Thursday, May 30, 2013

Learning about each child

The kids were a little bit crankier today, Luca and Luchianna especially, but there might be a cold going around causing all the crankiness. It’s still great to come to the hospital. The novelty hasn’t worn off. Every day is a little bit different and we learning more about each child and what we can do to make them happy. For Luca if you shake his belly and shoulders I can usually get him to laugh. Luchianna just wants someone to hold her all the time to be happy. Today we did a lot of “teaching” with sign language with Gabby and Alina and then went to the middle school. I’m a little nervous about what we will be doing and how to open the students up to us. But at night, we were able to be Mihaela’s guests at the high school prom where we met some very nice and welcoming students and learned some Romanian dance traditions. It was definitely an experience we will never forget!


Entry submitted by: Sara 

Tuesday, May 28, 2013

Children warming up to us

Today was our second day at the hospital and we felt as if we have been at the hospital forever. We all kind of strayed to certain kids and started developing a daily pattern. The kids started to warm up to us and cry when we leave. It was a pretty average day, but it was a great day to learn the routines of the hospital!


Entry submitted by: Jamie 

Monday, May 27, 2013

Screams of happiness on our first day

Today was our first at the hospital! We went in a little nervous but were welcomed by Alina’s scream of what I hope was excited happiness. Most of the morning we played and began to learn names (we knew them all at the end of the day!) No one was really crying or causing trouble yet. Just lots of big ones from Emma and Luca! After lunch we had another snack and I had my first baby spit up ever from Luchianna and spent the rest of the afternoon making sure everyone was comfortable. It feels great to have started the work we came here to do and I’m excited to get to know the kids here and see what we can do for them.


Entry submitted by: Sara 

Sunday, May 26, 2013

Our first full day in Barlad

Today was our first full day in Barlad! Sara, our teammate, and I met our team leader, Mihaela, for the first time as well as her and Dan’s daughter, Delea. It was Delea’s tenth birthday so we were invited to her party at one of their favorite restaurants. It was a very cool experience to be able to compare their birthday traditions to ours. After that, there was a cultural festival right next to our hotel where a famous Romanian singer named Smiley was performing and all the girls were so excited. Even though we were too exhausted to go, we opened our window and got to hear the concert. It was overall a successful first day but we are excited for our first day at the hospital tomorrow.


Entry submitted by: Jamie