First things first, I have to apologize for my lack of updates! I can't even claim that I've just been busy, because honestly, I have plenty of time in the evenings and weekends, it's just that I'm so worn out that all I feel like doing is, well... nothing! I've also gotten sick quite a few times (seriously, I think I might be allergic to this city! I actually stayed home again yesterday & today w/ some version of the flu) so that hasn't helped matters any. Anyways, I'm sorry, and I'll try to be better about it for the rest of my time here!
Since it's been so long and I probably could write about 20 pages if I really wanted to (and I doubt any of you have the time or desire to read that much), I figured I'd do this one in bullet-points with just the highlights... no promises that they'll be in chronological order :P
-I took an amazing and unforgettable trip to the north of Romania over New Year's. I had such a blast, and it was Soo beyond refreshing to get out of the city and breath some crisp (although COLD) mountain air!!
-a team from Biola University came for 2 weeks (one of which I was home sick), and were a real blessing. I've decided I like having teams here bc it means that I'm no longer the clueless one!! :P
-communicating has become Much easier. I've gotten less shy about asking what things mean or how to say things, which helps. Due to schedule and me being sick so much, I've only had 2 or 3 official lessons, but I learn something new almost everyday. Immersion is great! (even if it is a little exhausting) I can understand quite a lot now, and I can hold a basic conversation. The most frustrating thing to me is that I can follow a conversation or story pretty well, but if a kid comes up and asks me something out of nowhere, most of the time I have no clue. That look of disappointment/frustration on a kid's face when you don't understand them is one of the most heartbreaking things in the world...
-starting in mid-January, I've been able to go to #6 orphanage usually twice a week, which is amazing bc the kids we work with there are (mostly) between 3 & 5 years old. I love these little ones so much!! They always attack us with hugs when we get there, and are just so full of energy. A few of them Love playing with my hair (which can be a little painful, as I don't think they quite understand the meaning of the word "ushor" (gentle) yet, but it's worth it!). Maybe this is true for everyone, but it's definitely easier for me to bond with really little kids, so working with them has definitely been encouraging to me.
-a few weeks ago was the semester break for schools here, so the kids had a week off from school, and we got to take some of them on a few "field trips"! We took some older kids from #6 (a few of whom are around when we're there, most of whom I'd never met before) to a Romanian Peasant Museum one day and to a musical version of Cinderella and McDonald's another. The kids all really enjoyed themselves, especially getting to ride on the subway! And eating at McDonald's is always a big treat for them. I got to bond with Costi more, a 12-yr-old boy (I think? forget for sure) who sometimes helps us out with the little ones, during these two trips, and he's such a sweetheart. We also took a few kids from apartment #7 (the only one I go to) out to eat and then to the oldest and biggest park in Bucuresti, and we had a great time. We had one 11-yr-old boy, one girl around 15 and two boys around 14/15. While walking around, the boys noticed that all of the snow from a recent storm had been piled in one area, and there were some other kids playing in it, so of course they wanted to as well. None of my co-workers would join them, which I think is a shame, bc I had an absolute Blast having a snowfight with those 3 boys!! It's probably going to be one of my favorite memories from my whole time here. Even though my fingertips were numb for a good hour afterwards :P
-I gave Ionuts, my favorite boy at #5, a back massage one day (he has Huge knots... a 10-yr-old boy should not be that stressed! so sad) and I actually put him to sleep! He can have some real behavioral issues, and I'm pretty positive he's medicated most of the time, but I can tell he's such a sweetheart underneath it all. When we were leaving, I think he gave me about 5 hugs in response to the massage. Precious boy :)
-Four of the girls from Chitila get to go to swimming lessons at a local school twice a week, and the in last two weeks I've finally got to join them twice. They have 25 minutes of time in the lane pool, following the instructor's directions (pretty basic for them), and then 25 minutes of free time in a shallow warm pool. It's so fun to watch them in the water, especially goofing around during free time! The instructor was telling me last week about how when they first started coming they didn't interact with the other kids there at all, but now after 3 months, they all play with everyone. It's such an awesome thing for the girls, not only to learn how to swim, but also to get some valuable experience in interacting with kids from outside the orphanage and school, and of course just the chance to have some fun! I wrote a short article about it that CTL will be putting on their website, and I'll post a link to that once they do.
-In general, my relationships with a lot of the girls at Chitila have gotten a lot closer in the past month or so, which I am so grateful for. Valentina, my favorite girl (I think bc she's a lot like me :P) & one that goes to swimming, has really started showing me a lot of affection. I feel kind of silly saying that my relationships have grown with kids, bc it's not like I have deep conversations with them or anything like that, but just in the level of affection they show me and how much they attempt to communicate with me, I can tell when walls are starting to break down. And once walls come down, I know that whatever love I show them might really make a difference.
-#7 orphanage is generally a crazy jungle. But there's one girl there, Marimar (10), who's taken a liking to me ever since I let her beat me relentlessly at tic-tac-toe my first time there. She's told my co-workers repeatedly that we're friends, asked about me when I wasn't there, and told me she missed me when I hadn't seen her in a while. She also told me once that I would be really pretty if I wore make-up! Lol... she definitely has no trouble speaking her mind. She's kind of a tom-boy... not in the way she dresses, but in her take-charge attitude, but she's also extremely affectionate. Like, chokes me with her hugs kind of affectionate. Which can be a little unsettling (esp at first), but also pretty awesome bc I definitely don't see her being that affectionate with many people, so I feel privileged. Anyways, March 1 was Woman's Day here in RO, and March 8 is Mother's Day. For both, little gifts called "martsishoara" are given to women - usually a flower pin to wear on your left shoulder. Last Friday, we had the girls from #7 come to the office to make some martsishoara and play some games. I was standing near the front door when they got there, and when Marimar walked up, (before she saw me) the first thing she said/yelled was "Where's Panda?!" (oh yeah, btw, a lot of the kids call me panda... explanation later) and then gave me a huge hug. She went inside, and then a moment later found me again to give me a martsishoara that they had bought on the way here. She only gave another to one other woman I work with. So sweet of her!! She was pretty much attached to my hip the entire afternoon, and even made me a martsishoara too. Love her! :)
-my cousin Quinn, who is an airline pilot, had a flight to Bucuresti a couple weeks ago, so he got to spend one night and the next morning with me! I got to show him around my favorite part of the city, and we had a great lunch at a very traditional Romanian restaurant. We thought he would be back through on his way home for another day, but the airline changed his flights, but it was still so good to see him!!
OK, I'm sure I could probably think of more, but I think I already negated the point of using bullets :P Sorry! I would post pictures, but that takes forever with my internet connection here... but I'll try to take my laptop someplace w/ a better connection very soon so that I can!
Once again, thank you all so very very much for allowing me to be here doing this amazing work! Love you all
p.s. It turns out I'm spending a lot less money/month than what CTL had budgeted, so I actually have a surplus of support. Another update coming soon with possible uses for that money!
