First Monday at the clinic

Woke to a dreary, foggy and slightly rainy day. The pleasant weather we had in Bucharest on Sat. is past and it was quite cold today. At least the path to the clinic isn't too muddy.

Lots of hugs and kisses with the aides. It has got to be so hard for them knowing many will be out of work soon. Vale noticed I had lost weight and asked if I was sick. I reassured her that  I wasn't. I asked about her children and she appreciated the inquiry. All of this in my few words of Romanian and nonverbal communication!

On previous trips I have been with the non-mobiles.This time I said I would be with the mobiles. They mobiles though seem to be divided into two groups. The "toddlers" who are more mobile and/or older were in the pre-schoool room with Jane and I was in the big playroom with the twins, Gaby and Marius with Alina in and out. In the afternoon Jane was also with us while the toddlers were with Malika in pre-school. Then after pre-school ended we had the whole gang in the playroom. Jane brought this great silk like fabric tunnel that the children loved. The ones that were reluctant to venture through it liked the texture of the fabric and playing with the outside. Something for everyone.

Felt like I didn't need to do my in-room workout before going to the clinic what with chasing babies, lifting babies, tickling babies, and being bombarded by babies. If only I had more arms and laps  It is fun to see the twins, Marius and Daria walking. Gaby is a little further along in that she is generally more willing to walk but still needs to have both hands held. Alexandra doesn't seem to happy these days. Not sure what is going on with her. Celine taught me the Romanian word for horse when we were in looking at the new musical mobile I brought that has gone in Nicoletta's crib. (Nico is in isolation...again.)

Not sure if it is operator error or my camera or the older children being in constant motion but I didn't get too many great pictures today. Here are the best ones.

 

Me with Gabita

The twins check out the tunnel

 Maria Cleopatra

Roxana and Lily looking out the window

Andreea

Cristi (as noted on his special outfit brought by Jane!)

Marius

Cristi and Jane

Nicoletta

Daria makes it through the tunnel

Alina

Gaby took 1/2 of a plastic easter egg and moved it along the mirror with her mouth

 Andrada

Cathy with Gaby and Andrada

 Ana Maria doing her WC Fields imitation

Maria Alexandra aka pappanoush

Ionut

Getting ready

Spent today in orientation including a quick visit to the clinic. The usual routine of establishing goals and talking about team characteristics had a different flavor. In addition to the more typical goals of caring for the children and learning about the culture, I had a personal goal to stay positive and strong. I especially liked Jane’s goal to “be present.” 

And the usual team characteristic of being flexible also takes on a special meaning in these circumstances. We talked about things like having empathy and patience and the particular need this team to take care of ourselves so we can take care of others. I’m confident that together we will persevere despite the difficult situation.

I was even more excited than usual to arrive at the clinic and see the children. I heard a baby crying and walked in to pick up Ana Maria and found the the room of children all awake. And there across from Ana Maria was my Gabita looking smaller than I remembered but more animated and excited to be picked up. It has been 6 months since I was last here and I can see changes, be they big or small, in some of the children. The twins, Andreea and Roxana are walking and Lea Celine is talking up a storm. Paula is definitely doing better. There are 2 new additions, Andrada and Maria Alexandra aka pappanoush (which is a Romanian donut dessert) and Robin’s BFF. I understand Caroline has been teaching Alina to say “I am an American citizen” to prepare for her entry into the U.S. Although Mihaela did remind us that kidnapping children violates Global’s rules.

At 7 pm we were joined by the waiter Ovi and I’m sure former volunteers and supporters around the world in a few minutes of silence and prayer for the children and staff. We just have to hope and trust that in this dark cloud there will be a silver lining. As I write this I’m remembering that the Chinese character for crisis includes opportunity. Or something like that. We’ll hope for the best.

I usually don't take pictures on the first day at the clinic but plan to take some tomorrow. We don't know if some of the children will be leaving sooner rather than later. Dr. Delia is in Jerusalem, I suspect praying for the children and staff, and will return late Monday. Mihaela hopes to have more information at that time about what is happening and when. Meanwhile, we have a job to do. I'm going to be with the mobiles which will be a change for me as usually I'm with the non-mobiles. Hopefully we can spend time with everyone. So hopefully I will have pictures to post tomorrow.

Prayer Request

Our local host has asked that everyone who is willing and able, pray for the children and the staff on Sunday at 7 p.m. Romanian time (12 p.m. EST).Although with the time change maybe it is a different time. Regardless, say a prayer even if you don't pray...

Uncertainty

I've arrived safely in Tutova, but confess to being more than a little worried about what the next few weeks will bring. Dan picked us up at the airport and said we may hear more definite news on Mon. or Tues. about the timing for the clinic closing and where the children are going. It's strange to think that I left social work many years ago when I decided it was just too hard to feel helpless working with at-risk children. And here I am again. I've gotten more back than I've given these little ones. Wish I could have more hope for their futures.

On a lighter note, there are 5 of us on the team for the next 2 weeks and then 3 for the 3rd week. Although it is sounding like some other former volunteers may try to get here soon to say good bye. Oh wait, I said on a lighter note.  Anyway, the "light" part is that I'm sure we will have a great team. Caroline, Jane and Robin (who has been here and I didn't realize was staying on) are all veterans like me. I had the pleasure of spending today with Cathy, our new volunteer, and as with others I feel like I'm making another friend. We went into Bucharest and went to the Village Museum and the older part of town where I've stayed before. I managed not to get us lost and got us back to the hotel and then to the airport to meet the team.

The weather today was quite nice - not too cold although a bit windy.  I heard it may cool down again though. And Romania changes clocks ahead an hour tonight so I'm losing an hour's sleep twice this year. I didn't sleep much on the plane flights on the way over and I can tell my body clock is off even though we did a lot of walking around and being outside today.

I just may need to sneak over to the clinic tomorrow before orientation starts but then I'm afraid I won't want to leave and come back to the hotel to sit in a meeting. Who wants to be in a meeting when we can be with the babies....
.

Romania Bound

I'm leaving for Romania on March 24th and will be on the March 26th team for 3 weeks. For anyone who can't wait for my blog for news and pictures, check out Caroline's blog, tutovababies.blogspot.com. I volunteered with her before and she always does a great job of posting information. She will be staying for the March 26th team so I get to see her again. A side-benefit of these trips - making new friends.

Driving with Dan

Dan and I set off in his car this morning for Bucharest at the very civilized hour of 8:30 a.m. I suggested we stop at the clinic and pick up Gaby but he didn't seem to think it was a good idea.

Thank goodness Dan is a good driver because the way people pass can get kind of scary. We saw lots of people selling fruits and vegetables on the side of the road especially tomatoes, potatoes, and red onions. We also saw people selling plastic bottles of must (fermented grape juice.) In fact, I saw a sign in a restaurant window today that said, "Avem Must" which I assume means "We have must." (Kind of like when Nouveau Beaujolais appears the end of November!)

When I arrived at my hotel (the Rembrandt in old town Bucharest), I saw lots of stalls with blue awnings. There were about 2 blocks of stalls with different crafts - jewelry, clothes, etc. It was fun to look and since my suit case is so much lighter on the way home I bought a few small things. I also went to the Piata Unirii shopping center to the Diverta store and bought a 3 CD set of music for children in Romanian that I can mail when I get home.

So I just finished typing the team journal (ok, I cheated as I cut and pasted from my blog for the last week.) I also updated the list of the childrens' birthdays. Here they are:

Alexandra                8/16/02

Paula                      9/17/06

Cristi                       12/23/06

Alina                       11/11/07

Ionut                      12/12/07

Ioan                       1/3/08

Lea Celine                2/4/08

Marius                     3/12/08

Gabriela                  3/15/08

Mihaela                   3/15/08

Maria Cleopatra        7/26/08

Andreea                  12/13/08

Daniela                    2/17/09

Petre                       4/18/09

Roxana B.                6/3/09

Andreea B.              6/3/09

Daria Roxana           9/30/09

Raul                        10/19/09

Nicoleta                  11/29/09

Ana Maria               2/10/10

Costel                     4/16/10

And here are some pictures from the road and from the area around the hotel. Wish me luck with my travels home tomorrow. I've charged my computer for movies, my iphone for music, and my Kindle for books. So I should be all set for the long journey.

The window of a wedding store near the hotel (took this for my nephew's Ian's fiancee, Lauren)

Here you can see how the lanes are and how people pass

Avem must

For sale

From a van belonging to some kind of NGO in Bucharest

View from my hotel window - the room is tiny but fine

View from another window in the hotel (I'm on the 6th floor)

Stalls with the BCR bank in the background

There is a glass laid over some ruins and I took this picture where you can see the ruins and the building reflected in the glass

My favorite church in this neighborhood

Shopping arcade - many of the cafes have narghiles (water pipes)

Last Day at the Clinic

On Steve and Lorraine's last day, Steve quoted Dr. Seuss, "Don't cry because it's over; smile because it happened." It has been a wonderful 3 weeks with many smiles. Somehow the leaking shower at the hotel and the overheated play rooms get forgotten and it is the time with the children that is most memorable. I did feel badly that I couldn't spend as much time with some of the babies this week but you just do what you can. I found out the next team member is in her mid-20s so I'm sure she'll have lots of energy compared to me. I am pleased to report that I stayed healthy all 3 weeks. If I get sick on the way home, who cares.

A bit of political news before I talk more about the babies. I heard the demonstration earlier this week made the US news. Today there was an authorized rally of union members in Piata Victorei. The President was supposed to speak and didn't show up. So the lunch time news was full of the unauthorized march from the square to the president's residence, "Palatul Cotroceni." Dan said he thought he saw police men as part of the march. Sounds like the issues are the same as before - concerns about salaries etc. People are worried that it will be more difficult to survive on less money in the winter when expenses are higher than in the summer. 

The weather today was not as warm as yesterday but we put jackets on the non-mobiles and took them outside with the mobiles for a little over an hour this afternoon. Miha made fewer escape attempts over the fence BUT later in the mobile room she did demonstrate that not only can she climb on to the window sill she can open the window. I was in the room alone with the kids and I didn't know I could move that fast across a room.

Nicoletta is still in isolation but was all smiles whenever I went in to see her. She was making noises and would grab for my face and hair. Ana Maria and Costel are still in isolation as well and sleeping a lot but I did catch each of them awake once today. Ana Maria is quite the charmer - not only does she smile she practically laughs. I wasn't able to spend much time with Raul but I think Dan has been in with him some. Fortunately Maria Cleopatra is a regular visitor to the play room so that is great. Except for this afternoon at 6:00 Mirella the aide seemed to think I could take Maria back to her room. I actually did try and lift her and there was no way I was going to be able to get her off the ground and me off my knees without doing major damage to both of us. So I went and got an aide.

We had our good bye party as usual during afternoon nap time. Dr. Delia wasn't working today so I didn't get to say good bye to her. Instead, we had Andreea, Ion and Miha as special guests. I'm surprised they didn't get tummy aches with all of the stuff they ate. Then when we were outside they were eating apples and then Jalina brought them cookies. I like that I'm getting to know the aides names better and talking to them a bit more. Mind you "talking" is their limited English and my limited Romanian but still we can get a few things across. I tried to take as many pictures of the aides with the children as I could so I can send copies after I get home.

I did go through all of the babies' journals and wrote an email to everyone whose email addresses I could find giving them this blog address and telling them that volunteer numbers are down. Whatever we can do to get more volunteers here is great as the children will make more progress with more attention.

I sure hope someone does a blog with pictures in the next few months! Meanwhile, enjoy these last ones.

Our good bye party - that is me, 2nd from the left - glad the picture is from far away

Petre and Daniela with the stability ball

Ion at the good bye party

Maria Cleopatra

Marius loves the ball - I love that smile

Mihaela, the next Nadia Comeneci

Gabita looking at the sunlight

Roxanan and Andreea

Ionutz

Alina listening to me knock on the rocking chair arm

Roxana and Andreea outside in their matching jackets

Malika helping Daniela on the teeter totter with Andreea

Daniela

Petre and Ion - hanging out eating our apples

Ready or not, here I come

Marius

Lea Celine - so busy and so smart

Petre waving "pa"

Alina actually pulled Petre's hair when he was behind her on the swing

Mihaela

Ion eating a cookie

Gaby and Daniela

Gabita almost fell asleep on the swing

Cristi

Roxana