A different sort of trust.

So, our work here revolves around building trust among people so that as Romania develops, more people will have the willingness and skills to work together rather than looking out mainly for themselves.

What's interesting about living here for almost three years now is that I'm seeing ways that Romanians (at least in our small town, but in bigger cities sometimes too) trust each other in ways that I rarely see Americans doing. Not that we're trying to teach Romanian youth to trust each other like Americans do, but I have seen that us in the US are better, in general, at collaborating in the workplace and between churches. Big generalization, but I've seen it.

However, here, there's a different sort of trust. People sometimes leave their cars running while they run into the store to get something quick. Moms leave their infants outside in strollers while they shop. Kids leave their bikes lying on the street for a few minutes. Kindergardeners walk to school on their own.

It's how I've heard of the States being back in the 50's. I hope that Lupeni doesn't lose that as Romania develops economically and democratically. Maybe the sidewalks don't look great and there are plenty of drunk pensioners on the streets, but at least you can still leave your bike there and not worry that it'll get stolen.