Day 9

Going back to work this morning was tough. I can't seem to get enough sleep; there's always so much to do! We got back from our weekend trip around 8:30, had dinner, then I Skyped Dennis and Gus, washed whites from the weekend and hung them up to dry, cleaned up, downloaded a few pictures, and called it a night. It's amazing how much you can miss simple conveniences like a washer and dryer. I have to handwash my clothes, wring them out, hang them so they'll drip in the bathtub, and every time Terri or I want to take a bath, I have to move my line of wet clothing. As you drive through small towns and big towns in Romania, you see clothes lines filled with people's laundry hanging from lines secured to apartment balconies, draped across porches, or blowing in the wind in yards.

Today one of our students, Paola, presented her movie. It was beautifully done and it captured her personality and spirit to a tee. She even shared some of her art, which is just incredible. I won't post it to protect her privacy, but I copied to my flash drive and she gave me permission to show it to my kids at school. What a treasure! I also got a book about Barlad and the surrounding county from one of our students, Anna, whose father is in charge of the local art council. The pictures are incredible, and most of the information is in three languages: English, French, and Romanian.

We talked about the Roma people today and students' perception of the gypsies. We encountered some gypsies on our travels as well as in Barlad, so we were interested to hear what our students would say about them. Most of our students disliked them, calling them lazy thieves. A few of our students had gypsy friends, though their friends didn't quite live the way their parents and grandparents did. They had become assimilated into Romanian society, attended school, and didn't try to stand out from the average Romanian student. We talked about racism and prejudice in the US and Romania, and we came to the conclusion that as long as there are human differences, there will probably always be these negative stereotypes. Later my students read a poem about the Internet and we talked about what a dominant role the internet plays in all of our lives. The poem was very positive, so we discussed the negative aspects of the Internet and most students agreed that playing video games and chatting for hours wasn't the best use of their time. Then Oana gave us a preview of her presentation for tomorrow. I'm still amazed that students volunteered to make videos of their lives; I've never had an American student volunteer for work! Trent's group took him to the supermarket so he could buy peanut butter and other necessities to get him through the week. Interestingly enough, it's really hard to find peanut butter here. It just hasn't caught on because it isn't widely available, but we've been sharing what others brought, especially at breakfast. Some meals here just aren't very filling. It seems to be feast or famine--nothing in between.

This afternoon I'm updating my blog, and if I have time, I'll start making a movie. I'm going over at 5:30 to feed the babies. I don't have to wear a mask at last, so I won't have to worry about little hands trying to pull it off my face or struggling to see the baby I'm holding. Five team members left this weekend, so we're down to 13. Next weekend, 4 more will leave, and 2 don't go to the clinic at all. That leaves 7 people to do the work 17 did. I'll let you know how that works out!