Week 1 (again) - Meet the team & salt mine silliness!

Hello everybody, thanks for the comments so far, and for the supportive comments about my acceptance to present at the World Occupational Therapy Conference in Chile, it's appreciated and I just wanted to say serious thanks to many colleagues for their support! Ok, to this week's adventures....

I really wanted to focus on the return to working inside this psychiatric institution here in Romania, but first I have to share my experiences of going to the salt mines of Praid yesterday. Oh first I must mention big thank you to Marika and Victoria who finished working with us this week. Wednesday was Marika's 29th birthday and we had a fun veggie BBQ in the garden with several drinks, (see pictures below - me, Marika, Ali & Victoria)!

So Friday night took me to the main disco in town named 'Infinity' with my neighbour Sari. There almost everyone was dressed in white, to sparkle under the UV light, though other interesting outfits included what looked like a pyjama suit, and a girl wearing only a bikini, the white clothes simply shone over the black stuff she actually had on! It reminded me of one of those films where people in white hoods chanted and swayed through some seemingly pointless ritual, in the deep south of America. At this point I realised the need to leave and stop drinking!!!

So onto Saturday, and Vic and I got a 2.5 hour train to the town of Praid, made famous for it's salt mines. I had previously visited the alt mines of the unfortunately named town of 'Turda', though "Turda" it certainly was not! I had also been to Praid once before, though on my last visit with my good friend Hyun-Jin, the hills were covered in snow, and the mine was closed, so I was pleasantly surprised to find myself on a in gorgeous sunshine, ice-cream in hand and waiting for the bus with a happy go lucky crowd. We headed down, down, down into the depths of a never ending tunnel. Once inside we soon found ourselves in a huge underground cavern, and as my eyes adjusted to the light I had to blink several times to believe what appeared in front of me. Now just remember I have just walked into a deep underground salt mine/cavern, and I now find myself looking at rows of tables around the edge of the walls, all with peg hooks filled with coats, all the tabled filled with people, grans, kids, parents. I think I can see what looks like a series of wooden made swings (some two-seated), oh and wait there seems to big a bouncy castle, oh and climbing frame in the distance. Further exploration reveals a church, and coffee shop, all made of wood, all in the salt mine!

Perhaps the most disorientating sight was the number of people that were playing badminton, (without a net) and the ever increasing number of table tennis tables, with people playing, that were appearing around each corner. My initial though was that I really has stumbled into the secret training camp for the Romanian Olympic Committee, but no, the real explanation for these quite bizarre sights was much simpler. The air in the salt mines is believed to help with health and especially breathing conditions, so large numbers of people come down here for the day, and do some kind of sporting activity to help their respiratory system. I swear I even saw a computer being used down there.. surely they couldn't get a wireless connection??? I think there may be something in it, as the air down there felt as though it had a certain freshness to it... and hey, could half the population of Transylvania that seemed to be present, be wrong?

Ok, back to matters at work. I knew going back to the hospital would not be easy, seeing patients who may have deteriorated, or simply working within a team of volunteers who did things differently to my colleagues two years ago. The staff gave me a warm welcome, and bits of Romanian language returned to me more quickly than I thought they would. Conditions have improved for patients, with improvements evident in the building structure, toilet facilities and better access to outside spaces. Many of the difficulties for staff still remained, regarding small staff to patient ratio. Seeing one particular lady walk independently, after some assistance from us 2 years ago was a warming sight indeed. I was quickly reminded of the difficulties faced by staff and patients though as I was informed about patients who had died since my departure. The sight of one particular patient who was now bed bound due to problems with her legs, saddened me greatly as this patient had constantly entertained me each week by insisting I wear one of her knitted hats. Patients with mild - severe learning difficulties, no doubt worsened by institutionalisation remained in the hospital, and many familiar faces greeted me as the week went on. The club room itself has had many a makeover with brilliant paintings from both volunteers and patients on the walls. A makeshift table tennis table is now there, and singing and dancing remain popular activities.

A young kid called Dorina (pictured), who some of you may remember from my last visit is now seven and remains a frequent visitor to the hospital grounds.

So that's about it for this week folks! Hope all is well where ever you are in the world! Speak soon!

Regards from Romaina

Dan