Our host family was Teodore and Maria, a Romanian couple in their 50′s. They had their own little house fronting a small river/canal (about two blocks behind Mosna’s famous fortified church), two bedrooms and one bathroom – a large master bedroom that they gave up for us to sleep in – and they moved into the smaller bedroom for the duration of our stay. Teodore and Maria were fairly comfortable (or affluent) by Romanian standards because they had indoor plumbing AND a washing machine. They still hung laundry out in the backyard to dry but what a luxury, to have a washing machine. The average Romanian income is $80 per month which makes anyone earning anywhere near $10,000 a year, a very wealthy person. Since $1 US=33,000 Romanian Lei, our $100 converted into 3,300,000 Lei – instant multi-millionaires.

Neither Teodore nor Maria spoke very much English, but Teodore taught school and spoke Russian, German, French, Romanish and a little English. (He was trying to learn more English from a children’s primer.) Teodore was forced to learn Russian when the Communists took over. A lot more languages than we could speak and somehow we all managed to understand each other. The nicest, warmest people in the world who couldn’t do enough for us. Their children were all grown and one little 8-year old grandson visited often during our three-week stay with them.

Maria, grandson and Teodore, our homestay family in Mosna, Romania
Mosna is a very small farming community with only a few automobiles. Everyone used horse-drawn carts, there were only three little stores in town and a beautiful walled (fortified) church from German-Saxon time.

Mosna’s fortified Saxon Church, Transylvania, Romania
Time for orientation. There were three other American volunteers: Monica, who lived in Morocco and worked on this dig last year ( a dead-ringer look-alike for Lily Tomlin); Kim, from Portland, Oregon, attended college at St. Andrews, Scotland (along with Prince William although all students at St. Andrews were forbidden to give out any tidbits of gossip about him)); Julie lived in Rockford, Illinois and was graduating from Milliken in a few months (Julie also did a killer Chimpanzee call, taught by her families’ local priest) and Stelliana, a Romanian, who was Andre’s second in command.

Monica in the pit, Mosna, Romania
A small, congenial group. Ready for some of the details?

- Bottled water would always be provided along with three meals a day.

- Most of the day would be spent in the pit – mornings digging and afternoons washing shards of pottery.

- Presence at breakfast was mandatory. If you were dying, still show up and tell everyone that you are dying and only then can you go back to bed and finish being deathly ill.

ex-Marine, Julie and Andre – lunch inside rectory, Mosna, Romania
- There were two weekend trips planned for a small additional fee. If you chose not to go, Saturday and Sunday were days of rest along with Wednesday afternoons off.