Orfelinatul (The Orphanage)

Hello everyone! What a week it has been. I can't believe that I have only been here for a little over a week. I feel like I have been here for a month because of everything that has happened. That being said, living in a completely foreign country has not gotten any easier in the last seven days. Monday through Thursday were pretty laid back as we just did some sight seeing. I finally got to go inside the beautiful Palace! They turned it into a four part museum that you can tour. It was pretty cool to see some of the history of where I have been living and I attached some pictures below. We also decided one day that we were sick of being stuck in our apartment and so we ventured out into the busy streets of Iasi. Quite honestly, we didn't find anything super exciting but we are still getting to know the city and I am very hopeful for different results on our next blind quest.

A beautiful Monastery in Iasi

My group sitting in front of the Opera house

They had these cool glass floors in the palace showing underground tunnels!

The beautiful inside of the Palace

So last week I gave you a small glimpse of the apartment that I so enthusiastically call my home. Well, I can confidently say that it has even more character than I originally thought possible. I discovered that I am building a relationship with the apartment and it responds to me in the same way that I respond to it. Let me give you some examples. Because this week was so crazy, I often found myself tired and hungry. Like most cases, these symptoms almost always lead to complaining. And my poor little apartment happened to be on the receiving end of my not so happy attitude. One day in particular, I was complaining about the way in which we are suppose to wash our clothes. We have to line dry everything and I DO NOT like the texture my clothes have when they line dry. So due to my ungrateful attitude, our small little washing machine decides to stop mid-cycle and hold my roommates entire wardrobe hostage inside. We literally cannot get them out of the machine. It may be small but boy is it mighty. So now not only do we have no dryer, but I have to hand wash each and every piece of clothing I have. But wait...it gets better. Last night I was skyping a friend and I showed her my tiny kitchen and was complaining about how our water is leaking and our sink is moldy, and our fridge sorta works when all of a sudden, a pipe underneath our kitchen sink explodes. Okay, it didn't actually explode but I kid you not, dirty water was dispersing all over the kitchen floor!! It was like a scene from a movie. So I go flying into the bathroom where my poor roommate is mid shower as I'm yelling at her to turn off the water. Once we all realized what was going on, we also realized that we have no clue what to do. We can't communicate with our neighbors, no one was answering the phone, and we have no idea who our landlord is. Finally we got a hold of some people and the water stopped on its own. So we wiped up the gross water with our towels and went to bed. Meanwhile I'm also trying to figure out how we are going to wash these dirty towels with no washing machine. Let's just say that there is never a dull moment in our moody little apartment.

Anyways, I learned my lesson this week and I am determined to be much more positive. So here is my positive outlook on some of the many unfortunate parts of my adventure so far. 1. Yes my washing machine decided to break down mid cycle and steal my roommates clothes. Oh, and there are no instructions on how to use the machine by the way, just some little symbols which mean absolutely nothing to me. But here is the bright side: Upon arriving to the apartment we found various sticky notes taped to certain items with instructions. The instructions that they decided to leave us for the washing machine were as follows: "WARNING: Be sure to unplug the washing machine when not using. It has been known to electrocute us when we touch the inside when it is plugged in". And there you have it! Without this warning I probably would have tried to get the clothes out prior to unplugging it which would have resulted in the electrocution of myself. So thank you to the kind girls who lived here before us for protecting our safety even though they failed to mention how on earth to use the dumb machine. 2. Okay my second positive outlook is related to our food situation. As I mentioned previously, we get catered two meals a day. I have quickly learned that European portion sizes are much smaller than American portion sizes. Also that they REALLY like cabbage. I have attached some pictures below of some of the meals I have had the delight of eating and as you can hopefully tell, we have yet to be impressed. But here is my positive outlook on it all: Some of the cheapest items at the grocery store are Oreos, chocolate bars, ice cream, and chips. So at least I wont starve. Oh and also (minus pretty much everything I just mentioned), due to small portion sizes-I won't get fat! 3. My last positive outlook is about the exploding pipes in my kitchen. I thought long and hard about this one and well, lets just say that at least my floors will be somewhat cleaner once we're done cleaning it all up.

This stuff was GOOD...

Now, let me tell you why coming to Romania is worth each and every misfortune that could possibly come my way in the next four months. This week I had the pleasure of meeting some of the most influential and important people that I will ever have the privilege of knowing. There are about 50 of them and most are under 3 feet tall. Meeting the kids in the orphanage was above and beyond what I was expecting. I didn't know that such tiny humans could have such a big hold on my heart in the short minutes I got to spend with them. The actual building is fairly large and consists of five sections. The first section consists mostly of infants and children under the age of two. Most of the newborn babies are actually healthy and don't stay for too long. Most of the 1 and 2 year olds however have varying degrees of disabilities. The babies usually come to the hospital after being abandoned in the hospital when they are born. There are two rooms full of cribs where the babies sleep and a third room where they play. This is my favorite room in the orphanage because when I walked in I was greeted by 7 baby bounce-around's that were full of smiling babies looking up at me. I almost started laughing because the bounce-around's barely fit in the room and I just imagined the babies all playing bumper cars together with them. There is also a room in this section with about five kids who are a bit older. These kids are the sickest kids in the orphanage and they unfortunately have lived a majority of their lives in the hospital or in their cribs. Our job with them is to rub their backs, hold them, and talk or sing to them. All these kids want is love. The rest of the sections in the orphanage have a similar layout. There is one big playroom with two smaller rooms filled with cribs or beds for them to sleep in. Two sections have the kids who are higher functioning and therefore are more energetic. They still have disabilities but love playing with toys and playing outside on all of the orphanage playgrounds. The fourth section consists of kids who are a bit more fragile but still able to walk around for the most part. These kids were so sweet and quickly stole my heart. The last section was another one of my favorites. This section had two rooms with five cribs in each. These kids had such limited function that they hardly ever leave their cribs. Some may be blind or deaf and the only thing they respond to is touch and sometimes sound. However, the simple act of placing my hand on their skin was enough to light up their face. Depending on what position the child was laying on I rubbed their back or tickled their tummy or just pushed the hair out of their face. Each time, the child would instantly calm down and smile and stare at my face as I sang to them or told them how special they were. This one little boy in particular especially touched my heart. I placed my hand on his tummy and he immediately wrapped his arms around it and held onto my hand as hard as he possibly could. Then he would just get the cutest little smile and start laughing. It was in that moment that I knew that I would not want to leave these kids in December. I already miss them and it has been two days!

The outside of the orphanage!

This is a bounce-around for those of you who had no idea what I was talking about. Seriously though, can you imagine 7 of these things shoved together in a tiny room full of bouncing babies? Hilarious!

Next week we will start working in the apartments and hospital and I will tell you all about it. In order to give the kids consistency I will only be working in one section of the orphanage and I will find out which section that will be tonight. Although I cannot communicate with these kids, they have already taught me more about life than anything else I have experienced in the past twenty years. I CANNOT wait to see what else I will learn these next four months.

Here are a few more pictures we took while exploring: