Day One

After six hours in airports, 14 1/2 hours flying, and 5 hours in an unairconditioned bus, I arrived at the Raluca Hotel in Tutova. Needless to say, I was exhausted. I didn't sleep on the plane from Newark to Rome, but not just because I couldn't sleep. I talked to my seatmates Preston and Bill. Preston is a military chef; from Rome he was headed by train to Naples to meet a military jet that he would join on an around the world trip. His passengers: four star generals. It was fascinating listening to him talk about his career and the many places around the world he's been. He may be heading to Afghanistan in the near future, which, of course, would terrify me. But hearing him talk about the good that our service men are doing in Iran, Afghanistan, and other places around the world--real stories about how they're helping people rebuild their communities and their lives--absolutely touched my heart. We're so fortunate to have such incredible people like Preston who are willing to put their lives on the line to serve our country and to make a difference in the lives of people around the world. He was impressed by what I am doing here in Tutova, but in all honesty, he does far more good than I will ever have the opportunity to do.

Bill is a college professor; he's traveling to Rome, Oslo, and several other fantastic locations in the next few weeks. I can't thank him enough for his kindness and his willingness to help me when I got off the plane in Rome. Unfortunately, though, I didn't heed his advice and didn't do things right. But I made it, met my Global Volunteers team, and headed five hours out of Bucharest to Tutova.

Today has been a day of goal setting, team building, getting to know the incredible people who are hear with me, and enjoying good home-cooked Romanian meals. We also got to go over to the clinic to feed the babies at 3:00 and play with them until they were changed and returned to their cribs at 4:00. I fed a little blonde-headed girl named Ionela when she wasn't too distracted to eat. The girls loved Mihaela's purse and sunglasses and competed to chew on the former and wear the latter. I held Marius while he cried, and after a little bouncing, a lot of walking, and a little pointing out the window and naming what I saw, he stopped crying and held on to me tightly. My arms are sore (not enough baby holding practice) but my heart is full. I've traveled half way around the world, I'm emersed in a culture that is so different from my own, I understand maybe five words of the language, but I know this is going to be an experience to remember. Dinner is soon, so I'll pick up my story later. La revedere!