Here I Go

Gata.

2009-06-03T04:58:00.003-05:00

Gata is one of the first Romanian words that I learned. It is also one of my favorite. It means finished or done. Gata is what one of the little girls here will tell me when she is dizzy from me spinning her around and she wants me to stop. But gata is also what I would say to her as I grab her hands when she comes running back wanting me to spin her around again..."Gata? - Are you ready?"

I am ready and I am finished. These seem like two opposite meanings for the same word, but as I thought about it I realized that it makes sense and helps me as I think about my time here coming to an end.

In just a few days I will be flying back to America. And it feels like the end has come too fast. I will miss this place and these people and the sense of being a part of something that is bigger than myself. It is hard to think next week I won't have a small child reach up and take my hand and I won't fumble through my Romanian asking the kids what they did at school that day. Yet I am coming to realize that these things have to end, and I need to embrace this ending, if I am going to welcome what God has next for me. And I know what He has next for me is in America. I am standing in this threshold of what has past and what is to come and it is scary, but I am ready to see what lies beyond it.

Gata.

The Home Stretch.

2009-05-22T11:41:00.004-05:00

So. In 2 weeks and 2 days I will be leaving Galati.

Does this 4 months seem to have gone by really quickly for anyone else?

It is funny to think back to my first experience with the city. We came in on a train and immediatly got on a city bus to go to our host parents homes. I refused to take off my huge backpack that held half of my posessions and I took in the city through the windows of the bus. I remember having the thought then that everything that was so foreign to me then would be like old hat to me by the time I leave.
Robin took me into my host mom's house and I'm fairly positive I had tears in my eyes the entire time. She would lean over occasionally and tell me what they were talking about. I know cell phones entered the conversation at one point. Robin left and Doamna Scarlott pulled out the couch for me to sleep on and I was alone.

I am still sleeping on that same couch, and still haven't quite found the comfortable spot on it, but I do feel comfortable in my room. My host mom comes in and out at times to go onto the balcony, which doesn't have a door, so she uses the window. (Picture this: My little 60 year old host mom standing in the large window calling out "Buna Seara" to me while I am laying in bed. It was hilarious.) I can probably take the bus from my house to the Center with my eyes closed and tell you most everything you would see at every stop. For example, at the second stop there is a little restaurant where you just walk up and order your food and leave, it is called the Golden Chicken. It ALWAYS has a line...9 in the morning or 11 at night it doesn't matter, there are always people there.

There is still a lot to do before I go. We are having a Princess Day tomorrow with most of the older girls at the center. Just a day for them where they can feel special and honored. It will conclude with a dance party that I am in charge of. (My love for dancing was learned early on.) We will also will be riding the ferry across the Danube and going to Chinese with Simona, our language teacher. Anca and I will finish making my dress (thats right people, I'm learning how to sew!) I will make strawberry jam with Robin and stain some wood for a fence at the center.

So much to do! So little time! I can't believe it.

What is everyone else up to in the next weeks?

Spring Time in Galati.

2009-04-19T09:48:00.002-05:00

In honor of Annie on my team, who makes no less than 5 lists a day, I have put together a little list snapshot of ways you can tell it is spring time in Galati.

- The sun actually shines
- It is 65 degrees outside, but most people are still bundled up.
- The trees are in bloom so there are lots of white pedals everywhere (It is sort of like Chattanooga, only with out the smell)
- Icecream is now sold at all the corner stores
- The bottoms of trees and the curbs get a fresh coat of white paint

What signs of spring am I missing in the states?

Easter

2009-04-17T09:37:00.002-05:00

Hristos a inviat din morti
Cu moartea pe moartea calcand
Si celor din morminte
Viata duruindu- le

Christ has risen from the dead
Stepping with death on death
And giving to those from the graves
Giving them life.

It is Easter here this weekend and I wouldn't want to be anywhere else to celebrate.

Tonight I am going to a Good Friday service at an Eastern Orthodox church. I will crawl under a table to signify my dying with Christ. Tomorrow I will go to a midnight service to usher in Easter. I will sing the above song as the priest lights candles through out the crowd. Then Sunday afternoon we will have a celebration here at the center. Singing. Food. and Games.

Paste Fericit!
Happy Easter!

Reflection on Moldova

2009-04-09T04:55:00.003-05:00

I can hardly believe the city I left a week ago has become the site of a revolution. It is a little surreal to think I was there snapping pictures of the Presidential Palace and the House of Parliament just a few weeks ago. It is scary and exciting (as change usually is) to think about what these protests will mean for this little country.

I was surprised to learn before our trip that Moldova has a communist leader. And I was quite unsure of what that meant once I got there, as I didn't see anyone standing in line waiting for their share of bread or oil. After talking with someone who has lived there her whole life about what communism was like under the USSR, I was able to ask why people would still want to live under that. She said the older generation longs for that security, the illusion that everything is okay and working as it should. It was explained to me later that this is why so many people send their children to orphanages; they believe that it is the state's responsibility to take in and care for their children. That the state will provide for their children what they as parents could not.

We visited an orphanage in Straseni during our stay - over 400 children live in what can only be described as an institution. Someone on the team said they only thought places like this existed in the movies. The lady we spoke to has about 20 children in her care, some of whom were in the room with us. She talked about then and their lives with out much sensitivity or regard to their presence. I don't want to be down on orphanages or the people who work there. I only spent a few hours there and can not imagine what it would be like being there day in and day out. I want to believe (even if it is naive) that they do their best to deal with the needs of the kids. But it didn't take much for us to see these kids are longing for attention. Someone who will look at them and hold their hand. All of us had thoughts of there must be another way. With over 12,000 orphans in Moldova, surely people can't continue to believe the state has all the answers.

The elections in Moldova were held just 3 days after we left. I got the impression that there seemed to be little doubt that the communists would remain in power. Most of the people of working age live abroad in order to make money, which explains why there are so many orphans, and they can not vote. This leaves children, who also cannot vote, and the older generation who long for the (false) security that communism provides. In some ways I am thankful for these protests. It shows the people are ready for a change. I think it shows the citizens are ready to take on some responsibility for the direction their country is going and not just be lead by the state. It gives me hope that things can be different there.

I have thought a lot about politics since arriving here 2 months ago. National and international politics, the politics of Jesus, how politics plays a part in almost all of my interactions. I am still confused by most of it, but I am coming to see politics is about accepting the power you have to change what you see going on around you. I am thankful for these Moldovans who are willing to stand up for what they believe, who want change and are willing to risk something for it.

Here are a couple articles about what has been going on in Moldova the past few days:
http://www.nytimes.com/slideshow/2009/04/07/world/0407-MOLDOVA_index.html http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/09/world/europe/09moldova.html?scp=3&sq=moldova&st=cse

Eu ma duc la Moldova! (I am going to Moldova!)

2009-03-20T11:21:00.006-05:00

The time has come for us to pack up and move this party to Moldova. I can hardly believe it is time for this already. We are spending the night at the center Sunday and will leave the center on Monday morning at an early 5:20 to make it down to the train station to catch our train at 6:00. We will travel about 4 hours by train to reach Iasi, Romania. There we will have a few hours to walk around and see a different part of Romania. We will take a maxi-taxi (think large van) over to Chisinau, Moldova. We plan on arriving there around 6:00 in the evening, but that all depends on how long it takes us at customs. I've been told this can be a long process.
I learned that if we were making this "trek" in America it would be about a 3 hour car ride. So the fact it will be over 12 hours is slightly depressing to me.

In Chisnau we will be working with an organization called the Bethany Center. They have built homes in an old Pioneer Camp (I've been told Pioneer Camps is wher children went to learn about communism back in the days of the USSR). The Bethany Center owns 10 homes on this camp and have made a community for themselves and are working to become self-stustaining. Each home contains a set of parents and up to 10 kids; some of these kids are their biological childern, some are foster kids and orphans. Unlike regular orphanages in Moldova these kids are not kicked out when they turn 16. Once these kids are accepted into the homes they are quite literally part of the family.
We will be staying with these families for the 11 days we will be in Moldova. During our time there we will be working on a school they are building on the property. In the evenings we will be doing an English club for the kids that are interested. We're excited to do this, but also feeling a little underqualified. We're hoping everything will work out; I'm sure we are making it a more stressful than it needs to be. Some days we will also be going into the city to give out meals to the homeless. We will also be visiting the Grace House (a transitional living home for girls) on Friday. Saturday we will be playing with the kids of the families; big group games and such. Then on Sunday will be going to visit an orphanage in Straseni (a near by village) on Sunday afternoon.
Word Made Flesh will be setting up shop in Moldova in January. We are the first Servant Team to take a trip like this to acutally serve in Moldova. At first I thought this trip was going to help the staff going to Moldova figure out a little bit what serving there would look like, but this trip is acutally for us so we can see something else and be considering/praying about joining them there in Moldova.
I am anxious and excited to make this trip and join in what God is already doing there. Thank you, as always, for your prayers during my time here. I don't anticipate having internet during my time in Moldova, but I will give an update when I get back!

A Lesson.

2009-03-08T10:57:00.003-05:00

Upon coming home from church today I did a little bit of my Romanian homework and then took a nap. I woke up about 3:30 and realized I had slept through lunch. Knowing I was coming down to the internet cafe in about an hour I knew I had to eat something before dinner. So I go into the kitchen and get some bread, take it into my room and eat it with some peanut butter I brought from the states.

Not 5 minutes after I have finished this my host mom comes in wanting to know if I am hungry. I tell her that I am fine, but she insits, motioning that I slept through lunch and that she wants to feed me. I give in, but I tell her that I will eat just a little bit.

I follow her into the kitchen and she shows me some soup and pasta with red sauce. I choose the soup, its the lighter of the 2 options and she fills my bowl (a little too full) and I begin to eat. She is still moving around the kitchen, which is pretty normal. She holds up the pasta and says "Vreau?" I nod my head, indicating that I like pasta. I continue eating, and notice that she is putting some pasta on a plate. I think she is just getting my plate ready for dinner. Then, to my dismay, I remember "vreau" means WANT not like. So in addtion to my peanutbutter and soup I am also served half a plate of spaghetti and a small piece of chicken. Goodness. I definitely won't make that mistake again..

A Day In the Life.

2009-03-08T10:27:00.002-05:00

I have already been hear a month and I can't believe how quickly the time has flown by. I have somewhat settled into a routine, and I know you'd all love to know how I spend my time, so here goes...

I get up between 7:30-8:00, eat breakfast, which most recently has been bread and cheese and warm milk. I try to make it to bet bus stop around 8:30 to meet Laura (the team member I live closest to). We have crazy bus rides because there is usually standing room only that time of day and in a 20 minute bus ride you get prodded and shuffled around quite a bit.
We walk about 5 minutes across a parking lot, down some steps and past about 11 dogs and some ducks and chickens to make it to the center by 9:00 for chapel. Chapel is different each day of the week, but there is always singing (in Romanian) then someone either shares or reads scripture or a combination of both.

The kids start coming a little after 10:00. In Romania different age groups go to school at different times. Some kids come before school, some after. There are about 35 kids total who come to the center each day. They range in age from 7-20. Individually the team is still trying to figure out how we can help the staff in working with the kids. For example, one day a week I do a craft with a group. This just started last week, but they seemed to enjoy making tissue paper flowers.

We eat most everyday at 1:30 at the center. You have to eat everything on you plate so I'm glad that the food at the center is pretty good. (if it is not so good one day you mix small bites of the food on your plate with big bites of bread) The kids rush though their meal in order to start play time ASAP. Most kids go outside to play basketball or some version of dodgeball. There is also a swing, jumpropes, hoolahoops, etc. etc. I usually opt for staying inside to play games or work puzzles with the kids.

Play time ends at 3:00 so that is the time the team has meetings if we need to or sometimes I help with office work that needs to be done. We are also free to read or study Romanian in the afternoons.

We are officially done for the day about 5:15 although more often than not the team hangs around to use the computers or hang out and play a game or something. Most nights I make it home between 7:00-8:00 and my host mom will heat up my dinner which is almost exclusively soup plus something else. She has only served me a handful of things I haven't liked. It can be tough at times not knowing what you're eating, but I am definitly fed well here.

We also have book study twice a week. We have already gone through In the Name of Jesus by Henri Nouwen and we will finish Rich Christians in an Age of Hunger this week.

Three times a week we go to language lessons with Simona. She works at the art museum, so we take a bus there and we crowd around her office desk for an hour and a half while she holds up 8.5 x 11 sheets of paper for us to copy down what she has written. I am usually looking at my watch 30 minutes into the lesson, but I have a random american radio station playing November Rain and End of the Road by Boyz II Men through out the lesson, so that helps keep me sane. Simona truly deserves her own post so that is all go into now.

So that is what my time looks like here. I honestly can not believe it has been a month. In just another 2 weeks we'll be leaving for our time in Moldova!

The Team

2009-02-21T09:38:00.002-06:00

So I've made it through my first full week in Galati. There were some ups and downs, but overall I'd say it was a sucessful week. We're all getting more of a feel for our host families. (There are a few people on the team that have hilarious stories about their experiences every morning. I am not one of these people. I am thankful for this.) And I think most of us are a little frustrated with the language. The lessons are a little stressful and of course it is hard not being able to really communicate outside of our little community. But hopefully that will spur me on to be diligent in my studies.

Last weekend the team hung out and just got to know each other a little better. We all had a chance to share our stories, why we came here with Word Made Flesh, and what we hope to get out of this experience. And let me tell you, I am just so excited about the team God has assembled here. Each member of my team has a unique story, but it is so neat to see how a common thread is woven through each of our lives. We are the largest team the Romania field has ever accepted. I can't wait to see what God is going to to in each of us and how He is going to continue to bring us together as a group.

2009-02-15T02:58:00.002-06:00

It is Sunday morning in Galati and I amstarting my fourth full day here.
They trip here was fairly easy, if not a little tiring. We got into Bucharest a little before midnight on Tuesday morning and finally to bed about 2 am. Apparently shortly after we went to sleep about 40 cars drove by our (open) window blarring their horns and I just slept right through it. All of the other 7 people in the room woke up, but I was dead to the world.
Morning came and we caught a noon train from Bucharest to Galati and from there we took buses to meet our host families. I'm staying in the living room of my home, but it has a door I can close for privacy. I am sleeping on a pull out couch and I have a small cabinet to put my things in. It is not what I expected, but after a few days I think it will work. The home has a flushing toilet (that you can put toilet paper in) and warm water, so that is wonderful. My host mom has hosted several other girls, but she doesn't know any english so that can be challenging. I start language lessons tomorrow so that will help.
We've spent every day at the Community Center run by Word Made Flesh. The first day was a little overwhelming, but I think I will settle into it nicely. We've mostly been doing orientation/get to know you stuff, but we have eaten lunch with the kids as well as participated in play time. I'm curious to see what my role in the center will be as time progresses. There was talk today of me possibly teaching a ballet class with the girls once a week. No need to tell you that I would love that.
Next week, starting tomorrow, we are going to look at different places we could volunteer in the city outside of the center. I know working with special needs kids is one and helping at a nursing home is another, there may be one or two other options. My prayer request at this point would be guidance on which to choose. Part of me feels drawn just to stay at the center, but I also want to get involved in and see as much of the community as possible.
Today we are going over to our team leaders' home for lunch. I'm not sure what the day will hold after that.
Thank you for your prayers. Like I said I start language tomorrow and I anticipate that being a big challenge for me so please be praying about that too.

Let me know if you have any questions or if there is any other aspect of the trip you'd like to know about.

I'm here!

2009-02-14T09:05:00.002-06:00

I made it! I don't have a lot of time right now, but I just wanted to let you all know that I made it here with all my stuff :)

I'll try to get on a little later and give you a real post.

Thanks for the prayers!

Thank You.

2009-02-09T01:27:00.001-06:00

I feel covered in prayer today.

Thank you friends.

So I Lied

2009-02-05T16:50:00.002-06:00

No post in 9 weeks. What can I say, I'm going out of the country...things have been a little busy.

Just to give everyone the briefest of updates...

I am leaving Monday!! I am pretty much a ball of emotion right now but I am really excited about going on this adventure. I have been communicating with my teammates (there are 6 of us total) and each of them seem really solid and awesome and I can't wait to meet them on Monday. I still feel like I have a lot to get done before I go, which at times seems overwhelming and at other times seems totally do-able. When I start to think about it too long is usually when I start to get sad because I just have 4 days to get it done which then makes me think I only have 4 days to see/talk to the people I love before moving several time zones away. But some sadness is to be expected and I try to keep it in check.

For those of you interested in the details of my travel I'll be flying from Nashville to Chicago to London to Bucharest then a 4 hour train ride to Galati, my final destination. After some quick math, that is 22 hours of travel (including layovers) from Nashville to Bucharest (we get in about midnight local time). I think/hope we will be staying in a hostel in Bucharest the night we get in and then going on to Galati in the morning. Lets hope the jet lag isn't too bad.

I was told a few weeks ago we will also be traveling into Moldova for two weeks. Word Made Flesh (the organization I am going to Romania through) is hoping to get a program started in Moldova so my team will be helping scout out what future teams could do there. I am excited about this opportunity.

If you think of me, I would love your prayers. Just that my last few days in Nashville would be blessed and fruitful and I would have good time with the people I love. That my team would click right away when we meet. For safe travel and that all of our luggage would arrive when we do. For my host family that I will be living with for 4 months. That I would adapt to the culture and that my tastebuds would like the food :) That the language would come quickly and I would not get easily discouraged with it. And of course for all the little children I will be meeting, that I would love them fully with the love of Christ. I honestly can not wait to see what God will do while I am there. He is so good.

Nine Weeks.

2008-12-08T21:02:00.004-06:00

I had a friend ask me this weekend how many weeks until I leave.

I'd still been thinking in terms of months...or after the holidays...or a common response from me would be "not til February!"....but after this question a quick estimation brought me to nine weeks.

Nine weeks people. Nine weeks!

I had been feeling good about all that I've been getting done for the trip over the past few weeks. Shopping for some supplies and picking out a few Christmas presents for myself to use in Romania. And let me tell you having to choose items that you will use exclusively for 4 months is a slightly daunting task.

This past week I went to the doctor for my physical and first round of vaccinations. I sent off my passport renewal AND I told my job I was quitting in January. All big check list items. But now, after looking at the calendar, I'm starting to wonder how it will all get done. I still have 4 of my 5 books to finish reading. Papers to write. And an apartment to pack. And trips to take. Friends to be with, to say good bye to. And of course, a heart to prepare.

Reality of my going starting set in more as I am doing more to get myself ready, but it is also becoming a little bit more unbelievable too. To think in 9 weeks I'll be winging my way over the Atlantic to live in a city with people I don't know. Unbelievable. But also to a city I'm sure I will come to love and people that will become my community. Thats pretty unbelievable too.

On a side note, I'll try to be better about blogging in my last 9 weeks in the states. It goes on the list too.

As Promised...

2008-11-06T15:52:00.004-06:00

Yeah for Donkeys!

Compassion

2008-11-02T15:01:00.004-06:00

I am required to do some reading before I go to Romania. There are a handful of books that my team and I will read and write reflections on to help prepare us for lies ahead for us in Romania. I am for this because I'm a reader and it feels a little like school, which I miss sometimes. (I know that makes me kind of a dork, but what can you do?)

The 5 books I have to read are:

From Brokenness to Community by Jean Vanier
Compassion by Henri Nouwen
The City of Joy by Dominique Lapierre
The Irresistible Revolution by Shane Claiborne
The Way of the Heart by Henri Nouwen

Amazon was nice enough to send me 4 of the 5 books last week and I decided to start with Compassion. And let me tell you, so far it is amazing.

The book starts by giving me a new definition for compassion: To suffer with. I will admit, my vocabulary isn't all that large, but I had always thought compassion and sympathy were synonyms. They both resided in the emotional realm but didn't necessarily call me to action. Compassion calls me to action.

I came across this quote a couple days ago and it pretty much sums up my prayer for what I hope my attitude in Romania will be.

"[In Christ] we see what compassion means. It is not a bending toward the underprivileged from a privileged position; it is not a reaching out from on high to those who are less fortunate below; it is not a gesture of sympathy or pity for those who fail to make it in the upward pull. On the contrary, compassion means going directly to those people and places where suffering is most acute and building a home there."

When I think about going to Romania it makes me nervous to think of all the things I will be doing without. I am a clothes horse, for those of you that don't know, and thinking about doing with only 4 pairs of pants for 4 months is a big deal. And even more than what I have, I have come to realize that I have an attitude that everything is available to me. If I don't like what I have at my house for dinner, I can go out. If I think my cat "needs" a purple wig because I think it would be hilarious (which it was) I will buy it for him.

In going to Romania I hope to abandon this attitude completely. I don't want to be rich American girl going for a visit, hoping to do some good in a small country. I want to live the life that the people I am serving live. I want to identify with them where they are. I want to "build my home there". I know that won't be 100% possible because I know that I will be returning to America. But I pray daily that this journey will be life changing. That I will come back changed, never again to be the person who I am now. Which is terrifying. But awesome.

And here I am!

2008-10-24T12:17:00.002-05:00

I would like to take this moment to welcome myself to the blogging world. I know this moment has been greatly anticipated by approximately 2 people, so I would like to thank them for their patience.

I will confess to you I am a little nervous about having a blog. There I said it. But I think it will be the best way for me to keep all of you updated on Romania happenings. And then if I happen to have something interesting to say, perhaps say, on donkeys, you can consider it a bonus. Lucky you, right?

Thanks for reading!

More to come soon. I promise.