Playing

Today we played music
and danced to songs like "acorn brown" and "the ants go marching
one by one". Alina showed us her marching skills while saying
"march" in her mouse's voice, Luca danced with Andrew, another
volunteer, and Delia danced back and forth in her seat. 



We then had a
fantastic time playing with bubbles! Gabby especially loved to make the bubbles
pop with her nose! Luca wasn't quite sure what to think of them. I blew some
bubbles for Cleo, Lavinia and Emanuela - we got some big smiles from them. Even
Delia was flipping over in her crib to get to the bubbles I blew for her! 



Afterwards we were
given the sad news that Gabby and Lavinia would be going back to the placement
center today. We said our sad "Pa"s to them as they got ready to
leave. We each were left thinking “I just wish I had more time to spend with
them.”

 

 

Laughter

Today was our second day at the hospital. It was wonderful to arrive in the morning and already see looks of happy familiarity on the children's faces. We got right to work, taking children outside, for walks down the hall, or for cuddles in a cozy chair. The day continued as it started, full of laughter (and some tears), songs, dancing, and lots of "Oh, he/she is so sweet!  A particularly funny moment came when a male member of our team attempted to pick out a new outfit for Luca. Despite an honest effort, Luca ended up in a too-short shirt and mismatched pants. He, of course, did not care one bit about his outfit, and we all had a good laugh.

 It is wonderful to hear the laughter in the halls throughout the day. Although it is a tiring day, the tiredness is more than made up for by the warmth of the children and staff. We're looking forward to another full and fulfilling day tomorrow!

More Firsts

Today was our [the newly arrived volunteers] first full day in Romania. We all slept well after a long travel day and met at 8 for breakfast and then to go over our team goals before headlining off to the hospital.

Walking in I was excited and nervous, I had read and heard about what to expect but to meet these children and work with them hands on was unlike anything I had prepared myself for. We walked around and were introduced to the children and the nurses. Bonds seemed to be made instantly between each team member and the children. Some team members took the older children outside while others sat entertaining the younger or were in the nursery caring for the infants. The children varied in age and disability but each responded warmly to and returned our affection. Throughout the day we all took on different roles trying to make sure each child received much needed attention. We took a break for lunch and enjoyed a wonderful Italian meal at Trattoria de Vinci before returning to the hospital. Once back we resumed our roles with the children and began to help get them ready for bed.  We all left tired but happy after a wonderful first day with these amazing children. 

A Surprise

Today Lori had two classes of intermediate students in the morning. Today the school was having an Open House and many parents and community members were about, as well as other children. Things were really humming. Between the two morning classes, a TV reporter came to interview Lori. She asked: “What is your project?” Lori explained that Global Volunteers come to help the host community achieve their goals; we don’t come to tell people what to do. And an interesting observation: This interview was totally conducted in English, and the camera man spoke very good English too.

A surprise arrived in the afternoon. Lori had been expecting groups of beginner students, but instead some were students from yesterday who are more advanced than beginners. It took a bit of modification to come with a different lesson using only the flash cards that were in Lori’s bag for beginner lessons. One thing is certain—what these kids know – they really know. They have not learned English by rote memory. They have real concepts attached to the words. And every class today did Hokey-Pokey! That’s a lot of Hokey-Pokey!

When Dan was returning Lori to the hotel, the heavens opened and Bârlad had an intense thunderstorm.  We tried to get the computer to attach to the internet, but discovered the hotel’s internet was down.  We gave up for a later try. Finally at 5:30 PM there was a successful connection to the internet on the first floor sitting area.  Mihaela arrived at 7 to take Lori to dinner, again at Restaurant Alona , and she shared  that the other volunteers were on the train coming from Bucharest.  At 9:00 PM Dan, Mihaela, and Lori  met the arriving volunteers at the train station, and we all returned to the hotel, where the arriving volunteers had a late supper, and plans were made for a team meeting after breakfast on Wednesday.  Then they asked if there was a trick to getting connected to the internet and that brought laughter considering the work done in the past two days to make a connection. However, before bedtime, all of the newly arriving volunteers were in the first floor sitting area of the hotel easily connected to the internet and assuring everyone they had arrived in Bârlad.