Spitalul (The Hospital)

This past week blew by so quickly. It is so hard to believe that I have already been here for a month. At times I feel as though I arrived in Romania just yesterday and at other times I feel a sense of home and familiarity as if I have always lived here. Those are my favorite moments; when I am walking down the street or sitting by the Palace and I feel a sense of belonging. I can't even imagine leaving this place only to never come back. I have grown closer to the other girls here and the fact that I may not see some of them again after I leave also makes me sad.

Our portion sizes of meals are very small and the food can be very bland. We decided to go out and eat and I have never enjoyed a cheeseburger so much. It tasted a little like home!

A beautiful park we found. It has some cute little jewelry stands and many gelato shops so you can bet that I will be back to this place. It will be beautiful when the leaves start changing colors.

This week was much easier at the orphanage because we are starting to really get to know our kids and get the hang of how things work. My kiddo that I will introduce this week is nicknamed my little teddy bear. He is about to turn three and is the sweetest little boy I have ever met. He is so chubby and loves to sit on your lap and snuggle. One of my favorite moments with him is when we were outside and I was sitting on the porch swing in the playground. He had found a baby doll and carried it over to where I was sitting. He climbed up right next to me and snuggled up under my arm. Then he held the baby like it was real and started rocking it back and forth and singing to it like a lullaby. My heart absolutely melted!! I started singing with him (even though the words were just Romanian gibberish) and we sat like that swinging and singing for probable 15 minutes. Another thing he loves to do is dance. When we come inside we sometimes put on music and he stops whatever he is doing and starts dancing around. Then at the end of every song he would start clapping enthusiastically while yelling "Bravo!!". However, because my little teddy bear is completely healthy, they decided to send him to the apartments until they find him a permanent home. This is good news because it will help him transition into a great family eventually but I will miss him terribly. Thankfully, a few times a week I get to go visit the kids at the apartments so I will get to still see him every once in a while.

This week I had the opportunity to go to the Hospital where I will be volunteering for the first time. It was quite the eye-opening experience. I go with a few other girls and we walk along the floors of the hospital asking the nurses "Copii fara mama?" which means "Children without mothers?". More often than not the nurses say no and shew us away because they don't want to deal with us. But on a good day, the nurses will direct us to the rooms of children who are abandoned or whose family doesn't have time to come visit very often and we get to sit and play with them for a little bit. The ages of the kids vary from week old babies to teenagers. The teenagers are hard because they don't speak English and I definitely don't speak well enough Romanian so we can just say hi and introduce ourselves. We can play with the younger kids more and we bring bubbles and coloring books to entertain them. Most of the little babies are too sick to pick up and play with so we just give them the affection and physical contact that they desperately need.

The hospital. The conditions are not the best. There are 3-5 patients in each room and right now they can't afford AC so the rooms are all about 80 degrees!

There was one baby girl I saw who was only a few weeks old. She had been abandoned and had a heart problem and was too small to pick up so I put my finger up to her tiny hand and she grabbed on with all the strength she had. She did not stop crying the entire time that we were there and it broke my heart. The only thing the nurse told us about her was "she needs affection". All of these poor children live with less than the bare necessities and all they crave is affection. So many times we take affection for granted. These kids just want one hug, one kiss, one smile given to them, or even a warm hand to cling onto for just a few moments. They need some way to know that they are not as alone as they feel. It is such a simple thing to give yet many people ignore the need or shrug off it's importance. After witnessing this over and over again on a daily basis, I am going to try a little harder to be a little better at giving a little more affection to the world.

Romanian Orphans make me a whole lot of happy.

I was listening to a General Conference talk this morning and it was about how we can more successfully be God's hands. One thing that the speaker said was that we need to "throw away the mirror, and look through the window". My entire life I have been looking in a mirror. I'd like to think that it was a somewhat transparent mirror as I have always tried to be considerate of other's needs and feelings. Nevertheless, I have been focusing on my own reflection throughout my life. Coming to Romania was a big decision for me and I knew that I would be able to touch these children's lives. However, I am willingly admitting that I was looking at the mirror more than looking through the window. I knew that I would have the opportunity to go on these big vacations and see the world and that this experience would change me. I was excited to make my own reflection in the mirror brighter and better. However, after getting to know all of these wonderful children, I have chosen to make a bigger effort to throw away the mirror, and look through the window at all of their beautiful faces instead. By looking through the window, I can focus on how to make their reflections brighter and better instead of mine. I have been so blessed in my life and I know my individual worth as a child of God. In order to truly be His hands, I need to help these kids see their worth in their reflections as well. This mean I need to stop complaining about broken sinks and noisy neighbors, and start making sacrifices without seeing it as a burden.

On a bit of a lighter note, my apartment has a new pet! Unfortunately it is not a brown or black puppy like I suggested getting last week. Instead, we have an obnoxious, inconsiderate, stubborn, and very noisy pigeon living in our kitchen pantry. It's not actually living in our kitchen pantry, but the only thing separating it from us is an old screen. This bird has been with us since day one and apparently is planning on remaining with us all winter as it has already begun building its nest. Now this pigeon isn't your average run of the mill city bird. I think it has social anxiety as it never ever ever leaves our pantry. Ever. That wouldn't be a problem except that I think it also has brain damage and it's ability to stop making bird noises is broken. It is constantly making the obnoxious noises that pigeons make. You know when people listen to horrible singers and say, "They sound like a dying bird"? Well I can assure everyone that no sound is as bad as the sound this bird makes and it isn't even dying!! We are in the process of coming up with a way to get rid of it in a more civilized manor and I will keep you updated on the bird status. Although at this rate, the decision we come to will most likely not be so civilized.

It is literally a box in our pantry with a screen separating the bird from us. The bird is probably out getting it's daily meal but don't worry-it will be back soon to eat it so we can all hear. 

This will be my last blog post for a few weeks because on Friday I leave for Greece for ten days! I will update when I can but thank you for reading and sending your love and support. Below are some pictures from the Botanical gardens that me and the girls visited this week. Until next time!