Fourth Day

The fourth day at HOA brought a different, but similar setting. The day started with overlooking a physical therapy session with a six year old boy and his mother. The nurse did a physical massage and then some therapy for his muscles (or for other reasons) but again with the language barrier, all I can do is report these simple facts.
After this session, I went back the children and played with them. They were very eager for me to do more portraits, and they lined up to be official on who will be next and so forth. The girls still wanted wedding dresses and the boys wanted to be drawn "as is".

After drawing (and now my arm being quite sore as I was racing to do a portrait under 5 minutes each), I pulled out my camera and the children reacted wildly. They started flipping, jumping and doing faces and posing. There was a loud uproar of "Jana! Jana!" They wanted me to take a photo every second, and ofcourse that just can't happen. The children smiled and put their style of conflict resolution aside for this happy moment to be captured. A few older boys got so excited that they sqeezed my arm quite hard (yes, it hurt!). I reacted immediately so they knew that they shouldn't have done that. They stopped and backed off. Their excitement mounted and before long they wanted to take photos and tried grabbing the camera. Ofcourse, I let them know that they can not operate the camera, and then they accepted it. I don't think they understood, but nonetheless, we carried on just fine.

After the photo frenzy, the children and I sat down for some quiet colouring. One small boy threw a balloon at my face, and was repremanded by the HOA staff for that. However, a few minutes later he came back to test my patience (or to see where I stood), and I invited back to colour. He smiled and sat immediately right beside my leg and did not leave until it was lunch.
These children truly are very sweet, and they honestly want to be loved (what child or adult does not want love?) However I do see trauma and some very primal emotions written on their faces. It is sad to see them engage in such a negative conflict resolution style, but as I have reported before, I believe they don't know any better AND that they are doing this for survival. The girls and younger boys have been especially loving and sweet to me. Always holding my hand, hugging my waist and making eye contact. I just wish I could stay longer...

Third Day

The third day at HOA has been quite interesting and very much up my alley.

The day started with Ted (staff worker) and his mother over a cup of coffee. Mr. Ted corrected me on my previous post of my comment on a car, and told me (as my Romanian Automobile Advisor) that the Logan car is an "ok" car. I won't say anymore details, as it even confused me! (And I am sure I would get it wrong again).

Speaking of Romanian cars, Mr. Ted taught me how to do the shifting on a standard car last night. Yes, to some it sounds trivial, but on a rural road, and not knowing exactly what to do, it was quite the achievement and very exciting!

Anyways, going back to the children, my third day has been particularly up my alley, as I am drawing portraits of the children. It started with a young girl by the name of Georgina asking me to draw a picture. So, I drew her face and the children came running asking that I also draw them. So, as I drew on the carpet with a brown pencil crayon, the children toppled on my legs and feet anxiously awaiting for their turn. It actually started to hurt me, so I asked the children to back up.

The girls were very keen to see themselves in a princess outfit or a wedding dress. They hummed the wedding march for me to understand their request. The boys wanted to look exactly the same as they were looking and wearing today.

Now, isn't that funny how universal we are? The girls want a beautiful fantasy and the boys accept themselves as they are. In fact, exactly as they are, down to the very last detail. :)

Second Day

The second day at HOA brought a much different attitude and comfortableness out from the children. I suppose the gift giving had worn off and they were (most presumably) acting like they normally would. As you know from all children, there is always a honeymoon phase, and I think it may have already rubbed off.

The day started with playing with the children and doing a puzzle in a team environment. There must have been 6 other children ranging from 7 to 12 around a big red table with me. Of course I had the occasional child land on my lap and hug me, but primarily it was just this group. The first thing I noticed was their style of conflict resolution. Or rather, their lack of proper skills, by North American standards. A child would take a puzzle piece that another child wanted and the first primal emotion (anger) was dislayed instantly with a hit, or a threat of hit (with hand raising and a dirty look). Hostile language was also used, and of course the other child would react back and defent themself. Ofcourse I tried to curb this behaviour, but it was obvious they didn't want to listen. Nonetheless, I kept trying to tell the children no. This was very trying for my patience, but I realized in an instant what needed to be done. There was this one girl that seemed to be getting picked on the most, or perhaps she was promoting this attention (I am not sure due to the language barrier), so I opened my lap and tapped my thigh, and in an instant she was sitting on me. Then, I was softly speaking to her and took my arms and hugged her. She understood this as a loving gesture, but I was restraining her from the violent behaviour. Within two minutes, she was calm and it completely deflated the conflict.

Soon after the puzzling, we continued to play and I drew butterflies with the younger girls. In the background, all I could hear was "Jana! Jana!" There was never a dull moment when I wasn't wanted for attention. At times it was difficult to play without interuption, since they all wanted me to be in 10 spots at once. Later, the older boys and I watched tv, and wow, some pretty interesting Romanian advertising crossed our eyes and created quite a funny uproar from the boys and myself. A few minutes passed and the boys were asking me to speak in English. They are very eager to learn English, and so, I recited the words on the tv, and then a song came on by Akon called "Nobody wants to see us together..." In an instant, the language barrier was conquered as they knew all the words to the song. We all sang in a circle together as they intently looked at my lips and carefully studied my pronounciation.

Soon after this, we had lunch - it was a three course meal; a healthy soup; meat with rice and peas and dessert. These children are very well looked after. Once the meal was done, the children went to the study room and did their homework. Of course, I couldn't very well do much on this aspect, but I grabbed a globe and a geography book and went back and forth with some girls. They too are eager to teach Romanian, and when I told a girl she was a teacher, she smiled so big and blushed. It was very cute.

Once the studies were done, we played inside and then outside. We engaged in a lengthy soccer game, and the older boys ran circles around me. They are very skilled at soccer, or should I say football?! Again, the lack of proper conflict resolution came up, with at least a few rounds of punching, kicking and poor language towards each other. It is sad for me to see, but I do instincly see the survival mechanism and level of hierarchy they are scrambling for.

Introduction - Part 2

Continuing from my day yesterday, I must say and reiterate what an amazing experience it was to gift those gifts. Thank-you so much to everyone who made this possible. A little bit really went a long way. The big hits were the soccer balls, the barbie, art supplies and the nice clothing.
Soon after the gift giving, we all went outside and played soccer. The kids literally dripped off of me, always holding, hugging and calling my name. They did anything to impress, from standing on their hands; crossing their eyes and doing flips. It was quite cute and impressive. The children are also eager to learn more English and asked me to read words on packaging etc. They were also eager to teach me Romanian, which I soaked in.

They also encountered two fascinations; my blue eyes and ripped knee jeans. They were staring at my eyes and asking if they were real. They were gasping and laughing when I said no. Then, was the ongoing saga of the ripped jeans, and let me tell you - it sure made each one quite curious. I told the kids that in Canada, they are "cool", and they looked at me like I was crazy. Before I knew it, their hands were going inside the holes and this continued all afternoon. Even the staff said to me "freezie?"

Later in the day, I went out for dinner with a staff worker named Ted. He is a nice, young, professional man that helps House of Angels and has been quite the tour guide and translator. Thank-you Ted! We went out to the town for dinner and I enjoyed a very delicious pizza. I also saw a very interesting manequin in the window that was mooning the pedestrians with no panties. Perhaps it is inappropriate to mention it, but alas, it made me laugh so hard it hurt!

For those that have not had the priviledge of visiting Romania, it truly is quite a sight to see. The area that I am in is the country, and compared to Canada, certain areas are quite rural. Romania came out of the communist republic only 16 years ago and just joined the European Union on January 1, 2007. So, I think it is accurate to say that they are just on their way to developing a very amazing economic country!

The areas that I have seen in the country so far, have consisted of flat plains with horse and wagon, with older woman loitering the streets with a stick cane. Speed limits are not apparent on the highways, and it seems like only the best survive. Semi trucks pass other semi trucks, its quite hilarious! The roads in certain areas are quite poor too. Looks like they specialize in patching up previously patched up jobs. Apparently, the logan car is not a desired car! And, if you are driving an older car, or rather a complete "beater", the cops pull you over and interview you!

For some jokes or general info on Romania, check out this link! It is quite funny! And yes, most of it seems true!

http://uncyclopedia.org/wiki/What_I_Didn't_Know_about_Romania

P.S. I hope to post photos of the kids within the next day. My laptop does not have the proper converter, and so I have been using the HOA's office computer.

Introduction Day - Part 1

Today was a very exciting day at the House of Angels, and for myself of course.

The day started with presents, and it was quite the orchestration. Apparently the two soccer balls that were gifted were such a hot item that they could not be gifted to an individual child. That was no problem at all, so I scrambled and divided up some of the gifts to create two extra gifts.

When I gave the gifts, the children were naturally awkward, but once they left the room and realized what they received, they were so happy. Really, I don't think I could put their reaction into words.

I entered the main play room, and introduced myself to the children. As soon as I did this, all I could hear chanted was "Jana! Jana!" It was very sweet, but a little overwhelming at first. Within a few seconds, I was so joyful to be with these children that it didn't seem to matter. I literally had the children hanging off my arms, hugging me and surrounding me. To the left, right, front and back.

I have much more to say, but honestly had 3 hours of sleep last night (street dogs barking and fighting kept me up) and it is 11pm Romania time and crashing...will report back tomorrow.

Arrived

I arrived in Romania today and what a whirlwind it has been! The administrator; George picked me up from the very small airport and we drove 90 minutes through the dark streets to House of Angels. He drove a very small and old car that literally vibrated and the wind whistled through the windows. There is also a very cold, rainy and windy storm happening right now too.
As we drove through the vast areas, street dogs roamed and the odd person would be riding their bike or walking on the side of the road. It is much different than home, and to be blunt, it is quite rural in comparison.

90 minutes later, we pulled up to a grand fence and entered through with the assistance of the guard. George showed me around the facility, and I am the only one staying here right now. It is the facility for the children's meals, education, physical therapy and medical needs.
The wind is blowing and it is still quite cold, so it is a little hard to sleep right now, and I probably should, it is 1 am Romania time.

I will be meeting the children, the staff and posting photos tomorrow...stay tuned!

Almost there...

Today I had a very relaxing day in London. To be honest, most of it was spent in a bus with other folks, but the places we explored were absolutely amazing! It was a 13 hour day in the country and took me to Stonehenge, the Cotswolds; Roman Baths; City of Bath; William Shakespears birthplace and Stratford.

I must tell you much how I needed this day (and also wanted a day to breath and simply enjoy life) and not work! I am now on their clock, although Romania is 2 more hours ahead.

Tomorrow morning I am off to Romania, where I will be picked up by a lady named Simona from the facility. I am flying on Wizz Air into Bucharest and then will be driven approximately 50 km. My very large suitcase is packed with the gifts and I am ready! I have been practicing and reviewing my Romanian tonight and going through my checklist. I am quite eager to get there and start this experience, but I have had bouts of emotions…excited, anxious and now feeling nervous.

What do I have to be nervous about? I am not sure, but I suppose that is just the problem. The unknown and something this large that is out of my control is not a good thing for my mind. It is something us “radlets” struggle with on a constant basis. Yes, the lovely C word: Control.

However, I tell myself it will be fine, it is always fine. What doesn’t kill you - will make you stronger. My day of distraction was quite good for me, and now I am sitting in my hotel room and thinking. I must shut off my brain and go to sleep now.

I will be back tomorrow night! Wish me luck!