black sea, baby kisses, and some randoms

So this week it has been nice to kind of relax a little bit and see what life is like around here without a short term team around. We have mostly spent time this week preparing for the "GIRLY CAMPS" that will be starting on July 2nd. We are doing two of these camps for the older girls from the different orphanages that H2H works with. At each camp there will be 12 girls. We are going to be discussing things like self worth, self image, etc. I am really excited about it. So we have been painting and doing crafts to get ready for that, as well as for the rest of the camps that will be held at the girls transition house later this summer, after the girly camps. The other camps are for the younger kids, so we spent time making pinatas with balloons and paper mache. Then we painted them yesterday.

It has been a fun week. On Monday we went to the baby hospital in the afternoon. It was my first time back at the baby hospital since two years ago. I was not very excited to go, in fact I was a little nervous, and didn't really want to. I remembered the hospital being this awful place. I remember it being hot and disgusting, leaving with a terrible headache, and not ever wanting to go back. So I needed a new baby hospital experience. One of the best things about this week is that it has been really nice outside, so inside the baby hospital it wasn't too bad. It was a little warm, but not like I was melting. I fell in love with this precious little one named Maria. She has curly, crazy dark brown hair, a smile to die for, and a giggle that reminds me of a toy baby doll. She is just around 6 months old and she is sooooo cute. I was so glad that I got to meet her. There are so many other precious little ones there too.

Tuesday we went to the Girl's house to do some more cleaning and prepping for camps that are going to be there throughout the summer. I got to weed and hoe the garden. It was raining, not too hard, but it was a good things because it made the weeds easier to pull out. We got to spend that evening just kind of relaxing a little bit.

Wednesday we went to the Black Sea to see the kids from Peris. The kids are there all this week, it is a nice break for them, but it has been kind of rainy and gross all week so the majority of their trip has been spent indoors. But when we were there even though it was raining for some of the time, we were able to play outside and go walk to the beach, and hang out with them. I got to put my feet in the Black Sea and got some sea shells. Here are some pictures.

Monica and I walking on the beach

Monica and I on the beach

Me at the Black Sea!!

Krysten (the other intern) and I have been able to spend some time with the married couple on staff, Mark and Rebecca. They have been on staff since last september. They are super fun and it has been nice getting to know them over the past few weeks. Thursday night Krysten and I went to Mark and Rebecca's apartment in Bucharest to have dinner with them and just hang out. Mark made us a very yummy dinner. It was my first time in a block building and in the elevator I was super nervous. But this elevator is so small. When people told me that you can fit 4 people into it i thought they were just kidding. On the sign outside of it, it says 4 people is the MAX number you can put into one of those things. There were 4 of us in it, and we might have been able to fit two more people... if we were all squished together. You close the doors yourself and the whole thing clunks a lot, but you have to wait for the right clunk to open the door when you get to the bottom. Here is a picture of Krysten and I in the elevator.


After dinner, since it was kind of a nice night out we didn't want to stay inside so we went for a walk in search of Gogosi. Gogosi (pronounced-Go-go-sh)is like a donut with sugar on the outside. Although we did not find Gogosi, we did find a sweet park. In this park was a playground... and not just any playground. This was a playground for adults. So like any children at heart... the four of us played on many of the things at this park. We had lots of fun there!! After we'd had our fun on the playground we continued our walk around the park where we went around a lake. We ended up going back towards Mark and Rebecca's apartment -- still Gogosi-less -- but instead found this other delicious dessert type thing. I don't remember what it was called, but it was dough, flattened into one long strip and then wound around to make a cylinder shape. The four of us split it and it was actually pretty good. When we got back to their apartment we had some really good conversation while we were waiting for Jenny to come pick us up. It was a really fun night and hopefully we will be able to do it one more time before I leave to go home.. at the end of the summer of course.

Krysten and I playing on the spinning see-saw
Krysten and I in front of the waterfall at the park

Yesterday was a staff meeting in the morning, basically laying out our whole summer and who will be where and how we will be getting there from now until august 6th. Our summer is going to be crazy busy, but crazy fun. Starting tomorrow I will be staying at either the staff apartment near the girls transition house, or at the girls transition house for about the next two weeks. We will be there doing our two girly camps while the boys are up in the mountains with the older boys from three orphanages. After that I will be heading down to the boys transition house for another two weeks doing camps down there. After that it is back to the girls transition house for more camps with the younger kids. When that is done we will finally be able to relax a little bit and take a breath before I come home on August 14th. It is going to go so fast.

In the afternoon yesterday, again we went to the baby hospital. This time I was really looking forward to it, I went in the same room that I was in on Monday, but yesterday more of the kids from that room went to play upstairs for a while (including Maria). So there were only two babies left and Rebecca and I were both in that room, so we each got a baby. For almost 2 hours I held one little girl without a name, that we call Missy. She is 5 1/2 months old and I don't think she sat still the whole time that I was holding her. But when the other kids came back I wanted to hold and play with some of the other kids too, and since Missy had been spoiled for most of the time, by being held every time I laid her down she would cry. Eventually it was time for them to eat so she was fine after that. After I changed Maria, I had to say goodbye to her, knowing that she could be gone by the next time I get to the baby hospital since it will probably be at least a month before I go there again. I was tickling her to hear her precious giggle and giving her kisses and she started giving kisses back. Big, Sloppy, Wet, open-mouthed baby kisses. But I didn't care. I would have stayed there all day doing that.

Today has been nice, we cleaned and refreshed the entire team house today. This place is glistening from being so clean. It also smells very strongly of Pine Sol since we washed ALL of the floors (minus the rugs) with the stuff. We also cleaned the cars inside and out. At least the house and the cars are all ready for summer!!! It has also been a great evening for Krysten and myself. We got the house to ourselves while the staff is gone to a wedding. We went to the store to pick up some things, we made dinner together, had a great time of sharing, and now we are getting ready to watch a movie. I am excited to hang out with her and get to know her more this summer, as well as get to know the rest of the staff.

Some things to pray for:
-- That the teams that will be arriving soon (tomorrow and later this week) will arrive safely with their luggage and the supplies they are bringing over
-- For all of the H2H vehicles that will be traveling hundreds and hundreds of miles this summer, that they will all be safe with their oh so precious cargo of children and team and staff.
-- That our teams will do well together.
-- That the girly camps will be able to minister well to the girls coming and that we will be able to help them see that they are all precious and worth so much more than they are told.

Monica

So there is a girl at the orphanage. Her name is Monica. She is 17 years old. She is precious. Some people wouldn't say so, but I know for a fact that she is a precious child of God and that she is beautiful in his sight. For this reason, among others I love her to pieces.

We met a few days ago. She came up to me and called me Blonda and asked me what was up. I told her nothing, and since I can only speak a little Romanian, we sat there in silence. She held my hand.

We have hung out a few times since then, using a translator for the things that I cannot understand. But today, we hung out and took lots of silly pictures together, played jump rope, talked to the teachers, and just walked around a bit. She continued to hold my hand. As I was leaving today, this was our conversation:

Monica: "Ma iubeste?" (Do you love me?)
Me: "DA! Te iubesc!" (YES! I love you!)
Monica: "sa nu minti" (Don't lie)
Me: "Serios, Te iubesc." (Serious, I love you)
Monica: "Sigur?" (You sure?)
Me: "DA!!!" (YES!!)

I could not say that and mean it in my own strength, but only with God's love can I love this precious girl. Even if hers is the only life I touch this trip, it is worth it. It is worth every second I spend with her. It is worth every giggle and every tear that may or may not fall. She is precious. Love is so easy for me. I feel like because I have been loved so much in my life by so many people who are important to me, that I have truly been shown how to just pour out that love. And today Monica needed that love. And today, I had it to give to her.

1 John 4:18-19 There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love. We love because he first loved us

Here is a picture of Monica and I from today.

graduation, two sweet days, and a castle visit.

So Sunday was graduation. We went to church in the morning, then came back to the team house to finish preparing for graduation. It was fun to see some of the previous transition grads. Some of the girls who I met before and have talked to on Skype a few times, as well as some of the boys who were in the boys house when I was there. Graduation was awesome. It was so cool to see the girls (especially Silvia and Catalina) graduate. I was so proud of Silvia. I cried when she got her diploma. After the actual ceremony it was craziness... there were many, many young adults here on a super hot day with a pool in the backyard. So we went swimming. It was fun, but the pool ended up soooooo dirty by the end of the day. It is still trying to get back to normal after almost 5 days. But that doesnt matter. It was fun and it was cool to see the family and community that has formed between these graduates. I was hanging out with 5 girls at one point and at the time I didn't know, but they were all girls from Alexandria, only two of them I knew were from there. They had all come from there and through the program. The other three had been at Alexandria before me. I enjoyed getting to know them a little bit. So here are some pictures from that day.




My last three days have been really, really cool. On Tuesday the team was going to visit the boys transition house, which was where I stayed the last time I was here, for the most part. It is also very close to Alexandria. There was also an errand that needed to be run for some of the girls who graduated from the transition program. They needed to head down to the southern part of Romania to pick up their bulletins. Their bulletins are their id, how they get a job, and basically just saying that they exist. So while the team went to the boys house, I got to go with Jenny, Silvia and Catalina to a place called Zimnicea to get the girls bulletins. This was very exciting and Catalina kept saying, I exist now. They liked their pictures and were very happy.


On our way back from Zimnicea, we were going to the boys house but we had to go through Alexandria. We needed to stop at the school/apartments to hand out the invitations to seven of the girls for the girly camp we are doing in a few weeks. So seven of the girls were invited from Alexandria. We pulled into the parking lot and as I was getting out of the van one of the girls was across the street and she recognized me immediately. After Elena, I think she was the girl I connected with the most there. Her name is Lavinia. She ran across the street shouting "AMANDAAAA, you came back!!!" She ran up to me and hugged me and held my hand just like she used to. After her, a bunch of the other girls came out and remembered me as well. I was so excited for that. I cant wait to go be with them this summer. I wish I had taken pictures there.

Then yesterday (Wednesday) was a super packed awesome day again. We were able to go to an orphanage with the really little kids. Not babies, but the kids who are like ages 3-7 with some of their older siblings there as well. There were not too many kids there, but they were so fun and SOOOOO cute!!! We had bubbles and balls and balloons and chalk and coloring books... and the best thing of all-- a parachute!! A very colorful parachute. These kids were not only cute, but they were polite also. They answer in proper sentence form when asked a question, and they call women and men by the proper title (Doamne/Domnul which basically just means Ms/Mrs/Mr). I have never been called Doamne so many times in my life. I got to hang out with two precious little girls. One was 3 years old and one was 5 years old. They stole my heart for sure. I hope I will get to go back to that orphanage before I leave.



That afternoon we got to spend some time at Peris where I played probably at least 20 games of "Go Fish" where I only won one game. It was a fun but hot day.

Today was a little more relaxed. First we went to a glass factory where they make their own hand blown glass. That was really cool to watch, I didn't buy anything though. After that we stopped for lunch at McDonalds where I got my favorite thing. The Royal Deluxe Burger. IT WAS SO YUMMY!!! Then we drove up to Sinaia today to see the summer castle of the first Romanian king. It was really cool, we took a tour and everything. It was a little cloudy and rainy, but the temperature was nice... not too hot, not too cold. After the castle we went to the orthodox monastery in Sinaia and just looked around for a few mins. On the way back I fell asleep for almost the whole way.

Now it is definitely bedtime. We are going back to Peris tomorrow to hang out with the kids there again. As well as doing some shopping in the morning tomorrow. I will try and keep this updated as often as I can.

I also started a photobucket account to post my pictures on since my facebook is being ridiculous. The link for that is:
here

It is taking a while for all of my pictures tonight, but I will post more as I have time to. Enjoy them and I will post again soon.

superheroes, princesses, and preparations

So the last few days have been a lot of fun as well as packed. It has been disgustingly hot, but a good last few days. The day after my last post was the last day of school for the kids in the orphanage. They got to have a celebration program which included dancing, skits, and awards for the top kids in each class.


One of my favorite things of that day was being able to see Silvia. I met Silvia in Alexandria when I was here. She is now about to graduate from the transition program tomorrow and she has grown up so much in the last two years. She is still as beautiful as ever and I was so happy to see her. She remembered who I was, and she remembered laughing with me in the forest in Alexandria. That made my heart smile a lot. This is her and I from the other day.


The program lasted until about 1:00, then we were invited in to each lunch with the kids in the orphanage. This is apparently a special honor. It was amazing to see how the kids were making sure that we had room to sit, that we had enough food, that we got drinks and silverware, etc. They can be so caring and giving. Many times with orphans we feel like we are the only ones that can give or care in the situation but, some of the time we need to be taken care of too. When an orphan is taking care of you it is a very humbling experience indeed.

After lunch that day we had a "carnival" for the kids.The ones who had participated in the Heart to Heart program throughout the school year were able to dress up as princesses and superheroes. We gave them a tunnel entrance to superhero music while we were blowing bubbles at them. Then there were just a bunch of games to go with the lessons they have learned throughout their year. Here are some pictures from that:



The next day we went to the Girls Transition House to do some cleaning inside and outside getting the house ready for the summer ministries that will be happening there soon. Today while the team went on the revolution tour with Jim, Kyrsten and I stayed at the team house and helped prepare it and clean it for the party tomorrow. Tomorrow is the graduation and party of the kids in the transition programs who have made it through this year. We will be going to church at 1 p.m. then coming back here and getting ready to party. Then we will have the celebration with this year's graduates as well as past graduates of the program who are invited back. I am really excited about this and will hopefully see some of the people I know.

Hopefully I will blog again soon.

Prayer Requests: The team that is here-- that they will continue to bond and daily remember why they are here. That all will stay healthy on this trip.
Myself: That I will be open to doing whatever God has planned for me here. That I can stay healthy. That I will be able to bond with the team here now, the other intern, the staff, and the future teams i will be on eventually this summer. Also just in general for what I will be doing when I get back from Romania.

Thanks guys. I love you all. Thank you for your support of my trip and for everything!!!

delays, luggage, and new friends.

Buna Ziua friends!
I have made it to Bucharest in one piece. The trip here seemed very, very long but it was definitely worth it because I am back here!! My flight from Detroit to Amsterdam was originally supposed to leave at 9:50 p.m. well... of course there was some problem with the computer on the plane and it was a problem that took 2 hours to fix and we ended up leaving shortly after midnight. So we originally boarded the plane an hour before we were supposed to take off, then ended up being on the plane for 2 more hours before we could actually take off, making my time sitting on the plane at the gate 3 hours. This made my original 7 1/2 hours on a plane, 10 hours on a plane... Not so much fun. When my plane landed in Amsterdam (2 hours late) I had only 35 minutes from when my flight landed to when my other plane to Bucharest was leaving. In Amsterdam it takes usually about 10 minutes to taxi from the runway to the gate, and our flight was not an exception. So this gave me only 25 more minutes. I was pretty far back in the plane so it took at least 10 minutes for me to get off the plane, now I only had 15 minutes before my other plane was LEAVING... not boarding. When I looked to see where I had to go, my gate was totally on another side of the airport. So I had to run (on the moving sidewalks) to get to where I needed to be. When I got to the gate I still needed to check in and go through security again (in Amsterdam you go through security right before you board the plane at your gate). The lady at the counter told me that my luggage was not going to make my flight if and if I wanted to stay with my luggage I would have had to wait to get on another flight was was leaving 7 hours later. The last thing I wanted to do was stay in a foreign airport, by myself, for seven hours... so I told her I didn't care about my luggage and I wanted to get on the plane. So finally I made it onto that plane, with just minutes to spare. When I got to Bucharest I had to go file a missing luggage report which was interesting and made me use the little bit of Romanian that I know in order to tell the lady where to send my bag, what color it was, etc.

After that little adventure I was able to meet up with my team. There are six from a church in Clarksville, California, two from Minnesota, and then another intern Krysten (I am sure you will hear lots about her in my blog) and myself. Krysten actually didn't get in until 1:50 a.m. this morning (Wednesday) and I actually went with Jen to go get her from the airport. Krysten and I are going to be on this Tenderfoot team until they leave next Sunday. Today (Wednesday) my luggage came this morning during orientation!!!! I was so excited!! Then after lunch our team split up into two mini teams. One part of the team went to the Baby Hospital, the other went to Peris (one of the orphanages that Heart to Heart works with). I was in the group that went to Peris. I have heard and seen so much about this orphanage just from other friends who have been here, or staff, or whatever. I finally got to meet the kids that I feel like I already knew from the pictures and the stories. It was nice to finally meet them. I was so excited to use some of my Romanian again. It was interesting how fast things came back to me when I was around the kids. I still don't know very much, but the little I do know was very helpful.

It was interesting to experience a co-ed orphanage. It was a very unique experience as opposed to the all girls school that I was at in Alexandria. It is really cool though. It is so different, but not in a bad way. I am excited to go there tomorrow and at other times during the next few weeks and throughout my trip. We have a big day at Peris tomorrow. It is the kids last day of school so there is a ceremony that promotes the kids on to the next grade, a program of things prepared by some of the students (things like dance routines and stuff). Then after lunch there is a "carnival" complete with superheroes and games. But I will maybe post a blog about that tomorrow night.

Right now I am super tired, so I think that is enough for now. I will leave a list of prayer requests when I post my next blog. Until then la revedere si noapte buna (goodbye and goodnight).

five days.

this feeling is so surreal. i cannot believe i am going back... and in five days. it still seems so far away. maybe that is because i have been so busy and need to slow down, or maybe it is because it feels like i have been counting down for so long that it never seemed like it would get here. today i bought some stuff that i needed to get for our super team crafts. i bought 8 rolls of plastic lanyard string!!!!!!!! it is quite possibly my favorite craft item EVERRRRRR. i dont know if the kids will be excited about it or if my team will be excited about it, but i sure am excited about it. haha that sounds silly... i am excited about plastic lanyard string to make friendship bracelets. i will be buying beads within the next couple of days. i need to start my laundry and begin packing. this is going to be a great summer... i can just feel it!!!!!!! five days!!!!