Sunt Fericita

Hi everyone! Everything here is going great! We are really in a routine, which is nice...but sometimes I take for granted all of the cool things we do and see. This post has a lot of random stories and stuff, but hopefully anyone who reads this can gets little glimpse of what I am doing here!

Last Sunday we had a pretty cool opportunity to attend a baptism for one of the babies in the orphanage. He was baptized in a 400 year old Romanian orthodox church and it was so cool! I love learning about other religions and I am glad we all got to go! We also took a walk that evening and found a cute little church and a bridge to watch the sunset on.

On the first floor of the orphanage there is a daycare/preschool. I don't know exactly what it is like, but the only child from my room that goes is Monica and I think it is a preschool for disabled children. Anyways, their graduation was last week and we were all allowed to go! It was adorable! The kids all performed songs and had a couple speaking parts. We didn't understand a single word...but it was still adorable! The other children in the daycare had their parents there, and Monica had us. I felt a little like a mom...standing in the back of the room focusing on my little girl. She was a star and made us all so proud! It took a lot of effort not to cry. It made me a little sad to think of all these children with loving parents who are there to support them, then little Monica who didn't have a mom there to cheer or  take pictures. I am glad we could all be there.The funniest part of the whole performance was at the end. All the kids stood up and we knew it would be the last song, so they hit play and it is "Barbie Girl" haha probably the last song any of us ever expected to hear at a Romanian preschool graduation. It was pretty entertaining! 

Something about the food here...a lot of it is rum flavored. I was told that in a lot of desserts and sweets and stuff that would normally have vanilla extract they use rum flavor. So we try to be careful with things we buy. The other day, Hannah and I were sitting in our room at the orphanage just holding and playing with kids, and one of the workers offered us some chocolate(they offer us treats quite often, it is so sweet!) and so we took it and took a bite of the outside and it seemed to taste fine so we took another bite and quickly discovered that it was filled with some sort of alcohol...so we waited for the worker to leave the room and Hannah and I made a mad dash to spit out our chocolate and find a discreet way to throw it all away without any of the workers noticing haha it was funny!

The branch here is amazing and it has been great getting to know the members! They are kind and love any effort we make to talk to them! One of the sisters asked me to go visiting teaching with her, which made me so happy! Anya, who is such a sweetheart, went with me because the sisters don't really speak english and I wouldn't be able to understand anything. Plus, Anya is just so fun and I love being around her so I was really happy she went! We left the apartment at around 6. I don't think I will ever complain about visiting teaching again...at BYU we visit taught girls down the hall, but getting to this sister's apartment was a lot more difficult. We walked for about 15/20 minutes and then got bus tickets and took the bus to a point where we met the sister who invited me. The sister we were visiting lived just up the road. We got there at about 7 and it was amazing! It was my first time being in an apartment that wasn't one of the ones in our group. The sister who lived there had a little table set up for us. She gave us fruit and juice and cookies and cake(which was so good!) and was such a great host! I tried to keep up with the conversation, but it was very difficult because I only know a few words. Anya was an amazing translator and helped me with everything! Both of the ladies were so kind and tried talking to me and including me. They love to laugh and were just so cute! I loved being able to feel the spirit in her home. The members here are incredible because they don't have the support like we do in the states. The branch is so small, but the members have great testimonies and sacrifice a lot to be members of the church. And they were so happy to have Anya and I there! After it was over, I gave the sister a hug and she just smiled and hugged me and it was so easy to see the joy in here eyes. Visiting with these sisters made me so happy and I hope I get the opportunity to go again! 

Yesterday was a fun day at the orphanage! The weather has been really nice, so some of the workers take a couple kids on a walk and yesterday they asked me to come! Monica was one of the kids who got to go, so I went and pushed her wheelchair! Xavier was the only other kid from my room that got to go, but I think there was a total of 7 kids. They were all so excited to be out in the city! We took them around the streets, which was actually a lot harder than it sounds. The sidewalks here are all messed up and uneven, which is difficult when you are pushing  wheelchair. We made it work though! We walked around and ended up at the giant green lawn outside of Palas. The workers brought balloons and toys and we ran around and played with the kids. They were so cute! The workers even bought them each a pastry. It was such a nice day and I am so happy I got to be there with the kids!

That was most of my stories from the past couple of weeks...but there are so many little things that happen each day! It has become routine, but when I sit back and think about everything I realize how many little miracles we see each day. I love those children so much!! It isn't always easy, but being in that room makes me so happy! One of our little blind girls who always looks so sick and has a feeding tube has been looking so healthy! I don't know what the whole story is, but the past two days she hasn't had the feeding tube!! And that makes me so happy! I know it must be a ton of work for her to eat, but she is looking better and seems happier! One of our toddlers, Sarah, is doing a great job walking! She loves it, and always has a huge smile on her face when she is wobbling around the room. She will just walk from one side to the other, pause, then do it again. I was outside with her the other day and there is a slide, so I would help her up the ladder on one side and down the slide on the other side and we tried it over and over and over again. By the time we were done, she was climbing the stairs and sliding down all by herself and it was so exciting! She still can't talk, but she is a really cute little girl! Today it was wet outside(when it is wet the kids have to stay inside) and Sarah was getting fussy, so we spent time walking in the hall and down the stairs...I am so proud of her, she is doing so great!

Other than Monica, we have one little girl who can talk. Both of her legs have casts. I think she has two club feet, but is at the orphanage so she can get them fixed. I don't know the whole story, but I know that after her feet are better she is going back to her mom. It makes me happy to know she has a mom, but it worries me because I am sure her home situation isn't the greatest. She is a special little girl though. She loves to talk...and is a little sassy. She always wants her way and will get very upset if she doesn't get it. She also gets jealous if you play with other kids and she always wants the toys that other children have. She goes to the hospital about every week to get new casts on her legs. I feel so bad, she is stuck in her wheelchair all day and a lot of the time her legs are hurting, but there is nothing we can do about it.

Since none of our kids can talk, I think one of the best things is when we make the kids laugh. I am lucky to be in a room with Hannah and Cammy, who are both amazing with the children. Between the three of us, I think there are a lot of smiles in the room. The kids are so easy to love. When all of our more abled children are outside, I enjoy our time inside with the blind children and the ones who are normally in their wheelchairs or strollers all day. Holding them and trying to let them move is special...when they laugh or smile it always melts my heart! They love being tickled and if you find the right spot you can really get them laughing! Those are the moments I wait for, and I think those are the moments I will remember most when I go home. Sitting in our little room cuddled with one of our sweet kids, kissing their heads and watching them smile. Ahh I just adore them!

Everything else is going great too! I love teaching at the kindergarten! Some of those kids are so sweet! And after seeing so many sad things and sick children and disabilities, it is a good break to be around children who have loving parents. A lot of them are already great at english!! They love watching the teachers mess up and use a Romanian word. At the orphanage, the word I use most is "Bravo"....I use it so much. Whenever a child does anything that is my response. So sometimes, when a child at the kindergarten does something impressive I automatically say bravo and I am immediately bombarded with a chorus of "English only, no Romanian!!!" They are sweet though! Teaching them is a great reminder of why I chose to go into elementary education!

I still struggle with the hospital...I like going, but sometimes it just makes me sad and I  leave feeling gross. Today was a great day at the hospital though! Lauren and I found a 13 year old boy alone in a room. Something was wrong with his leg...it looked like it had been operated on or something. Usually we only find young children, so I wasn't sure exactly how to act around him. We tried talking, but he didn't know a single English word and we barely know any Romanian...but we tried. I think he has parents because he had a cell phone, they just weren't there with him. He got a phone call and we were going to just leave, but he started crying and just seemed to be scared and hurting, so we stayed. When he was done on the phone we tried to entertain him...all we had was coloring books, bubbles, and a ball...but luckily he was very entertained by the bubbles! After a while I think Lauren and I were acting silly enough  to distract him. Before we left we wanted to leave him a treat...in our terrible Romanian we said, "vrei chocolate?" which I think means "you want chocolate?" but I could be completely wrong. He shyly said da and we attempted to tell him what we were doing but the closest we could get was cinci(five) minutes. We ran down to the vending machine and got him some chocolate and pretzels, then ran back up. He was shy and quiet, but I think he really appreciated it! Days like today make me realize how important our time in the hospital is.

In other news, Romania is still great! When it rains it cools down enough so our apartment doesn't feel like an oven...but on the downside, I feel like I am being eaten alive by mosquitos. One day it was pouring for our walk to the kindergarten and the streets all flooded...that was exciting. Even last night we tried walking to a festival and it started pouring randomly and we got soaked, but that is part of the fun! The cute old men are still playing chess in the park every day! Dogs and cats are everywhere. The food is interesting some days. Public transportation here is still very confusing to me. I am still shocked that you can just walk across the crosswalk and all the traffic will just stop, but they always do...you don't hesitate, just walk. Hmm I am trying to think of more little fun facts, but that is all I can come up with for now!

Us after our stroll in the rain

Cammy and I caught in the rain

One last thing...if anyone is ever interested in helping these amazing orphans that I get to work with every day, we have set up the fundraiser I mentioned in an earlier blog post! I never want to make the orphanage sound bad, because it is great! The workers are awesome and work so hard to care for these kids, and everyone there does what they can, but there is always a need. Currently, they are in need of new wheelchairs and strollers! I didn't realize how big this need was until I got here. Most of my children are in wheelchairs, or should be. Some have wheelchairs, but most of the ones they have are super old and beat up! The other kids should have wheelchairs, but are instead put in strollers and tied in with scarves. I know that Isolation(the room with all of the babies) doesn't have any/has very few strollers and so most of those kids never leave the room. These kids are just so precious and I want to help them in any way I can, and I know getting new wheelchairs and strollers would make a huge difference for the children, the workers, and the volunteers! Thank you to everyone who has already donated, I appreciate it soooo much!! And if anyone else wants to donate, here is the link: http://www.gofundme.com/romanianorphanage
Every little bit counts! Thank you so much!! I hope we can reach our goal of $5,000...we are already halfway there! I can't even tell you how amazing that would be!

That is about it! We leave in one week for our long vacation and I am so excited! I am so grateful for all of my experiences here and the wonderful group I get to be with! Even with the rough days, I am so happy here...sunt fericita! I hope everyone at home is doing great! Thank you all for the love and support!

Love,
Madeline

Life in Romania

Bună ziua! It has been another busy week here in Romania! I can't believe how quickly time is passing! 

The Group

I could talk about the orphans I work with for hours...they are such a joy and I love being with them! There is one little girl who I talk about all the time and will probably continue to talk about, so I have decided to give her a pseudonym because we are not allowed to use the children's real names. I will call her Monica for my blog. She is the five year old who has little legs that she can't use. I absolutely adore her! She is one of our few children who can talk, and the only child that can call me by my name. She is usually the highlight of my day at the orphanage! In an earlier blog post I talked about her being the one the workers wont let me hold too much because she is "too spoiled". She goes to a preschool in the morning, so she doesn't come into the room until about 11:30 and I leave at 12. We only get that half hour together each day, but I wait for 11:30 every day and just smile when I hear her wheelchair coming down the hall or when I  hear her little voice go "Madelina!!!". I have really gotten attached to her! She is so smart! Her Romanian is fluent and she can say a couple English words. She is just like any normal 5 year old, except she can't use her legs and she is in an orphanage....I admire her courage and strength and want to do anything I can to make her day a little brighter, although on Thursday she is the one who brightened my day. The past couple of days she has been coming into the room acting sad and pouty and I haven't known why. We can usually cheer her up, but I always want to know what's wrong. Yesterday we had one of my favorite workers in the room, who is also one of the few people I work with who know English! When Monica came in acting sad, I asked the worker why she has been upset. The worker and Monica had a little conversation and then the worker looked at me and said, "She is sad because she knows you always have to leave in a couple minutes and she doesn't want you to go." I almost broke down into tears...I was so happy to hear that Monica wanted me there. I had the worker tell her I would be here until August and that helped cheer Monica up a little! That girl is wonderful!

There is another little boy who I have talked a lot about it my past blog posts and I think I am going to call him David for the rest of my blog posts. He is the blonde little boy who is so gentle and cuddly. He is developmentally delayed and can't talk, but he is one of our few kids that can walk (although he doesn't always like to walk). Cammy compared him to Schroeder, the Peanuts character, and I think it is so accurate! David is blonde and quiet and loves the little keyboard that is in our room at the orphanage! He sits in front of it and hangs his head down and press the little demo button to hear the songs. Sometimes he will "dance" by wiggling back and forth and it is very cute! Well, poor David has been in the hospital all this week, which makes me pretty sad. That hospital is a pretty scary place for these kids to be. Luckily, we found him on Tuesday and Friday when we were there! It was nice to be able to play with him for a little bit and cheer him up! Hopefully he is back in the orphanage next week!

I have also been amazed by our 17 year old boy, Xavier. He is so smart! He is in a wheelchair and can't talk, but points with his eyes and lips. He is so funny! He really loves Hannah, the other girl in Mickey 1 with me. Hannah is awesome with him! She always knows how to make him laugh and keep him entertained and I love watching them interact! Another volunteer that was here with the BYU program a little bit ago just came back and she has a special program she is going to use to work with Xavier! It will help us better understand him, and I can't wait to see how it goes!

It is hard work being there with the kids everyday. It takes a lot of energy, but Hannah and I (and a lot of times Cammy) also have fun while we are there! A lot of my favorite moments are when most of the kids are outside and we have time to sit inside with a couple kids. We have some quiet time to hold the kids who otherwise wouldn't leave their wheelchairs. I also love singing to them! I really can't sing...but the three of us will often break out into song and I think the kids like it! We spent almost an hour last week just singing broadway songs...and another day was full of disney songs. The workers laugh sometimes, but I think they like seeing the kids happy. It is hard communicating with the workers. It is usually like an intense game of charades...and we keep guessing until we either get what they said, or just nod and say "da" so we can move on. I think they talk about us a lot...we just have no clue what they are saying. I am picking up a couple words and phrases, and trying to learn more, so hopefully the communication will get better!

The orphanage workers are very interested in my hair...I always have it up while I am with the kids, but sometimes I will let it down because Monica wants to play with it and the workers are always surprised. They point at it and say "natural?" and when I say yes they just look amazed and talk about it haha I guess there aren't many girls with blonde curly hair here. It is cute though and always flattering!

Life here is so different from life in America...I don't think I really realized how spoiled I am until I got here. I miss air conditioning so much haha it is really hot! And most places we go don't have air conditioning. The orphanage, school, and hospital are always really warm...we sweat all day and then come home to a hot apartment, but at night if we open the windows we can sometimes get a nice breeze! I love grocery shopping here!! Auschan has everything we need! And it is so cheap! The chocolate is fantastic. And I found peanut butter! Yay! It is a little different..but it still tastes great! Taxis here are cheap too! It is a little over a 30 minute walk to the hospital, but yesterday we decided to take a taxi and it was only 7 lei...which is less than $2!

I love being a part of the branch here! They are so welcoming and make an effort to invite us to things! Today there was a branch activity at the botanical garden! Lots of members showed up and we all walked around, then sat by a lake and had a little picnic. It was super hot...but the gardens were beautiful. Our group is still in charge of the branch family home evening every Tuesday night and that is always a lot of fun! Usually only two or three member show up, but we still have a good time! Last week we played charades and this week we played around the world pingpong...we try to come up with games that aren't ruined by the language barrier, then the missionaries help translate instructions and it goes pretty well! We are also in charge of teaching Relief Society for the next two weeks so that will be pretty cool!

Botanical Garden with the Soras

The workers in the orphanage usually have the radio on, so along with the American songs we hear all the time there are also a couple Romanian pop songs that we have become familiar with...and I really like them! Cammy and I had fun the other night trying to learn the words...haha they are catchy and it is fun when we can actually recognize some words or phrases in them! Just in case you are interested, here are the links to them!

Nu Sunt by Nicoleta Nuca: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JOZdYD-fp0M
Inimi Desenate by Delia: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8PGFUwKjFyo
Si Ingerii au Demonii Lor by Dan Bittman: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xia2Gs6MqmM

I got a real taste of being homesick this week...there are so many great things about Romania, but I do    miss home a lot. I am so grateful for my wonderful mom who is patient and kind and will sit there and let me just cry and talk about life here! I have a hard time talking to her about the kids without crying...I am already a sensitive person, so sometimes being around the kids or hearing about their situations is a lot for me to handle emotionally. Some days my heart just breaks for these great kids. It  is hard, but I am so grateful for every day here and wouldn't trade this experience for anything!

We are also busy planning our week long trip! I am so excited about it! I feel like such an adult booking plane tickets, train tickets, and hostels around Europe. Planning is stressful...but I think it will be a ton of fun!

Something I am really grateful for is the wonderful group I am here with! I don't think I would be able to survive this without them. We are from different places and go to different schools and have different personalities, but somehow we all ended up here together and I know there is a reason for that. I am amazed at the love and talents that each person has. Cammy, our head teacher and amazing friend, has done so much and none of us would be able to handle this without her! I am so happy to have Brandon and Anya here with us too. They have been such a blessing to our group! They speak Romanian and have been able to help us with so much! Plus, they are pretty much the cutest married couple ever and are so fun to be around! And all of the other girls are wonderful! They have really become my best friends!

One last thing! The orphanage and the kids I am working with are in need of wheelchairs. Almost all of the kids in my room, and many others, use them. They have some and occasionally get new ones, but most of them are worn down and many kids who should be in a wheelchair have to use a stroller and are then tied in with scarves to hold them up. They also need new strollers and walkers. I was told this before I came, but didn't realize how needed these items are until I started working with the children. In order to get the orphans what they need, my amazing mom is going to set up a fundraiser sometime next week and I am so excited about it!! Thinking about some of these kids I love so much actually getting a new wheelchair makes me want to cry. So stay tuned for more details! If the family and friends of all the members in our group get involved, and hopefully even more people, I know we can make a huge difference in this orphanage!!

Well that is about it! Romania is amazing and I am still so happy to be here!!

Love,
Madeline

Our Weekend in Braşov

Hello everyone! Romania is still amazing! I love it here and I love all of the work we are doing. I look forward to being with the children every day! This past weekend we had Friday and Monday off, so we took a trip to a city called Braşov and it was way better than I ever imagined it would be! I guess I will just start from the very beginning....

Friday:

Friday morning we all got up at about 4:30 am and were out of the apartments by 5:30. It was so cold, which is weird because it has been super hot the entire time we have been here. We hopped in taxis and went to the maxi taxi station. Luckily, we had a big group so we got to take a bus there! We filled about half of the bus and there were strangers on the other half. It took us about 6 hours to get there and it was a little rough. Drivers here are just so crazy...I thought we were going to die multiple times on the bus. Funniest part of the whole bus ride? At one point, our driver slammed on his breaks and apparantly someone in the back had a huge open bottle of a dark colored alcoholic beverage. So naturally, the liquid goes spraying everywhere!! It got all over the floor and on our clothes and it was super gross! The whole bus smelled for the next three hours. Things like this are just funny to me, so I just sat there and laughed and everything turned out to be ok. 

We got to Braşov right before one, almost got scammed by a taxi driver, and were successfully lost by two. We eventually found our hostel and it was perfect! The owner was so sweet and gave us the upstairs bedroom which basically had two lines of beds. It was so fun! After dropping our stuff off, we went to Bran Castle(Dracula's Castle)! I am so glad we got to go there! The castle was different than I thought it would be, but it was so interesting to see and had an amazing view!

Our next stop was the Răşnow Fortress! It was at the top of a mountain and the view was stunning! 

Saturday:

Saturday morning we got up and made the drive to Peleş Castle. It was the summer home of the first Romanian royal family and it was fantastic! If you are ever in Romania, make sure you see it! I liked it way more than Bran! I was just in awe throughout the whole tour! 

My Lovely Group

After that, we went on the şapte scări(seven ladders) hike. Wow...probably the best(and scariest) hike I have ever been on! It was gorgeous! It is called seven ladders because you are in a canyon with waterfalls and have to climb up seven ladders(go figure) during the hike. My fear of heights made that a little intimidating, but we did it and it was completely worth it! The scariest and tallest ladder was just straight up and the water was splashing and you felt like you were going to fall at any second...but it was pretty awesome! I don't have any pictures that can help you see how beautiful that canyon was, but just try to imagine it!

This was probably the scariest part..

This is me...slightly terrified....

Sunday:

We were all looking forward to going to the branch on Sunday, but there was a district conference and so they weren't holding normal meetings. So instead, we walked around the city and explored. Can I just say how much I love Braşov??? It is magical!! It is so cute and colorful and I hope I can go back one day! It is completely different from Iaşi(where we live) so it was super fun to explore! Our hostel was about 10 minutes from centru so we spent a lot of time there. We went inside the Black Church and found the narrowest street in Europe(strada sforii)! It was so fun! 

Centru

Isn't it so cute?!

The Black Church

Strada Sforii

Strada Sforii

Drummers that we saw during dinner

Monday:

Monday was our last day there, but we still had some fun! We spent the morning going to the Braşov sign! We took a tram up there and the view was great! You could see the whole city! After we were done we hiked back down. The ride home was another six hours...but I didn't mind too much. We drove past fields and through mountains and it was beautiful! Everything was so green! 

Well it is nice to be home. It is still a little weird calling Iaşi my home for now, but that is what it feels like. The best part about coming home is being back with the children! We have had a great week at the orphanage! Those kids are amazing. I love them all so much! I said in another blog post that they only eat mush...but good news, they don't always eat that! Sometimes, especially when they are celebrating a holiday or birthday, they get cookies or cake! That makes me happy for them! 

Yesterday inspectors came to the orphanage so it was even cleaner than normal! They keep it very clean...but yesterday the children were dressed more nicely than normal(they looked adorable!) and the kids with feeding tubes had fresh tape over them and everyone was snot free! It was a happy day! Other days are not so happy...the orphanage workers are fantastic and are great with the kids, but it is hard for one or two workers to take care of 15 kids that all need attention. It is such a hard job, and sometimes they are having bad days or are tired and you can really tell. Earlier this week was one of those days. They were a little more rough than usual with the kids and a little snappier, which is sometimes hard to watch. When one of my favorite little girls(the one that can't use her legs but is the only one who can talk in our room) was with us she got scolded...I am not sure what they told her because it was all in Romanian, but it really upset her and they wouldn't let us hold her. She is always so happy, so to see her that upset was hard. I just tried to hug her when I could and do little things to make her smile again. I just wanted to hold her in my arms all day and tell her that she is loved and that she is special and wonderful. She is such a sweet girl! The days after that have been better though, so I just have to remember that I can't control how the workers feel, but I am there to love those kids and that is exactly what I can do when the workers are having a hard day. 

I love this country so much! Thank you everyone for your support! I love you all!

Love,

Madeline