years ago. The church seems forlorn from the outside but was charming and beautiful on the inside, and of course Marta made a beeline straight to the pulpit. The table in front of the pulpit was a masterpiece of folk art, sitting on the dirt floor of the church.

On our way out of Kismedeser, Csilla wanted to show us her uncle's old house. We ended up interrupting a pizza party that her relatives were having, and they invited us to share some pizza before we left.

Going Back In Time (sort of)

In the morning (Saturday), John, Jo Anne, and Denisa's hosts (the Nagy's) also baked bread. With the last of the dough they made a pastry called kertesz kolacs (chimney cakes). They rolled a ribbon of dough onto a wooden form like a long rolling pin. Then they basted it with oil and egg, and rolled it in sugar. When the embers were piled on the platform in front of the bread oven, they lay the rod across the embers, supported on bricks, and rolled it as it cooked, so that it would caramelize evenly. When they were done, they would carefully slip the pastry off the pins. They were delicious, and they made enough of them to feed an army.

We also met Eva and Csilla, the daughters of the Nagy's, who stopped to say hi. Eva just finished university and is starting graduate school in special education. Csilla is about to start university in the fall and wants to be a lawyer. Csilla has also been Jo Anne's pen-pal for the past year (we're not sure at what point she realized that she was not corresponding with a fellow teenager).

The day before, Mary met some little boys getting water from the well outside her guest house. This morning she discovered fresh flowers on her doorstep, which the boys were embarrass to admit was their handiwork.

Saturday's theme was time travel. We visiting several local workshops, including a blacksmith, a wheelwright, and an embroiderer. All three are masters of dying crafts with nobody to carry on their tradition. The blacksmith made two horseshoes (his primary product) while we were there and his assistant was Lajos, who made and cooked yesterday's mittitei. The blacksmith has been doing this work for 57 years, since he was 14. The wheelwright demonstrated several special tools he uses. In addition to wheels, he also makes barrels for storing the fruit waiting to be distilled into palinka. The embroiderer (Lajos's mother Matild) invited us into her home, which was filled with gorgeous examples of her work.

The highlight of the afternoon was a horse cart ride through the village and up into the hills. We met our friend the stork again and headed out of town. The lay president of the church, Mihai, whom you have seen in a previous post milking his cows, became a grandfather yesterday. We think the stork is resting by the church from his labors. (They have the same folk belief about storks and babies that we do.)

The ride was very bumpy but scenic, as we passed families we met at the party yesterday working in the fields. Most agriculture in Gagy is still horse-powered and you still see horse carts on the highway carrying hay or logs (to the vexation of all the truck drivers). We passed a renovated cabin in the hills that is now used as a summer camp for children. The view from the top was breathtaking. And on the way down, we saw a nice scene that sums up the local culture: our friend Lajos, one of the horse cart drivers, on his cell phone.

Baking and Breaking Bread

Our first job of the day (Friday) was to "supervise" the bread baking in Zoltan's outdoor oven. The bread was already rising when we arrived (overseen by local experts). Almost every house has an outdoor baking oven. They mix and raise the dough in a large wooden trough that have seen decades of use (and many repairs). They build a fire in the oven until the bricks turn white. Then the coals are moved to the front and the oven is swabbed out with a wet mop. They form loaves and place them on top of wet cabbage leaves, which are then slid into the oven with a large wooden paddle. When the bread is cooked, they knock off the outer crust with mallets and smooth out the crust with graters. The finished product, shown with bakers, was saved for the Mittitei party later in the day. In the meantime, we enjoyed a local delicacy, a sweet cheese bread usually made only for Pentecost.




While the bread was baking, Michael, Denisa, Marta, and Bori (18-year-old translator and granddaughter of Michael's hosts) took a morning stroll near the village. In addition to getting a sense of the countryside, we saw a stork on top of the church (the nest is right next to the building) and got some different views of the village.
Before the party, Bori showed us pictures of her life (including a school dance or two). The party was a big hit, especially the bread and the grilled sausages (mittitei----a Romanian specialty). Everyone ate and drank and made merry, including Denisa and her new friend.

Spirits and Spirituality

A view of the Gagy Unitarian Church (with the reformed church in the background) on the way into town. What you can't see in the picture are the green hills in every direction. If we were to paint them, a critic might say, "Really? Come on, it can't truly be like that!"

There was a brief reception for us in Zoltan's office in which we drank the first of many toasts of palinka (extremely potent home-made fruit brandy, the first of which was made from pears and had been aged for 15 years). People attending were the mayor of Gagy, the congregation president, the past president, Zoltan, and our host families (and us, of course).
We presented the quilts for Botond and Emese (and Zoltan and Magdika) and read the accompanying letter from the quilters.
Then it was on to the church and an introduction and question and answer session about the history of the church and its people. They also had questions for us about Unitarianism in America. (And Marta tried out another Transylvanian pulpit.)
Across the street from the church and in front of the Community House is the town sign (pictured above with one of the pilgrims). This sign also advertises the next game for the town futbol team.
Also nearby is the town playground, which was a joint project between the church and the mayor's office. As nice as it looks, there are plans for more improvements to the grounds.
We took a tour of the town during which Mary admired a neighborhood garden, whose owner invited us in for another round of palinka. He also gave a gift of a rose to Marta, Mary, Carol, Jo Anne, Denisa, and Eniko (Michael's host's daughter).
Shortly before sunset, the cows came home from the hills. The drover moved them along the streets with a cracking whip and they each knew exactly where to turn off from the convoy.
The church president, Mihai Pal, invited us to watch him milk his cows. A truck picks up the milk every day and takes it to the dairy plant.
But some of it didn't make it there.

Folk and Fortifications

The day started with a visit to te very large grounds of the Astra Museum of Traditional Folk Civilization in the outskirts of Sibiu. They had hundreds of outdoor exhibits mostly concerning folk industries like pottery-making, weaving, cider and oil presses, and mills of all sorts. Although most of this technology goes back to the Middle Ages, at least one of these mills was working until 1960. There were also homesteads of the characteristic styles of different regions. In the fence below, notice how the fence was woven together out of green branches and then a roof built over it to keep it from rotting in the rain.

The funky-looking wooden ferris wheel is actually a swing (or a medieval carnival ride) and we saw a picture showing it in use by kids and adults.

This is the painted ceiling of a traditional small (and I mean small) wooden church from Maramures. The sanctuary couldn't have been larger than 12' x 20'.

Many of the exhibits were arranged around a small lake---you may notice the collection of different kinds of windmills behind Jo Anne, Marta, and Mary.

In beautiful weather like we had this morning, even the Middle Ages seem attractive.

After lunch we were free to wander around the city admiring the amazing Saxon architecture of central Sibiu. A portion of the city walls survives, and each of the towers was maintained by a different Guild. This tower was maintained by the Potters Guild.

Tomorrow we're off to the village of Gagy to meet and get to know the people of our partner church, and learn what village life is all about.