by Roxi Harms
Metallurg ordered the seal a few hours later, and on the third day, it arrived at the Lima airport.
"I'm sorry, sir," the customs official at the airport said to Adam. "I can't release your package without the paperwork that says that you have the necessary ministerial approvals to order this item from outside the country."
Adam drove back to his office. Every few blocks he slammed his hand on the steering wheel and let out a string of Romanian curses.
When he reached the house, he went straight to the telephone. "Diego, I got a big problem. Can I come over and talk to you?"
Father Juan was with Diego when Adam reached their apartment and sat down to explain.
"I got the seal into the country. I got the engineer sitting up there waiting to repair it. I got 90 guys up there eating an ox a day. And I can't get the damned $20 package from behind the customs counter," he finished up, throwing his arms in the air and getting up to pace around the spacious penthouse apartment.
Father Juan knew what to do.
CHAPTER ONE HUNDRED FIFTY
Adam waited for Father Juan on the steps of the government office, holding the bag of cash the priest had asked him to bring. The priest's neatly pressed black robe rustled as he climbed the steps, and his freshly starched white clerical collar gleamed almost as much as his neatly oiled hair. Adam didn't see him in his official garb often.
"Okay, let's start with the Ministry of Mines," Father Juan said to Adam with a grin.
Adam led the way to the door marked "Ministerio de Minas." He'd been in the big waiting room many times, getting approvals for this or that.
As they entered the big room, Father Juan leaned over and spoke quietly. "Follow me." Then he walked across the room and opened another door, and stood aside to let Adam enter ahead of him. The room was abuzz with activity. It usually took at least an hour, often two, to get to the front of the line and be admitted to this room.
Father Juan walked towards a table in the centre of the room where an official sat across from a customer, studying the paperwork in front of him while the customer waited. Choosing a spot near enough the table that there could be no mistake about his intention to be processed next, Father Juan stood with his hands behind his back, rocking slowly back and forth from toes to heels, a pleasant smile on his face. Adam stood beside him.
A few minutes later, the official stamped the papers he'd been reading and the customer got up and left.
Father Juan and Adam sat down in front of the official and Adam listened while Father Juan explained the urgent situation in which they found themselves, and the problems that this situation was causing for the workers in the villages and their families. The official listened patiently and then assured them he understood the situation. Next, he told them his price.
Father Juan turned to Adam and spoke in English. "Put the money on the table."
Adam felt a bit of sweat break out on his forehead as he reached into the bag and placed a stack of dirty bills in the centre of the table.
"Gracias, Señor," said the official as he picked up the money and put it into his desk drawer.
A few minutes later, Adam and Father Juan left the office. They had the first approval stamp.
Three more ministries, three more stacks of cash, and they were racing towards the airport. They didn't know what time the customs office closed, but it was going to be tight.
"Dammit!" yelled Adam, as they pulled up in front of the building. The door was padlocked shut.
A phone call and one more bribe, and the door was open. They had the seal.
Adam made record time on the 18-hour drive back to the mine.
"How long will it take to get it installed?" he asked as he handed over the seal.
"Like I said, an hour," Korteba replied, grinning.
"We won't be able to run full steam for another day or two anyway," Cornelius said from the door of the bunkhouse.
"Why not?" Adam demanded.
"A bunch of the crew disappeared yesterday. Walked home apparently. Juvenal says it's some festival. Tomato festival, potato festival. I don't know, something like that."
"What the hell?" Adam roared as he turned to look at Juvenal.
"There's a festival every month or two. Different ones in different villages," Juvenal explained. "They'll go no matter what rules you try to make. These festivals are very old traditions. Lots of dancing and drinking chicha. They'll be gone for a day, maybe two, and then they'll come back."
Juvenal was right. The next day they ran what they could without a full crew, and that evening the workers wandered back in without a word of explanation. Less than a week later, the truck was full. The first load of product was ready to roll!
Adam followed the load to Lima. After he'd watched them unload it at the port, he drove to the office and called Metallurg.
"Bruce Clymer, please," he said when the switchboard operator answered. "It's coming Bruce," he said into the receiver a few moments later. "The first load of moly just hit the port."
"Congratulations, Adam. I'll let the big guy know."
Adam sat back in his chair after he hung up the phone, and took a deep breath.
"Maria," he called out.
"Si Jefe?" Maria answered, appearing in the door of his office.
"Jean is going to be arriving in a few days, remember? Mi esposa, tres dias? Necessitamos una fiesta. We got a lot to celebrate."
CHAPTER ONE HUNDRED FIFTY-ONE
Jean settled in happily, and she and Maria were soon fast friends. With Adam away at the mine much of the time, Jean got to know the expat community, and took Spanish lessons in the afternoons when she wasn't playing bridge with her new friends. When he was home, Adam delighted in showing Jean all the nooks and crannies of Lima that he'd discovered. Together they discovered more, enjoying sunsets on the beach and dining on Peruvian delicacies in out of the way places.
That Christmas, Sandy and Cheri visited. Pleased to have them in Peru, away from the frivolity of their daily lives, Adam booked a tour for the girls – several days trekking through remote areas, sleeping in little villages and canoeing through the rainforest. Although he didn't have the time, or the inclination to go along after the four years he'd already spent finding his way around Peru, he wanted his girls to experience it. He'd always wanted that for them, the richness of travel and discovery.
Then, less than a year later, a scant two years after the first load of molybdenum was finally shipped to Metallurg, the vein disappeared. Where a rich, four-foot-wide vein of molybdenum-laden quartz had been, the crew suddenly hit sand. Nothing but sand. For months they dug and drilled in every direction, trying to locate the vein, but the search was fruitless. The only explanation Adam and his colleagues from Metallurg could come up with was that at some point in history an earthquake or some other natural event had shifted the mountainside in that area.
In hindsight, if Metallurg hadn't waived the formal explanation phase in their eagerness to get the molybdenum quickly, the end of the vein would likely have been detected at that time. Perhaps the mine project would not have happened at all. An expensive lesson for Metallurg. But personally, Adam was glad. Peru had been the best adventure of his life so far.
With no further production forthcoming, the decision to close down the mine was inevitable. It had been a good run, and it was time to go home. As Jean packed up the house and headed back to Penticton, Adam focused on dismantling the mine and selling off the components so that Metallurg could recover a portion of their investment. To overcome the legalities of moving personal money out of Peru, he converted the proceeds from the house and contents to precious metals – silver serving trays, fine cutlery, gold jewelry, and similar items that could be carried home as personal effects.
As he completed the wind-down of Minera San Diego, the only private mine to have operated in Peru during the Velasco era, Adam's mind was already busy scanning through possibilities for his next project. The mini-storage units he'd built before he'd
left for Peru had been fully occupied since they were completed, and there was a waiting list. The opportunity seemed obvious, but the problem was land. Storage took up a lot of space and all the feelers he put out came back with the same answer. There was no commercial land available in Penticton.
As he sipped his scotch in the quiet of a tranquil Lima evening, not long before returning to Canada, Adam thought through the options. He had a few ideas. He was already hungry for the next challenge, and one way or another, he'd find it.
EPILOGUE
Maria had always said that Adam and Jean treated her differently than any other employer. She was free to spend the house allowance as she saw fit. No receipts were needed. And they insisted that she eat what they ate. No cornflour porridge or tortillas and beans while the boss dined on her marvellous cooking. When they ate steak, she ate steak. When they ate seafood, she ate seafood. She kept Adam and Jean up to date on her life after they left, with regular cards and letters and photos of all the important events. When she mentioned that it had been especially hot one year, especially with the corrugated metal roofing on her house, Adam found someone who was travelling to Lima, and sent Maria forty $100 bills, enough for put a good, insulated roof.
Back in Canada, Adam poured his energy into building, finding property when property was scarce, challenging various by-laws and restrictions when they impacted his vision for a given project, and generally doing things that hadn't been done before. Soon his portfolio of commercial property was generating a healthy revenue stream, second only to his empire of mini-storage units.
He had never liked wood construction and after returning from Peru, Adam began to dream of a luxury apartment building made of concrete. As their holidays abroad increased, he and Jean looked at many concrete apartment buildings, leaning towards the art deco style. Adam had his eye on a piece of prime real estate for the building, overlooking the lake in Penticton, and in 1984 it became available through a foreclosure. It was perfect. However, the country was suffering through a major recession. Interest rates were close to 20 percent and the economy was stagnant. When Adam announced his plans to build a luxury, "poured in place" concrete condominium tower, his friends and associates told him he was crazy. And he planned to build it seven storeys high. The municipal by-laws limited construction to six storeys. This time he was pushing it too far. Even the mayor personally advised Adam strongly against the project.
"This town isn't ready for something like that," was what everyone told him. "They won't sell."
As usual, Adam was determined. ‘86 Lakeshore,' the south Okanagan's first "poured in place" concrete residential building, was constructed in 1986. No expense was spared. In 1987 Jean and Adam moved into one of the two penthouse units on the seventh floor. The building was fully sold in record time, and many of the original owners, including the Baumanns, continue to live there today.
After operating the mini-golf and full-size par three for almost 40 years, Adam sold Riverside Golf in the mid 90's. To this day the park is still providing amusement to kids and adults alike over 60 years since the opening weekend in May of 1958.
Adam's dad passed away in 1992. From the time he and Adam's mom returned to Germany in 1969 until his death, he focused more on the enjoyment and adventures of their time in Canada, and the success of his kids, than on the injustices of the past. He continued to worry that Adam would "go broke" with all the risks he took, but they enjoyed an easy relationship during this time, and Adam came to appreciate how proud of him his dad really was.
A year after his father's death, Adam travelled to Germany to collect the one thing he wanted from his dad's personal effects - the leather razor strap that had warmed his rear end so often in his childhood and teen years. He planned to set it under glass. Unfortunately, it had disappeared, so Adam was never able to create this tribute to his father and all he learned from him.
His mom lived with Theresa until her death in 1998. Near the end, her three sons travelled together to Germany for one last family visit. Adam laughs when he recounts a memory from that trip. "Frank, George, and I had cleared out of the house on Sunday morning to have a few schnapps with the men from the neighbourhood and work up our appetites, as is the tradition, while Theresa prepared the Sunday dinner. Mom slept most of the time by that stage, and was no longer able to get out of bed, so we'd set up a hospital bed in the living room where she spent all her time. Sunday dinner is always served at precisely 12 o'clock, but we didn't get back to the house until about 12:20 that day. Theresa was a little upset because the soup was getting cold, and she started to give George and Frank heck in the kitchen. Then Mom, whom we'd all thought was sleeping, calls from the living room Resi! Leave George and Frank alone, you know Adam is the one to blame."
As he promised during his marriage proposal, Adam and Jean have seen a great deal of the world. After returning from Peru, travel became one of Adam's main "projects," and he and Jean have enjoyed many adventures. They've toured Europe many times, from Scandinavia searching out Jean's relatives, to the Italian Alps, from Tuscany to Napoli, from Capri to Monaco, from Portugal to Vimy Ridge. They've taken river cruises, drunk vodka with the Russians in St. Petersburg, cruised through the Strait of Magellan to the South Pole and back up the other side of South America. They've visited the Falkland Islands and Easter Island. They've sailed through the Panama Canal and explored the Caribbean. They've travelled alone, with the girls, with Theresa, with David Battison, and with a variety of other friends and family.
Adam also took each of his brothers on a road trip through Germany and Hungary. When he and George were in Hungary, they stopped in Komarom, and Adam was able to locate the underground cell where he was held captive in 1945. A Coca-Cola distributor now occupies that space. Adam and Cheri also made the trek to Germany and Hungary to explore Adam's original homeland, visiting Elek and knocking on the door of their family home, where the current resident allowed them to have a look around. Countless trips to Germany to visit family and friends in Laudenbach took place throughout these years as well. These visits typically included afternoons in the local pub catching up with Joe Post and the Pender brothers. It was during one of these afternoons that Hans, the boy Adam and his friends beat up for bullying the elderly fellow from Elek and
sent home naked on his bike, joined the group. He and Adam shared a
good laugh about the incident, and Hans declared he'd gotten exactly what he deserved.
In 1993, Adam built a vacation house on Osoyoos Lake, about an hour from Penticton, just across the Washington State border. They call it "The Doghouse." A good part of each summer has been spent there over the years, with extended visits by Sue, Sandy, Cheri, George, Frank, Theresa and all of their families. Countless memories have been made at The Doghouse.
Theresa's husband Franz passed away in his late 50s. Theresa, in her 90's now, continues to live in Germany. She and Adam talk on the phone every Sunday.
George and Frank both live in Vancouver with their wives. The three brothers and their wives, kids, and grandkids get together several times each year for holidays and summer visits. The three brothers spend a few days each summer at The Doghouse. Just the guys. Drinking scotch and arguing about politics. Their age difference is less obvious now that Frank is over 70.
Adam and Jean's three daughters all live within a few hours' drive and see their parents often.
In 2005, when Adam sold Baumann Holdings, it was comprised of eleven large commercial rental properties and in excess of 1,000 mini-storage units. The price he got for the company was a far cry from the seven dollars he'd arrived in Quebec City with 54 years earlier.
These days, Adam fills his time with less ambitious tasks. Each day, Monday to Friday, at 10 a.m. he goes to the Elks Hall for coffee with a group of friends he's collected over all these years in Penticton. It's a big group. They start each meeting with a quick numbers game they've devised. The winner buys that day's coffee. And every month or two, Adam goes for a drive around town
and out into the surrounding area, checking on the buildings and businesses he created, and remembering the adventures he had doing it. He always comes home satisfied.
Early February is still difficult for Adam, nightmares of foxholes and Russian bullet spray often filling his nights around this time of year. His 86th birthday in 2015 marked the 70th anniversary of arriving at the hospital in Straubing with his wounded leg.
In 2011, Adam and Jean travelled to Costa Rica to spend a couple of months soaking up the sun during the Canadian winter. It was there that Adam was sitting on the patio of the vacation house, enjoying his customary four o'clock scotch when a blonde head peeked over the hedge from next door.
"I'm Roxanne," she said. "May we join you for a drink?"
Adam and I were instant friends. That evening, my husband and I took Adam and Jean to our favourite local restaurant. A few days later Adam and Jean returned the treat. As we drove home from that second dinner out, I asked if we could have a nightcap on the patio and hear more of Adam's stories. Although work on it would not begin for a couple of years, this book was conceived that night.
Adam lives in Penticton BC Canada with his wife Jean.
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THANK YOU FOR READING THIS BOOK.
More information about Adam can be viewed at roxiharms.com.
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