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!
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!
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| Us after our stroll in the rain |
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| 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
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