We Love Romania....obviously....

*note: Radu didn't know this was about to happen- he just thought the girls wanted to get a picture with him. Which just makes his smug little look even better... :-)

Bye Romania! Te Iubim! La Revedere!

I touched a dead person and lost my wallet...

What an eventful last day. 

I went and touched the fabled dead body of Saint Parasceva today. Supposedly her body is perfectly preserved in her coffin (it is covered with a cloth so you can't actually see it). The Romanians love her, we waited in a nice long line just to go put our hands on her. To be honest, it was a tad anticlimactic, but I enjoyed the experience all the same :)

After that I went to the grocery store and promptly lost my wallet. Losing your money, ID, and debit cards is ten times more stressful in a foreign country. I attribute adrenaline to my sudden burst in Romanian language skills- because I somehow managed to ask the cashier where it went and describe it in detail to the lost and found people. Yea for adrenaline! And yes, I did eventually get my wallet back :)

Mostly I've just been packing and getting things together for tomorrow! I will definitely miss it here. Hopefully I will be able to return to Romania again someday....

Last Day in the Iasi Branch

The Relief Society and the Young Women of the Iasi branch!

Us with Marius! He hates having his picture taken, but we force him anyway.

Me, Jenae, Melissa, Marie and Katie with Marinela- one of the sweetest people ever! Just recently baptised within the past year.

Me looking kinda confused in front of the Hospital. Melissa and I ran over there to drop off pictures to my six floor kids (who didn't recognize me with curly hair and a dress) and to give Florin a gift for his saint day. In Romania, every day has a saint, and if that saint has your name (St. Maria, St. Florin, St. Andreea, etc.) you celebrate it like a birthday.

Jenae, Melissa and I with Radu Stoica (16).  Melissa and Katie are still trying to decide who get marry him- mostly for his amazing mother (although we do love Radu).

Teaching Romanian's what s'mores are. None of them had ever eaten marshmallows so we toasted them over the gas stove and enjoyed their gooey goodness.

Me trying really, really hard to concentrate. I had to play Sora Stoica's Chess pro husband after I beat Marius. I failed miserably. However, I did manage to get his queen!  :)

The branch threw us a party because this is our last Sunday. It was glorious! I love these people so much!! Also, my talk went really well. Andreea Stoica translated for me and she did a fabulous job. The nice thing here is that everyone comes up and tells you what a great job you did so it makes you feel very special. I love it! I'm gonna miss the Iasi branch...

Warm Fuzzies

As we are winding down- getting all of our last things done- we have had some lovely bonding time. Lots of warm fuzzies have been shared :-) Tonight we went to a restaurant called Casa Vanatorului to see one of the branch members that performs there. Sadly, he was not working tonight, but we had fun anyway.

Above is the cultural palace next to our apartment along with the oldest church in Iasi in the foreground. 

We are all sad as we are missing both Easters! We miss the one tomorrow and we miss the one here (which happens next week because the Orthodox church celebrates it on a different day). However, there is plenty of Paste (Easter) celebrations to go around. There is a huge bazaar in the piata across from our apartment and even a little stage. There are tons of the very famous Romanian Easter eggs that are handpainted with dye and wax. So, so, so beautiful!

Birthdays!

Yesterday was a day of birthdays! Little George had his first birthday and Katie had her 22nd.
George with with Cake (which tasted like rum, of course). In Romania there is special traditions for the first birthday. The parents (or orphanage workers, in this case) have a platter with all sorts of random objects -ball, money, legos, book, syringe, etc. The platter is placed in front of the baby and whatever object they choose is supposedly what their occupation is going to be. George chose a ball (athlete) and money (businessman).

Katie with all her goodies from the orphanage for having a birthday. She is loved :-)
Katie at her bir
Katie at her birthday with her gift from Marius. He got a Romanian flag and had his tattoo artist friend write, "If you don't jump you'll never learn to fly." What an awesome gift!!Our party!!

Crazy Crazy Day

We began the day by going to the police department to file for an extension because we "forgot" about the 90 day limit to be in Europe. Basically, every group does it and we all say the same thing, fill out the paperwork, take a mug shot, and go along our merry way. Mario (our in-country contact) and her daughter Ioanna were there to help us.

At the hospital chillin' with Florin- the little con-artist in a wheelchair. Sometimes he can get kind of frustrating, as he is very demanding and grabby. However, you have to love a kid that, despite being stuck in a wheelchair 24/7 with a large protrusion on his lower back, still manages to make friends with everyone in the hospital. 

I heart this picture. Florin with a toy gun, the interns swooning, and the sfanta maria children's hospital with a chunk taken out. I love days when we can go outside with the kids... 

Marie with her favorite little girl. She goes and plays with her everyday, along with her downs friend in the crib next to her.

Elena from the orphanage has been in the hospital. Katie is sooo precious with her. Elena has a cleft and the cartilage that is suppose to be in her nose protrudes out. It is frustrating because the mothers that are in the room will make fun of her. But Katie makes sure to give her some good lovin'!

A mom with twins- Iulianna and Gabriela. In Romanian twins are called Gemini. I love twins :) 

Some of my favorite bubble kids. We could blow bubbles for hours together. The one in the bed is Florin. He will just lie in bed all day long and won't play with the other kids unless we bring out the bubbles. Then he quietly comes over and usually snuggles in and will blow them with us. The kid on my lap is Andreea. She is very sweet and gives kisses up the wazoo. Today she asked me if I could take her back to America and be her mommy. My heart hurt on that one. 

Some of my lovely friends on floor six. Not really the best picture os them (Romanians don't smile in pictures), but they are all lovely and full of life. Left to Right: (back) Gigi, Marinela (front) Mihaela, Andreea, Alexandru, Florin

After a fantastic day, I walked down the stairs only to meet Stephanie looking very sad. I figured she had just had an emotional day (since today was going to be her last day at the hospital) so I asked if she was ok. She started to cry on my shoulder and I came to find out that just moments before, she had just gotten between a man who had started beating the crud out of his wife that was nine months pregnant.  If that man is willing to beat her in public, I can't imagine what that poor woman must go through in private. Fortunately, the man ran off as soon as Stephanie came between them, but he could have easy started in on her. As Katie would say, Stephanie forged the key to her celestial mansion today. What an amazing, amazing person... 

It is confusing to me when parents come in to see their children at our orphanage and act all lovey-dovey with their baby. I just want to shake them sometimes and say, "This kid needs you! Take him home! Love him!" Then situations happen, like the one Stephanie encountered, and you start to realize that if you were stuck in the scary and devolving world of abuse, institutionalizing your child might actually save them. It is easy for someone to tell a woman in abuse to leave the situation, but sometimes I think the situation gets so desperate that a mother can only selflessly ensure that the child gets out. Realizing that makes me feel bad for mentally chastising the parents who dropped off their kids at the orphanage. Maybe sometimes it is done in love, and not neglect... the most I can do is give these kid-os some extra lovin' in the mean time :-) 

Bubbles Are Magical!

What a fabulous day! I started it off by getting to do an interview with Mario for my research and then working in the orphanage. At the hospital we got to take good ol' Oseban outside and play with bubbles.  It is strange to be sitting in a pile of dirt, behind the ghetto-est hospital you've ever seen, with an orphan who speaks another language, and still feel like you are on top of the world! It is magical :)

Also, for those that are interested, I am officially now going on the Semester at Sea program in June- thanks to the help of scholarships and a wonderful friend. So, I will be back in Europe again within the next two months. [woot!]

Catch-Up

Random thoughts from this past week in photos:

Saturday we went shopping for souvenirs for our families. It was so sunny and beautiful outside! Alll the piatas were filled with people and they even closed Stephan Cel Mare (a street) down so that people could walk right down the middle of the road. People were out selling at art in the streets :-)

My new favorite baby at the hospital. This mom is Roma and abandoned him at the hospital about a week ago saying that she had three other children to deal with and that she can't deal with him anymore. He came in filthy- grim everywhere. The mother of another child told me about his situation and when I asked what was going to happen to him she said "it doesn't matter, he won't get the love he needs anyway." heartbreak! He is so tiny and precious. He loves being held so so so much that as soon as I picked him up he hugged his arms around mine and wouldn't let go. What an angel!

Life is going great! I only have a week left in Romania :-) And I got stuck giving a talk next Sunday- my last one here! And I thought I was going to get away with not having to do it... 

Pericol de Cadere in Gol

The ghetto-ness of our apartment is mirrored by the lameness of our FABULOUS film!! Click here --> "Pericol de Cadere in Gol"

The Stoica Family

Last night we went to the Stoica's House for dinner. It was marvelous! Andrea (the one in thefront on the left hand side) will be moving to America to live with the Coopers in August for a test run before she goes to BYU. We love this family sooooo much! They are such sweet, giving people and we are lucky to have them in our branch :-)