WUDDUP. Okay so I wanted to do a separate post talking just about the orphanage, hospital, and kindergarten, since that's the whole reason I'm here! Last week was a little crazy with our schedule because we were just figuring things out and getting paperwork completed before we could officially start. This week has been the first week where we've had a set schedule that will pretty much be the same throughout the semester. I know my life here in Romania may seem like it's filled with endless amounts of gelato, prancing around the Palas at all hours of the day, and going to cool places in Romania, but that's only a small part of it (shocker)!!!!!! Each place we work at is hard as well as physically and emotionally draining, but it's so worth it knowing I'm focusing all my time on charity. Volunteering at all three of these places has really opened my eyes as to how blessed I am in America. It makes me really sad now to think of how much I took advantage of the things I had back at home and how good I really have it. 

I'm doing this program in Romania through the ILP, which has about 8 locations in total. The program I'm doing is a lot different from the others because the other ones focus all of their time on teaching English to kids for about 4 hours a day while we split our time between the three places. 

ORPHANAGE

We are at the orphanage Monday-Friday from 9-12pm. Last Wednesday, we toured the orphanage and got to know the director, Teo, who showed us all the rooms and told us a little about the children. There are 5 different rooms: Isolation, Mickey Mouse 1, Mickey Mouse 2, Bambi 1, and Bambi 2. There are also 2 transitional apartments about 25 minutes away with about 6 kids in each apartment, and the 4 volunteers that go there will take a bus to get there. Each room varies in kids depending on age and severity on disability. Sadly, we aren't allowed to take pictures of the kids or the rooms inside the orphanage or use the exact name of any of the children. 

The first day was a little hard for me. I seriously had to hold back tears so many times, and a lot of the other girls felt the same way. Pretty much all of the kids in the orphanage have disabilities of some sort, and it honestly breaks your heart to see them. There aren't enough workers in the orphanage to give every child the attention that they need, and so they often lay in their bed or wheelchair for a long time. It makes me wish that I was born with more than two arms so that I could hold and cuddle and play with each one at the same time. 

The second time we went, we spent about 30 minutes in each room. This was so that we were able to get a better sense of what each room was like and help us decide which one we wanted to stay in the whole summer. I loved each room, and the kids are all soo cute, but I definitely felt that I should be in Isolation. This is the room with all of the little babies, sooo I don't think I need to explain why I wanted it haha. Since there are only 2 people in each room, on Sunday we got together as a group and decided which room everyone was assigned to. I was able to get Isolation and I love it so far!
I've been there the past week everyday (except for Monday because I was sick), but oh my gosh do I love it. There are 3 different rooms in Isolation: one for the little babies all about under 1 year, one for the toddlers, and then the third room is with the severely disabled little kids with various ages. There are about 20 kids in total in Isolation, and only about 2-3 workers there everyday. The workers there do a lot of work and are awesome, but they just don't have the time to give each child the attention and love they need. Buuuuut that's where I come in! Most of the babies have some sort of disability, ranging from heart problems to Fetal Alcohol Syndrome to a growth defect, but that definitely doesn't make any of them less cute because ooooh myyyy goooosh they are adorable.
It seriously makes me so happy when I pick up a baby and they just burst out in the HAPPIEST little smile and giggle the whole time. But at the same time it breaks my heart because it just shows how little they are held and how little of attention they are given, and almost all of the kids in there aren't taken out of their rooms or allowed to just crawl around. But just know that I love each and everyone of those kids in there, and the end of this semester will honestly break my heart to a million pieces.

KINDERGARTEN
Okay so as much as the orphanage is making me baby hungry, the kindergarten makes me want to take birth control for the rest of my life. haha so it's a nice balance! So I'm at the kindergarten from 4-5:30 on Monday, Wednesday, and Thursday. There are 2 floors and each floor has 2 sets about 5-6 kids. We teach 25 minute lessons to 3/4 groups, and the type of lesson you teach depends on the subject you are assigned for the day. This is the second semester these kids have been taught English lessons, sooooo let's just say they're getting used to it. I just never knew a small group of 6 year olds could hold the power in their small little bodies to make you want to sit in a corner and cry. Amazing!!! Haha well not all of the kids are like that, and they're sloowly getting better each time. BUT, I will say that is cool to know that I have this opportunity to teach kids a whole new language. Just please say a lil prayer for me because teaching 6 year olds is definitely not my calling in life haha.

HOSPITAL

I'm at the hospital the other days I'm not at the kindergarten, so Tuesday and Friday from 2-4pm. It takes us about 30 minutes to get there, and the hospital is... a little worn down haha. It's interesting to see the huge difference between children hospitals in America and here, seriously be so grateful for the healthcare we have in America. Each room has multiple beds in it and there are windows that connect all of the rooms, so there isn't any privacy. We change into scrubs and different shoes, and then go to each floor and ask the nurses "Aveti copii fara mama?" This basically means "are there kids without mothers?" When there is a child without any family there, we usually just go in and play with them or try and comfort them depending on how healthy they are. It's sad to see these sick kids  in a state of great discomfort and with nobody familiar around. I can't even imagine, so I'm glad the hospital is one of the places we are able to go so that we can help them as much as we can. I've only been to the hospital twice so far, so I'll have more to talk about later on in the semester!

I was on my way home from the hospital today with one of the girls Sydney, and we were talking about this whole experience. Yes it's sometimes really hard, hot, and heartbreaking to see what these precious kids have to go through, BUT this is an experience that we will never ever forget. I'm excited to see the progress I will have made as a person and where my testimony will be at the end of the summer because I've definitely already seen a difference in myself and it's only the beginning. Doing hard things is where you grow the most! Okeeeee talk to you soon!

Kara

HI. Woohoooo another post! This past Saturday my group went on a small day trip to a fortress and 3 monasteries, and I loved seeing each one. We left at about 8 am and got back around 6 pm. Mario (our coordinator here who helps with everything) got us the same bus driver and bus who took us from Bucharest to Iasi when we first got to Romania, and he was awesome! He went with us each time we walked around the areas we went, and he told us about the history of the place. It took about 2 hours to get to the first place, but I loved the drive there because we went through little towns and some really pretty open fields. One thing that I really love about Romania is the amount of greenery here. There are trees and plants all around the city. Everywhere we went on our day trip was in the middle of a forest and surrounded by trees, and it was sososo pretty. 

The first place we went to was a fortress in the city of Neamt, and it was probably my favorite! The fortress was built in the 1400's, and it was so cool. There were a bunch of artifacts, pictures, and funny looking mannequins that helped you see what life was like back then. There's definitely not anything like this in America, so I thought it was so cool to be in a place that once was used for battlegrounds and living so many years ago. 

Me and my roommate Emma! Pissed bc she wouldn't take off her traditional Romanian shirt that morning and I had to unwillingly be twins with her ALL DAY. (lol jk love you emma).

My 3 roommates! Love dem. We watch a movie every night and eat Kinder Eggs pretty often, sooo we're pretty close already haha.

The next 3 places we went were all monasteries from the Romanian Orthodox religion, and they were all pretty close to each other. Our driver, Teo, was saying that there are so many throughout the area. All three were pretty similar, but each time I went inside the church I was blown away by the amazing paintings and detail that went the interiors. There were paintings of saints all over the walls that were really old and a bunch of gold detailing too. You felt very peaceful inside and definitely could tell it was a place of worship. I have much respect for those who dedicate their whole lives to their religion like the priests (I think that's what they're called in the Orthodox church?), and I loved how they all had these massive beards. Props 2 U. 

Overall, it was an amazing trip and I loved seeing it all! I'm sosososo excited for all the other trips we are going to take. 

Kara

HEY. Man I've just been so good at posting on here!!!! Haha not. Sorry I'll try to be better! This past week has been a little crazy. We've just been touring the city more, getting into the routine of our schedule at the hospital, school, and orphanage, and getting adjusted to living in Romania. It's still crazy to think I'll be here for 3 months! I find myself sometimes looking forward to being back in America, but then I slap myself (hypothetically of course) and think "hey you're in freaking EUROPE so get over the fact that you eat potatoes everyday." But yes, Romania is soo much different from the US. There really hasn't been anything that I've been totally shocked over, but there have been a few things that surprised me:

-Everything is so cheap here! 4 Lei equals about $1, and I can get some goooood food at the food court at the mall for anywhere between 10-17 Lei. I can also get some really good gelato for 5 Lei. Which you can probably understand why it's so hard not to eat it everyday. 

-People typically aren't the most friendliest haha. It's been weird for me and everyone in my group to get over the habit of smiling at people in the street because nobody ever ever smiles back. And they probably think we are all crazy. Even the people who work at the grocery store aren't friendly either! I'm used to seeing a nice friendly smile whenever I check out at the grocery store in the US and not the stone-cold glare I get here. My roommate Madeline says it's probably because they don't have clothes dryers here. Makes sense. 

-People dress nicely and there are barely any overweight people. I don't think I've really seen anyone who is dressed like a slob. Everyone looks so nice and put together! I would also like to know how everyone here stays thin, considering they eat bread with every meal and so many carbs haha. 

-The drivers here are a little crazy. They seriously go down these small roads at like 40 mph, so you really have to pay attention to where you are walking or else you'll get plowed over haha. The crosswalks are interesting here too. You usually just walk straight into the street when it's a crosswalk, and the cars will stop for you. Even if you don't think they'll stop for you because they're coming at you at like 30 mph, they will. I feel like when I'm at home and anytime a pedestrian walks on the cross walk when I'm 20 ft away I get so agitated haha. But everyone here is used to it! They don't get mad or honk.

Those are the main things that I've noticed while being here for the past couple weeks, but I'm sure I'll have more by the next month! I love it and know Romania will always have a special place in my heart (just lol'd at how cheesy that was). 

A picture from the red bridge we cross everyday! 

Getting gelato with my head teacher/roommate Cammy from Betty Ice

Me, Sabrina, and Sydney in front of the cute lil church building. There are about 20 branch members, and it's so inspirational to see how dedicated they are to the church with so few of them! Definitely a testimony builder for me.

 A time-lapse of me and my 3 roommates going from our apartment to go get gelato across the street

Kara

hey hey! I've been in Romania for 3 full days now, so I pretty much know everything there is to know about Iasi and the culture fyi. Ask me anything. Haha totally kidding. BUT I do know there is good gelato, all the food is super cheap, there aren't very many blondes, and I love it. 

We aren't starting any of the teaching or working until next week, so the past few days we've just exploring part of the city. Everyone besides me and my roommate Madeline lost their luggage while flying here because of a mixup with the flights, so it's been a struggle for them trying to get clothes and everything they need. I'm actually super surprised that didn't happen to me considering I feel like I have bad luck on that kind of stuff haha. But other than that everything has been so fun! I haven't even cried once from being homesick, and this is the girl that cried everyday when I went to EFY for a week when I was 15!! #peoplecanchange. But it helps a lot to have such a super awesome group of girls. There's 14 of us total, and we get along super well and love each other already. Well unless they're really good at being secretive about talking crap about me behind my back. 

The culture is a lot different from here, and it's so weird being in a place where not a lot of people speak English. And we definitely get a lot of stares because of the fact that most of us look very non-romanian and are a lot louder than the norm here haha. One thing I love about Iasi is the architecture. There are a ton of different churches, which I love, and the Palas is definitely one of my favorite buildings. 

As for food, some of it is reaaaally good and some is not aaaaaas good haha. We get a stipend for breakfast from ILP for a certain amount of Lei per day that allows us to buy whatever we want to eat for breakfast. For lunch and dinner, there's a catering service that delivers the food to us each day at a certain time. The first day wasn't too bad because it was fried chicken and fries for lunch, and then a type of meatloaf and fries for dinner. The second day was more interesting haha. The lunch we had consisted of mamaliga (unseasoned cornmeal aka stuff I would feed my 10 month old niece) and samale (cabbage rolls with pork, rice, and tomatoes inside. That one was a little better). The flavors are just way different from America, obviously. I'm going to try my best to be open minded and try everything though. As for street food, there is gelato everywhere (totally okay with that) and pretzels. There are a lot of different types of pretzels, and Romanians love them. Which I'm all like ya you keep loving your pretzels bc I'm also totally okay with that. Keep 'em coming. There's a huge grocery store called Auchun that we usually go to, which I'm excited about because they have KINDER EGGS galore and I want to try a bunch of random Romanian snack foods to try as well. 

Oookay well I'm going to try and write often on here, mostly because I know people are just dyyyyyyyyyyyying to know every detail and have nothing else to do with their lives that could possibly be better. 

La Revedere! 

(I google translated that.) 

The Palas

 The Palas, again.

Eating gelato with my roommate Madeline... in front of the Palas.

 Random building I liked.

 A closer look of my gelato because why not. 

With my roommate Emma... at the Palas omg!!!!!!!!! It's like I love it or something!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Kara

Hi hi! So this summer I will be volunteering in Iasi, Romania through the International Language Program (ILP). I will not only teaching English to kindergarteners, but volunteering in an orphanage with children who have disabilities and spending time with kids in a hospital who don't have parents. I left early Tuesday and traveled for about 36 hours (omg that suuuucked). I've been here for about 12 hours and it's way different from the U.S., but I already love it! I'm using this blog just to let my family and friends know what I'm up to! 

Kara