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| 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!
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| 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
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