Video at Last

It has been a busy, hectic month. Returning to school late has made me feel inherently, perpetually behind. But my library is back in pretty good order and I finally had some time to work on a video of my Romania experience. I made a video while I was in Romania using Windows Moviemaker, but it was sixteen minutes long and I didn't really do a good job editing it. I'm presenting at the TLA District 8 Conference in October, so I wanted to re-envision the video portion of my presentation. I used Animoto this time, and I think the video is pretty slick and sharp now. I don't know how they do it, but the slides seem to advance with the music and the effects seem to go along with the music, too. So here it is: a video that encapsulates my three-week, life-changing experience!

Last Day in Bucharest

Back to Bucharest to Otopeni International Airport and a night at the Angelo

The view from my hotel room window

My room: a nice change of pace

After a night without much sleep and a 5 hour van ride to Bucharest, I made it to the Angelo Airport Hotel. Dan was so kind to have the driver drop me off here and also to drop Trevor and Delta off at their hotel, the Confort Rin, which isn't too far from where I am. I'm a two minute drive to the International Departure terminal at Otopeni Airport. In fact, I can see incoming planes from my hotel room window, and I hope I can catch one as it comes in for a landing. Hilarious; I just got up a second after I wrote this, and I caught a plane coming in. I hope I can get a better picture than the one I got later. I can't hear a thing even though I'm so close to a runway, believe it or not. This hotel must be well insulated.

I'm thankful for a little bit of luxury after three weeks that weren't very luxurious. The hotel room is a nice shade of green, which is a great change from the yellow that Romanians seem to favor. I have a comfy, soft king-sized bed, a sitting area, a stocked mini-bar, a bathroom equipped with shampoo and a hair dryer, and room service (if I can find the menu anywhere, that is). Although I'd really love to be headed home, this is a nice break from traveling and it's great to have some quiet time for introspection and relaxation. I caught Dennis on Skype before he headed out to his golf game, and we're both really excited that I'll be home tomorrow. I won't be leaving him for a three week stretch ever again; if I do this again, he has to come with me.

This has been an incredible experience, even though it was hard to be away for so long. I have to admit that I teared up again as Bogdan waved goodbye to us. This is really funny. We had two waiters during our stay at Pensiunea Raluca. They were both named Bogdan, so we called the dark-haired one Bogdan 1, and the blond-headed one Bogdan 2 (not to their faces, of course). Bogdan 1 finally warmed up to us by the last week. He joined the group for Tuica (pronounced swica) on the patio one night, and he even shared some of his homemade variety (which is much better than the store-bought kind). Tuica is plum brandy, and it will knock your socks off. I didn't make it out there in time to partake, unfortunately, but it was great to hear that he did it. He even talked about his family. He started smiling at us a little the last week, too. We got a few pictures of him, and we're talking about getting shirts made with his picture and the phrase "Bogdan rules" on it to remind us of our three weeks in Tutova. It's funny how people become part of your life and how meaningful these connections are. To me, Bogdan's friendliness was symbolic of acceptance. By the end of week 3, I truly felt a part of the Tutova and Barlad communities. It's a feeling you can never get as a tourist.

A top five list from Romania:
5. If you don't like tomatoes, you'll have a hard time at Romanian meals--breakfast, lunch, and dinner! Some days were really rough for me!
4. If you can't get homemade Tuica, don't bother. Thanks, Mihaela, for a taste of the good stuff!
3. Phillip Morris will never go out of business as long as they have a plant in Romania; people smoke like chimneys here!
2. Romanian television--sensationalized, dramatic, and quite entertaining. It's on in every restaurant. We watched animal cruelty, car/train accidents, and child abuse stories every night at dinner. By the last day we resorted to pretending that the body bags were laundry bags (there was a horrible train/car accident that killed 24 people in Iasi yesterday, and the images were gruesome) so we could eat our meals.
1. Romanian drivers are a breed of their own. They're fast, fearless, and fanatical. Hope you don't get behind a vehicle with Russian plates, because if you do, you might not live to see another day, especially if Halim is your driver!

I will never forget the time I've spent here. I had to come halfway around the world to get here, but I'm so glad I did. Thanks, Fund for Teachers. This was truly incredible.

Day 20: The Last Day at the Clinic

Precious Mihaela; if I could pack her in my suitcase, I would!

A little hair pull from my favorite gal

Delta let me hold "her" baby, Daniela, for a minute

This gizmo works great; put a crying Marius in it, and magic!

Susan and the birthday girl, Alexandra

It wasn't easy saying goodbye at the clinic, either. We celebrated Alexandra's birthday with cake, said our goodbyes to the clinic physician, Dr. Delia, and spent a few precious last hours with the babies. I'm not so good with the bottle feeders, but I can deal with those toddlers! I spent most of my last afternoon hugging and playing with Mihaela, Ionela, and Sami, with occasional visits from some other kiddoes and volunteers. Sami and I had a great time playing ball, and Mihaela and Ionela gave me a good arm workout with all the climbing and holding on they did. It's a good thing Americans can't adopt anymore because if we could, I would have found a way to take Mihaela with me. I love them all, but she really stole my heart. I'm so thankful I've spent some precious moments with them, and I hope none of them will be at the clinic next year but will be in good, loving Romanian homes instead. Noapte Buna, sweet ones! Pa!

Day 20: The Last Day at School

Cosmin scaring Andrew

Musical Chairs; Andrea won (she's in the red wizard hat)

Me and Alix

Me and Trent's girls (mine, too!): Monica and Oana. Can I bring them home with me?

It looks bad, but it was a game--pass the gummy thing! Me and Radu

Halloween came in August this year. We decided we'd have some fun today and celebrate the time we've shared together by throwing a Halloween party for the kids. They--and we--had a great time.

Today was a lot harder than I thought it would be. Yes, I cried. I'm ready to come home, but these teenagers have really won special places in my heart. I will miss them terribly, and I wish I could bring them all home with me! Getting to know them and becoming a part of their lives for this short period of time has been one of the most incredible experiences of my life. I can honestly say that I feel about these kids the way I've always felt about my students at the end of each school year. They are kind, compassionate, considerate, wonderful kids; their parents should be so proud, and I'm sure they are. I learned much more from them than they learned from me. Most importantly, they've given me hope that the world can be a better place and that future generations will make it so. La Revedere, students. I will miss you! Multumesc!

Day 19

Cosmin and Andrew holding up their victory eclairs; Andrew beat me soundly in Scrabble (with a little help from Cosmin and me--just call me a softie)

Mihaela, Dailia, and Mihaela's Mom, who is a superb cook!

Dinner at Mihaela's: what a treat! Chicken & vegetable meatballs are to die for!

Another good day at school, followed by our last dinner out. Mihaela had the ten of us who stayed all three weeks over to dinner last night at her apartment. Her mom cooked for us, and, of course, it was the best meal we ate in all the three weeks. The teachers had already sampled her meatballs one afternoon when Mihaela had to stop by her apartment, so we knew what we were in for. Fresh grapes and plums straight from the farmer's market, meatballs and polenta, roasted chicken with vegetables, and a yummy cake from Mihaela's favorite bakery for dessert. Those who didn't stay all three weeks really missed out!

Day 18

Mihaela having a good swing

Trevor and Ionela are burying Sami's legs

Me holding Ema

Today was pretty uneventful. I played two games of Scrabble--one with Alix and Radu, and then a rematch with Eduard joining the three of us. I won the first game, so the guys wanted to get vengeance. They did. Alix won by a landslide and gloated profusely. Alix and Radu were kind enough to take me to the post office. I bought a postcard from Bran for my mother-in-law two weeks ago and kept forgetting to mail it. The funny thing is that neither one of them had ever been to the post office before and had no idea what to do. We get in line and Alix bought my 4 lei stamp for me. We dropped the postcard in the mailbox outside and wished it bon voyage. I asked them if their parents used the mail to pay bills. They told me no. They can pay a few bills online, the guys told me, but most of the local bills like utilities need to be paid in cash at the company offices. Now I'm understanding a little better why several generations live together. There needs to be several people earning paychecks and at least one person who stays at home to do all of the other work like cooking, cleaning, laundry, shopping, and bill paying. No wonder most Romanians I've seen are in such good shape. They do lots of walking everywhere!

This afternoon I went to the clinic to play with the babies. I held Lea Celine and Andreea (at different times, fortunately--they're both heavy girls), pushed Sami in his swing, and enjoyed a swing and a snuggle with Anna Maria. I tried to feed Andreea her bottle, which she refused. It was too hot, and after it cooled down, she wasn't interested. I have never bottle-fed a baby, so you can imagine how pitiful I looked. I didn't tilt it right, and I didn't know what to do when she wouldn't take it. I told Becca and Amy that I'd better stick with cereal feeding. They were kind and said the first time is always hard. Not having a child of my own and missing out on all these experiences has definitely impacted my ability to help here. The aides just smile at me and shake their heads. I feel pretty foolish. Hopefully I'll get a little more practice with my niece.

Just two more days after tonight. I'm ready to come home!

Days 16 and 17

Another horse and buggy pic

Trevor and Monica at the map pointing out how far away Romania and the US are!

Me at the children's library

Paula holding up a blank patron record at the children's library

The last work week is finally here! It has taken me two days to recuperate from our trip to Bucharest. I've had to take a nap both Monday and Tuesday afternoons, and I'm still tired! School continues as usual. We still have quite a few students showing up for each session. The eleventh graders tend to show up for the first session, and sometimes the ninth and tenth graders stay for both sessions. We work from 9:00 to 1:00. Surprisingly to me, the most difficult thing I've found about this trip is working with some of the volunteers to plan activities. I guess different people have different ideas about how to do things and it can cause conflict. Who knew.

I also think it's important to understand that this isn't a vacation. We're not in an area frequented by tourists. That means some of the amenities we're used to as Americans aren't here and there's no point in complaining about it. I knew going in that this was not a vacation, so I was surprised that some people had the same expectations they would have if they were on a vacation. My advice, for what it's worth: if you want a vacation, take one. If you want to immerse yourself in another culture and you're willing to serve and you're flexible and open-minded, then volunteer. Don't bother to complain about the food, the service, or anything else because it isn't going to change. We're the oddities here, and we have to find a way to fit in.

I've enjoyed working with the students for the past several days. We talked about jobs on Monday, read an article about the top careers that are still good in spite of the economy, compared them to Romanian jobs, and talked about the sad fact that our college experience doesn't give us the technical skills that we need to compete for these jobs. I find over and over again that we share the same problems, frustrations, and concerns. Today the girls took me to the children's library. Again, there must not be a Romanian word for the concept of weeding. The library was full of very old books. I don't think I saw a book that wasn't yellowed with age, dusty, and quite worn. I think the Romanian librarians would be horrified if they saw what I have done for the past two years at the QVMS Library! I'm sure they would love to get the books I had to remove from the collection to make way for new ones. I have lamented not having as much money as I like to buy new books, but after seeing these libraries, I am more thankful for what I have.

We're headed back into Barlad tonight for a little shopping and our second to last dinner out. Time is flying by. Soon it will be time to say our goodbyes.