La Reverdere Romania, Si Multumesc!

With a 7am goodbye to the remaining team members and a swig of cough syrup for the long trip ahead, I made my way to the Barlad train which would take me to Bucharest in 5 hours time.  Getting on and off of the train was like a stampede.  Even though the train aisle is only wide enough for one person, people will try to mow you down and squeeze past all of your bulky luggage.  I also kept having problems with the compartment doors - they would always close on me!  Apparently, I was not pressing a button in time and kept proceeding to get stuck.  Haha.  Despite my train troubles, it was quite nice in my opinion (I did avoid the bathrooms though).  Mihaela made sure that we found our seats and then proceeded to continuously wave to us until the train left.  She's so funny.  After 5 hours of napping on and off (I tried, but cell phones were constantly ringing), we made it to Bucharest.  We were instructed by Mihaela to find one of her students (who was also on the same train), so she could help us locate a good cab.  Unfortunately, she ditched us, and Kellie and I were on our own in Romanian taxi mayhem.  After being asked "Need a ride?" by some sketchy drivers, a cabbie eventually just came up to us and put our luggage in his trunk (A rather aggressive approach!  Ummm...sir, what do you think you are doing with my stuff?).  He turned out to be alright.  No crazy stunts pulled.  On the way to the airport, we passed by Bucharest's version of Paris's Arc de Triomphe (called the Triumphal Arch here) - stunning!


Thanks for triumphing Romania!  I like your monument!

Then, I waited at the airport.  And then waited some more.  To kill time, I got rid of my extra Romanian lei in exchange for Oreos.  It was a good trade.  With my breakfast sandwiches that the Raluca motel made for me in hand (even though I am still unsure of the identity of the meat - ham or turkey or something else? - they were so kind to do so!), I did some souvenir shopping in the little airport shops.  I must have really been bored, because I don't leisurely shop.

Finally, the plane came.  Oddly enough, on all of my flights, I have never had anyone sit next to me.  I don't mind, I like the extra room.  I must emit a stench that pervades through computer screens when people are choosing their seats or something.  Very strange.  After touching down in Frankfurt for a 13-hour overnight connection (yes, you read right), I scoped out gates with comfortable looking seating that would be prime real estate for a nighttime nap.  My "hotel" consisted of 4 seats in a row, blinding bright lights overhead, great night views of runways, constant TV chatter and airport announcements on the loudspeaker, as well as night shift gossip among the German cleaning women.  I thought that I would be safe - other nappers were around AND my campground was in sight of passport control (they're cops, right?).  Anyways, I survived and was able to snooze a little bit.

I explored the Frankfurt Airport's skyway tunnel at 4:00am (hence no people!)
I later noticed a sign that said I wasn't supposed to walking through it at such an hour.
Whoops!

My luxurious sleeping accomodations for the night

After finally making it onto the plane headed for Chicago, I basically slept some more, ate more delicious meals aboard a plane (really quite shocking!), and watched the Chronicles of Narnia - The Voyage of the Dawn Treader.  It was not as good as the other Narnia films in my film critic opinion!  Within 30 minutes of my flight touching down, I was home.  Since I prayed to the O'Hare airport gods prior to landing, I was able to whizz through customs and immigration in 2 minutes max.  Sadly, no X-ray security checks or pat downs throughout the whole trip - maybe next time.

While it is good to be back home in Chicago, I will miss my daily adventures in Romania (and the doughnuts... if that has not been made apparent already)!  Volunteering abroad with Global Volunteers has allowed me to see more of the world with a purpose, while having an amazing and fun time doing so!  Caring for these wonderful children and seeing each of them smile, laugh, and shine on a daily basis has been a valuable experience for which I am grateful.  I can only hope that I added to their lives in some way, because they definitely helped empower mine.  Upon arriving back in the States, my mother asked me something along the lines of "Now that you have traveled +5000 miles away for multiple weeks by yourself, do you feel like you can do anything?"  My answer was a quick, strong yes.  Watch out world.  For instance, my time in Tutova will give me further motivation to continue following the career path that I strive to achieve in the very near future - a primary care physician/pediatrician.  Go me! 

I'd like to thank Global Volunteers, especially the generous donors of the Romania Winter Volunteer Fund that helped cut the price tag for the European excursion of this poor, recent college graduate.  The program was EXCELLENT and I would totally recommend it to others in a heartbeat!  I'd also like to give a tip of the hat to Mihaela and Dan, the country managers, for showing us the Romanian way and displaying true dedication to a great cause.  The same goes for my fellow volunteers of Team 160 - I'm going to miss you!  Keep in touch and I'm sorry you had to witness my awesome dance moves.  I would also like to say "Multumesc" ("thank you" in Romanian) to my family, my friends, and especially the boss for letting me leave the country to take advantage of this great opportunity (even though I really know you all wanted to get rid of me for a longer period of time).  Lastly, thanks to all of the readers of my "Where in the World is Steve?" blog!  I hope you enjoyed it as much as I entertained myself writing it.  As the kids say, pa ("bye" in English)!  Until the next bigger and better adventure....so long!

-Steve
World Traveler
Male "Mama" of Team 160
Romanian baby dance move advisor
Travel blogger extraordinaire

Celine fashionably said a final goodbye to us

Save the Last Dance

(entry from 2/25/11)

The children definitely knew it was my last day at the clinic, because they were more rambunctious than usual.  It looked like a bomb went off in the toddler playroom...and on my scrubs.  My clothes started off today as a shade of navy blue, but ended up being slimed with a streaky, light yellow glaze (a wonderful mixture of peaches, salivated cookie crumbles, dried apricot yogurt, chocolate, drool, and boogers).  The best is always saved for last.  To add to my going away party, Ion decided to slyly reach into my pocket and steal my mini package of tissues without my permission...and without my knowledge!  I turned around and just saw shreds of fluff everywhere.  I felt my pockets and was like "Shoot, you clever little bugger!  I really needed those!"  That's ok - it looks like the kids had more fun with them, more fun than I would have had wiping my nose.  The cough syrup that I bought in town yesterday was also a success.  It is a candy lemon flavor and is so delicious - it cannot be medicine.  But the cough subsided...for the night at least (my neighbors at the inn and fellow volunteers sleeping in adjacent rooms were probably quite grateful that the hacking had stopped).

At lunch, Dan explained to us that taxi drivers are even worse than in the States, because many are "fake" and it is an easy way to make money by ripping someone off.  He even mentioned that even he finds it dificult to get a good one, so we'll see how it goes tomorrow in order to get from the train to the airport!  Sounds like another adventure - spot the real taxi cab in the haystack of imposters.  Thankfully, "Guess Who?" and the board game "Clue" were favorites of mine as a child.  I should be a super-sleuth after all of these years of practice.

In the afternoon, the remaining team members and I had a dance party with the toddlers.  A safe baby mosh pit took place.  They showed us their finest club moves - we broke it down together to our favorite Romanian beats and international hits.  Even program leader Dan busted out some dancing after realizing what the commotion was in playroom.  Shakira's song "Loca" (which basically plays every hour on the radio) made a blaring appearance.  It was a great time!  Who knows what the clinic staff was saying about us...crazy Americans.

My protege Alina T's debut rap single drops in April.

Time flies when you are having fun, because in a short while, I was already making the final rounds with each of the kids and saying goodbye to the staff.  I'll miss my main baby crew and the hilarious antics of the kids that kept each day entertaining.  I know these kids will be in good hands upon my departure and I will enjoy seeing them grow and hearing news from future volunteer teams. 



Global Volunteers: Romania - Team 160 - raise the roof.

Not wanting us 2-week volunteers to leave with empty stomachs, our favorite food requests were put in for dinner at the motel.  For me, grilled chicken, as well as the most awesome, chocolate frosted doughnut on the planet for dessert.  I would have just eaten these fresh doughnuts for every meal if it was socially acceptable.  They were that good.

Are you sad that I only have 1 more final blog entry left in me?  Don't be!  There's plenty of Steve to go around.  Off to pack - will be taking a 5 hour train from Barlad to Bucharest tomorrow in order to catch my flight out of Romania!  Wish me luck (especially hope that I don't get a sleazeball taxi driver).

Drugs and Dessert!

(Entry from 2/24/11)

Out of curiosity, we ended up asking Mihaela which ingredients the "House Special" dessert that we tasted at the motel actually contained.  Showing her my photo (the same image found on my last post), she was flabbergasted by the image and our questionable description of it.  Now, for the moment of truth: the dessert is made from the first milking following the birth of a calf, hence the thickness/rubbery texture.  It is mixed with a little egg and a dash of sugar, and VOILA!  There you have it!  Are your tastebuds tingling?  A "delicious" "dessert" (note my quotation marks, both of those words are up for interpretation if you ask me).  I will not be making this one at home, folks.  I simply do not have a cow in the backyard.  Darn.

Eat your heart out Harpo Studios. 
Even the kids in Tutova are sad to see Oprah's final season coming to a close.

One big highlight from today's clinic visit is that Paola enjoys dancing to the radio!  It was so funny to see her smiling and laughing up a storm as we shaked it on the toddler playroom carpet/dance floor.  Since Kellie and I's last day at the clinic is tomorrow, the team has scheduled a mandatory dance party in the main toddler playroom tomorrow.  Be there.  Be ready to bust a move when your jam hits the speakers.

Daria - you can either find her boucing around somewhere.....
or buried in a pile of stuffed animals.

In other news, I desperately needed to find drugs in Barlad.  Cough syrup that is!  Dorel, our driver, aided me in finding a quite fancy pharmacy (blinding bright white lights, a serious looking employee with a legit lab coat on, shelves of medicine up to the ceiling).  This was no Walgreens - there were no Sour Patch Kids or Starbusts in sight, not even a "As Seen On TV" aisle.  The medicine's box of course, was all in Romanian, so Dorel decided to start up a game of Charades with me in order to help with the dosage instructions.  Shaking of a fist, a drinking motion, sipping of a spoon movement, 3 fingers.  Got it.  Shake well, drink a spoonful, 3 times a day?  At least I sure hope that is what he meant.  I gave the bottle to Mihaela at dinner to translate just in case.  We don't want any hallucinating or cough syrup highs tonight!  The babies would not approve of such behavior.

After buying my legal drugs, we went to the high school to sit in on Mihaela's class.  Supposedly, her students had been asking her to bring the Americans for a while!  I don't blame them.  We're just so cool. The school was beautiful - high ceilings, a grand stairway as you enter, very picturesque indeed.  The class turned into a general question and answer session that was really quite amusing.  From what I could tell, everyone spoke English exceptionally well (the Internet, TV, and movies all seem to be big helpers) and most seemed to want to leave Romania when given the chance.  The rebellious teenage years.....even across the globe.  In addition, most students seemed to be on the route of wanting to be doctors and were concentrating their studies in the sciences for the time being.  Just up my alley!

Following this great cultural exchange and opportunity for the students to practice their English with real Americans (I was asked about the Chicago Bulls, my favorite music and movies, things about my science background as well as my current lab experience), most of the kids walked us to our next stop: dinner!  Once again, a very fine dining restaurant in Barlad was visited.  I had twisted bread rolls, Viennese chicken, French fries, and an ice cream sundae for dessert.  YUM.  These places are never hit or miss.  It's always a hit for me!

After this delicious meal, we stopped at the town's general supermarket InterEx.  I, of course, stocked up on as much Milka chocolate as I could carry and Halls for my pesky cough.  Chocolate and more drugs - it's really all you need to survive here in Tutova.

Name that baby! 
It's Petre dressed in full "Where's Waldo" gear and properly hiding from the camera lens.
Waldo would be proud.

Boy Beat Up By Babies

Between being rundown from the weekend excitement of our Transylvanian tourist travels and the frequent exposure to the winter colds and snotty noses of the babies, I have been battling a horrible head cold.  As a result, I have been popping Benadryls like candy.  Despite being highly medicated and coughing up a lung or two, clinic life still goes on.  We continue to learn more about each of the kids’ distinct behaviors and personalities with every visit.  For example, I learned that Ion, making up for lost time with volunteers due to his prior hospital stay in Barlad, is very strong and a bundle of energy.  He is able to climb and grab onto the radio stand in the larger toddler playroom all by himself (which is quite scary to actually see in person).  I also lost to him in a tug of war battle involving the stretching of the neck area of our clothes (he started it!).  In addition, almost all of the toddlers are notorious to be messy eaters, a volunteer’s delight. 

The twins thought the chocolate treat was lipstick.
She looks like the Joker from Batman.

Due to flying spoons, fingers in containers, and not fully closed lips, I end up with more yogurt and milk on my scrubs than in mouths.  They just know that I love doing laundry.  Many of us have also noted that Petre loves to cause trouble and even displays a devilish, yet cute smirk across his face upon someone’s discovery of his hijinx.  Probably sensing that I was drowsy from all of the cold medication, he decided to give me a nice “wake up” slap in the face yesterday.  How kind of him! 

As usual, Yoko and Kellie frequently stop by the toddler rooms to visit myself and Heather, and sometimes they even bring along a baby or two!  It’s always a nice change of pace to see their little, chubby faces!

Hey Nico!  How can you resist this face?

A few of us had a nice exchange with the nurse aids today.  Even though we see them almost every day, usually everyone is so busy running around after babies!  It is fun sharing information about our home lives and families with each other.  When the communication line fails due to the language barrier, drawing on the floor with a finger and playing charades is the way to go! 

At lunch, program leader Dan explained more details about where the Global Volunteer funds actually go within the clinic.  Besides paying for the industrial washers and part of the hospital water filtration system, the program fees also help pay for a number of aides’ salaries, the preschool teacher for the older kids, as well as half of the children’s food.  Following this delicious meal of yummy vegetable soup and cucumber/tomato salad, we headed to our favorite Tiff Market again to stock up on Milka chocolate for the week, buy what we hoped was laundry detergent, and purchase the cure-all for our pesky colds – more candy.

One of the volunteers on our team was actually a finance employee for Global Volunteers.  She threatened to cut the dessert budget after she departed Romania.  She left and this is what we receive for dessert today.  Bonus points if you can decipher what it is.  It is not a favorite of mine.
 


It's not cheese.  It's not tofu.



Travel Tales from a Transylvanian Tourist

Our Transylvania weekend adventure was AMAZING and SO MUCH FUN!  We actually covered a lot of ground in a really short amount of time!  With our awesome tour guide Florin, we passed through all sorts of beautiful snowy landscapes.  Being from the rather flat Midwest, winding up and around the Carpathian Mountains was especially exciting! 

Nature pictures from the car
I'm very talented obviously.

5 hours later, we were in Brasov, Romania, oogling and oggling at all sorts of cool sights.  Did you know that Romanian fuel for cars (petrol) is more expensive than the high prices in the U.S.?  Who knew?

Brasov County Hall Building

Brasov Town Hall Building with all kinds of mosaics displayed on easels in front

Fortress protecting the city from American tourists

The Square - prime pigeon real estate 

First major attraction on the list was the Black Castle, the largest Gothic church between Vienna and Istanbul.  Named the Black Castle due to a fire that took place, the church was filled with rugs sent from traveling merchants who returned home safely, a huge pipe organ, tombs of important figures in the walls, and visible remnants of gun shots. 

A handsome Steve at the entrance of the Black Castle

The Black Castle
I asked if this was the front or the back.  It was neither.  My bad. 

Moving along, we visited Bran Castle, famous for its Dracula fame.  Since someone actually owns the property, not much furnishings were present.  However, there were still amazing views and interesting history!  Thankfully, we were not impaled during our visit.  Sorry, no vampire sightings – it wasn’t nighttime.

The Bran Castle Well - a labrynith of tunnels lies below



Props to Vlad Tepes for maintaining such a wild moustache!
 The Dracula myth is based around him. 



My partners in crime, Kellie and Yoko, climbing the Secret Passageway
Not so secret anymore.

Our tour guide Florin big pimpin' during the icy descent of the Bran Castle grounds.
I was left to hold onto the railing. haha

Next, we drove to our fancy hotel, the Rina Sinaia (we apparently were not ripped off by the travel agent, but just got a really nice hotel!).  This resort & skiing town, Sinaia, was really alive with life and loud music (even the ice skating rink for kids was playing loud, gangster rap.  Love it.)  In my opinion, the highlights of the hotel were 1) the tiny elevators holding 4 people maximum – normal American elevator music was nowhere to be found.  In its place, bumping European beats a.k.a. dance party central.  2) the hilarious entertainment during dinner.  Unfortunately, the girls did not return for an encore during the next day’s breakfast.  Disappointing!

Dancing Romanian hotties (no, I'm not talking about the man sitting in front)

Costume change!

On Sunday, the thrilling and lavish Peles Castle was visited.  It blew Bran Castle out of the water.  Everything was so ornate with beautiful ceilings, art pieces, statues, and gilding.  We even had to wear booties over our shoes.  That shows you that they are not messing around!  Peles Castle was intended as a summer residence and also was the first European castle to have central heating and electricity.  Around 10 rooms on the ground floor were available to see including the armory, dining hall, library, and hall of mirrors – my eyes had so many extraordinary works to take in all at one time!



In front of Peles Castle



A wintery fountain

The awesome Peles castle

Following a foggy, yet breathtaking ride on the Sinaia cable car to the mountaintop above all of the trees (I think it reached 1400 m high), I ate a delicious chicken dish with tomato sauce at Restaurant Snow.  Another meal to add to the rotation at home!

The Sinaia cable car (mostly used for skiiers to get to the best mountain slopes)

An American at 1400 m and climbing!

The Transylvanian Trio (myself, Yoko, and Kellie) sleepily returned to Tutova after our busy weekend.  The waiter was happy to see us  safe and sound at the Raluca motel - he was waiting for us with shots of Romania’s famous plum brandy, on the house, from the owner.  Dear god....he shouldn't have...really.

Children of the Chai

(entry for Friday, February 18th, 2011)

After a week of being in the clinic, I finally realized that the kids have actually been drinking chai tea and not apple juice as I thought.  Even though the toddlers have been pointing to the sippie cups and saying “chai,” I thought they were just speaking Romanian.  The kids must think that their male “mama” is an idiot.  We also saw a baptism taking place in the smaller toddler playroom in the clinic.  It seemed like a big event – candles were burning, the babies involved were extra bundled up, Dr. Delia was present, and the smiling staff was very excited motioning for us to get a closer look. 

We all love yogurt snack time - Celine helped me feed Roxanna.

Andreea likes lights on her forehead.  She can find stuffed animals better that way.

In other updates, the decision regarding the status of the hospital has been moved from the national level to the local governing body.  What a rollercoaster.  The government here apparently likes to mess around with people’s minds, just to show that they have the power.

The volunteer crew also adventured to Tiff Market down the street.  I stocked up on Milka chocolate for the week.  Before I was fully induced into my sugar coma, I ate my favorite meal so far – chicken snitzel fingers and French fries.  How American of me. 

HORSE AND CART CAUGHT ON FILM!!!!!!!  Cross it off the checklist.

Furthermore, for future volunteers, it would be helpful to bring a flashlight for the walk home from the clinic, because 1) dogs like to hop out from bushes and make me scream like a girl and 2) I nearly face planted numerous times in the puddled & manured dirt road.  I must admit, not bringing my flashlight along for the clinic walk keeps things exciting…

1 of our team members will be leaving tomorrow, so she will be the guinea pig for taking the 5-hour train ride back to Bucharest.  Off to Transylvania for the weekend!  Will keep eyes peeled for any vampire sightings.  Wooooohooo!



Babies Gone Wild!



P.S. – I have been watching a lot of MTV Romania and VH1, because they actually play music videos here (and most songs are in English anyways)!  Shakira’s “Loca” (upon general team consensus, this is probably the volunteer team anthem) and Rihanna seem to be playing every hour as well as well as “American Dream” by Puya, “Ne place” by ROA, and “My Passion” by Akcent.  Youtube them now if you want a taste of Romanian pop music!  I’m diggin’ it. 

Babies, Borschts, Blackouts, and More Barlad

To start the day of work, one volunteer selects the message of the day to put the team into the right mindset.  Here is an inspiring poem that I selected to share with the team today:

“What is success?

To laugh often and much;

To win the respect of intelligent people and the affection of children;

To earn the appreciation of honest critics and endure the betrayal of false friends;

To appreciate beauty;

To find the best in others;

To leave the world a bit better, whether by a healthy child, a garden patch, or a redeemed social condition;

To know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived;

That is to have succeeded.”

-Ralph Waldo Emerson

Tutova sunrise  (yes, I am up that early for no reason)

                                           

The aftermath of today’s visit to the clinic was bitter-sweet.  While seeing and playing with each of the kids is always enjoyable and thoroughly entertaining for both parties, it is always difficult to think about these children’s futures.  With the Ministry of Health representatives arriving for their inspection this afternoon, all of the nurses and aides were busily cleaning every inch of every room in the clinic.  I swear I saw an aide wipe down the same door four times.  While any decisions regarding the Hospital have not been made yet, outlooks appear bleak.  Converting 180 hospitals of the approximate 400 existing in Romania for centralization/cost purposes just seems ludicrous to me and will definitely cause huge problems in this country’s future.

Daria likes to compose new music masterpieces and practice for upcoming recitals she has booked in the Tutova area

"Queen" Andreea being a cutie

Gabi and Andreea practice poses for their future modeling careers



In other (way less significant) news, the power went out a number of times last night at our motel.  Since we are in the village fields of Tutova, it was pitch black.  Thankfully, I am not afraid of the dark and I did not forget a handy flashlight!  After numerous on and off flickerings for hours, I gave up and went to bed really early.  It was a real good sleep though!

Today at lunch (a borscht soup and a Bavarian salad), Dan spoke about how he grew up in Communist Romania as well as interesting details regarding the slow progress following the Revolution.  From learning about the rationings of food every month, to serving in the military, in addition to the far-reaching effects of the plummeting U.S. economy, it was much more interesting to listen to a personal account than to read a scholarly book by a historian. 

We also traveled back to Barlad this evening to meet the travel agent who would book our trip to Transylvania.  I think we definitely got ripped off, but oh well, it's a learning experience.  Mihaela sent a group of her students to lead us to the correct restaurant.  The guys were very excited to meet us, and by us, I mean the American ladies!  For dinner, Restaurant Alono did not disappoint!  I should get paid for these good reviews that I am posting about these places in Barlad.  A lot of the restaurants we’ve been to so far seem to serve a poofy Foccacia bread that is so yummy.  I need to learn how to make it pronto.  I also had a tasty chicken dish in a white sauce with mushrooms and mashed potatoes as well as two chocolate crepes.  Mouth watering once again….

A Bite in Barlad

Today was round 2 of baby mania at the Pediatric Recovery Clinic.  It was a very fun (yet exhausting!) day filled with silly games, reading time, some cries and mischief, as well as wide grins and infectious giggles.  We all now seem to be getting accustomed to the clinic’s routine operations.

There is never a dull moment in the toddler playrooms.  For instance, Daria, nicknamed “the jumping bean,” will be bouncing around nonstop, while a group of kids will be singing along to the  “Jay Jay the Jet Plane” DVD nearby or dancing to their favorite tune “Zoom Zoom” on the karaoke machine.  Meanwhile, Alexandra may take your hand and direct you to her favorite pink stroller for a scenic ride in the hallway.  Seeing this, "Queen" Andreea will turn the carrying compartment below the stroller into an extra seat and come along for the ride, too.  Another volunteer even discovered that the children are mesmerized by flashlights.  It was such a funny sight to see a child shine the light beam and then have the others try to grab at it with their hands.  Speaking of hands, I continue to have mine full with the twin toddlers Roxanna and Andreea.  Where you find one of them, the other will probably be close by, most likely attached to my hip or asking to be swung in the air like a human pendulum.  It’s true - double the pleasure, double the fun!

After our clinic visit, the team adventured out of Tutova for the first time to eat dinner.  Being the minority outnumbered by four other female volunteers, I would not dare to prohibit the women from shopping upon arrival to Barlad.  Fashionable footwear found new American owners, yummy chocolate goodies were bought, and cans of “crap” were discovered to actually exist at the Penny Market…it was even on sale!

While the language barrier and our American appearance may cause us to stick out like sore thumbs, resulting in some funny moments with locals, it definitely does not hinder any of us from filling our stomachs with good food.  After being shown Barlad’s town hall and notable churches by Mihaela, we walked to the Trattoria da Vinci, a quite fancy Italian restaurant, where we feasted on delicious pastas dishes and pizza.  And let’s not forget the tasty desserts that were rotating in the display case near the front of the restaurant, just waiting for us to set eyes on them!  My mouth is starting to water just thinking about them again…

                                                                                Barlad Town Hall

                                                                                        Image: http://www.intern.ro/Images/showimage.8336.en.html

My Little Valentines

Happy Valentine's Day!  Even though there is no actual Valentine's Day in Romania, it is still a special day imported from the U.S. to increase sales.  From watching the television, I've learned that Romanian people express their love for each other on Valentine's Day by having down feather pillow fights in the streets.  Quite a sight on the screen!

Today was our first full day in the clinic.  Of course, the twins found me right away and needed to be picked up at the same time for most of the day.  Where you find them, you can find me - my hands are always full here!  We started our day together by watching a hip-hop sing-a-long/dancing DVD for kids called "Choo Choo Soul" - it mesmerizes the children and is even very entertaining for a recent college grad.  YouTube it sometime, because it's pretty cool.  I am also very thankful that I brought scrubs along to wear, because a nice crust of baby spit, mucous, dried milk, yogurt, and other unidentified objects has formed on them....and it's only day 1.

                                                         The Pediatric Recovery Clinic Entrance
                                       (the kids love to sit on the window ledges and watch nature)

We also met with Dr. Delia this afternoon for a tour of the rest of the Tutova Hospital.  She is quite an inspiring person to be around.  Not only is she the director of the place, but she is 1 of 2 permanent physicians on staff for the whole hospital.  All other doctors tend to only be "on call" or "visiting."  Apparently, it is hard to get doctors to come fill the needed positions due to the very low wages in Romania - a doctor's salary is ONLY $1000 A MONTH!!!!!  Currently, the hospital has 60 beds, separated into chronic adult patients, as well as chronic & acute child patients.  First, we saw the Emergency Room which consisted of 4 beds in a small room containing an ultrasound machine, an EKG, a defibrillator, and basic respiratory equipment like an oxygen line.  Patients who need immediate care are triaged here and then are ambulanced to the hospital in Barlad, the nearest big city, if necessary.  Additionally, any X-rays need to be done in Barlad, as well, due to the lack of equipment.  We also made a stop to see the clinical laboratory where blood testing is done (this intrigued me given my current research job involving blood), as well as the laundry room (Global Volunteers invested in 2 washers/dryers that were much in need by the hospital). 

Everything is super clean, sterile, and organized which is quite impressive.  Unfortunately, the Romanian government is severely reducing the number of hospitals, simply because they have the power to do so.  The Tutova Hospital is currently on the chopping block, because it does not make enough money (it would be turned into a senior living establishment to bring in more bucks).  Such a change would be devastating for this village.

Furthermore, it was a shock to hear that the level of basic care a patient receives all depends on how large a "tip" is given to the necessary doctors and staff.  Clean bed sheets and even quality anesthetics for surgeries/medications do not appear by themselves. 

Following our tour, we went back to the kiddies.  The pre-school teacher was actually there to help me with the energetic toddlers, but everyone was still a handful!  Overall, it was a very fun, yet tiring day filled with mischief, food, games, fun, tantrums, cries, and of course, giggles.

                                                             We like to chill out (Alexandra)

We like to make funny faces (Alina)

We like to listen to music and have fun in the playroom

(meet my main crew: the twins Roxanna & Andreea, and Gabi)

Orientation Day - Learning about "Crap"

Thankfully, residual jet lag was nowhere to be found this morning.  I awoke to the masses of village stray dogs barking.  At least this alarm clock is reliable - does not require batteries or assembly of any sort!  Apparently, the dogs like to run at oncoming traffic like no tomorrow.  We experienced this first hand when we saw our first animal trauma during a walk around the motel grounds (drivers here are very aggressive!).  Romanian drama.   

On a lighter note, today was all things orientation related with Mihaela, the other Romanian program leader who happens to be Dan’s wife.  Interestingly, we learned that this volunteer program was initiated in 1999 when a single adoption from Tutova, Romania, took place by an American.  It just expanded from that point and now Global Volunteers sends a new team to the clinic every three weeks in order to help keep the kids progressing.  Check out http://www.globalvolunteers.org/ for more history or for more information for programs all over the world.

The food here has been delicious and comes in huge portions.  All meal items so far seem pretty “American-ized” – grain cereal, toast, crepes, yogurt, fruit (for breakfast); chicken breast, mashed potatoes, chicken noodle soup (for lunch); penne and neopolitan ice cream for dinner.  Yummm.  I am not sure if this is considered a normal meal or just the motel dining staff being used to accomodating U.S. volunteers. 

We also learned some essential Romanian, most of which was covered in the audio CDs that I bought (I guess they were helpful after all!).  Some funny things – Romania has cans of crap….“Crap” meaning “carp,” the fish, in English.  Also, if the clinic staff or myself tell the kids to “pup" pronounced "poop,” it means a “kiss on the cheek” in Romanian.  Furthermore, Mihaela told us not to ask for a “lemon” in Romanian, because foreigners cannot pronounce the odd Romanian phonetics for this word, which leads to the pronunciation for something else….let’s just say not a lemon…. 

Today was the team’s first visit to the clinic to meet the children, too.  The hospital is actually only about a block away and is visible from the motel.  There are currently 20 kids being cared for there.  Of course, I was warned that I may be called “ma ma” due to the lack of males around.  Yep, it happened.  Also, the first thing that the hospital aids pointed out with their hands when I walked in: “He’s very tall.”  Hilarious.

Right away, a pair of twins, Roxana & Andreea, walked up to me, clawed on, and then followed me upon putting them down during our tour of the Pediatric Recovery Clinic.  One was fixated by my Adam’s Apple and kept pushing it like a button, looking confused.  What’s that?  So intuitive! 

After a brief bottle feeding and burping of the youngest infants (just learning how to properly handle the cute tiny babies was an experience), a short play time commenced.  When not directly attached to the twins, I also played “copycat” and had a mini dance party with Alina, a 3 year old with a large repertoire of medical ailments.  Surprisingly, she is very energetic and can greet others with an English “Hellooooooooo!” very well.  I was assigned to work with the toddlers for the rest of the program, so I am going to need a lot of energy chasing them all.  Should be fun!  Photos to come soon!

Greetings from Romania!

After a full day of international flights, layovers, and then a drive to Tutova, I successfully made it to my destination without any problems.  No flight delays, no security pat-downs needed, no immigration issues, and to put a cherry on top, I easily found Dan, one of the Global Volunteer Romanian team leaders, waiting for me in the Bucharest Otopeni Airport.  Please take a minute to applaud me for not getting lost during my first European excursion.

Upon stepping out of the Bucharest airport, I was surprised at how “warm” it was outside.  Coming from 0 degree F winter temperatures and the blizzard snows of Chicago, I will take the 45 degree temperatures and howling winds instead any day. 

                                                                     Left this behind in Chicago....

                                        

                             For the village fields of Tutova (yes, those are a swarm of crows pictured below)!!

I do not think jet lag of any sort has set in yet, but it might be a different story tomorrow.  I plan on sleeping like a king here at the Raluca motel in Tutova.  Since I am the only male clinic volunteer on this team of five, I get my own room – lucky me! 

                                       My quite colorful and new humble abode - Pensiunea Raluca

I’ll leave you with a few observations for the day, so I can catch up on some sleep:

1)      International meals on flights are surprisingly edible.

2)      Romanians drive on the right side of the road.  I thought all Europeans drove on the left.  I guess not!

3)      Stray dogs populate the streets as a result of the Communist regime knocking down properties long ago.  The people were forced to move to apartments, while the dogs remained & exponentially reproduced. 

                      We were even given a kind welcome by a group of 3 pups at the inn. 

                             Supposedly, even the hospital has a group of "resident" dogs.

4)      You will find an occasional horse and buggy cruising alongside traffic, as it is still a common mode of transportation.  It's almost like a fun game - how long until the next horse comes along?

5)      McDonald’s (our 1^st official meal in Romania) has different menu items in Romania.  They like to hide things from us Americans.

Orientation day and non-fast food is on the schedule for tomorrow, so we will see how it goes!

-Steve

Packing Procrastination - The Final Countdown

Welcome to my blog!  Appropriately entitled "Where In The World Is Steve?", this beginner's attempt at blogging will be detailing my adventures abroad.  First stop for now: Romania!

Image from (http://www.excursiideltadunarii.info)

Kudos to you if you knew where Romania was without looking at the map!

For those who are not aware, I am volunteering this February in Dr. Nicolaescu's Pediatric Recovery Clinic with Global Volunteers.  Located in the rural village of Tutova in northeastern Vaslui County of Romania, the Tutova Hospital's Pediatric Recovery Clinic cares for numerous children, from underweight newborns to three year old toddlers.  While many of the kids are taken home by their families after a year of extra care in the clinic, some are left until proper foster homes or adoptions can be arranged.  My role will be to provide daily interaction with the kids, in addition to lending a hand wherever needed, at the short staffed hospital.

As a recipient of a Winter Volunteer Fund grant, I have agreed to keep an active blog about my experiences during the service program.  (I'll try to make it as entertaining as possible - no one likes a boring blogger!)  Not only will this serve as an opportunity for exchange with past Romanian volunteers as well as a sneak peek guide for any curious future volunteers, but it will also 1) help me remember what I did in case of any short term memory loss due to severe jet lag and 2) allow my family and friends to see that I am still alive, surviving, and having a good time roughly five thousand miles away from home! 

With the days to departure winding down, the packing is still not done.  I prioritized and loaded my Ipod instead with great travel tunes.  I have also been cramming some basic Romanian in my brain by listening to audio tape lessons.  They are quite entertaining - somehow, the conversation always leads back to the bar.  Surprisingly, I find it very similar to French (French and English are the most popular foreign languages in Romania, so I should be good....hopefully....at least with Romanian conversations in a bar setting?)

"Why are you going to Romania?" "Where's Romania?" "What's there?" "Are you doing something vampire related?  No?  Gymnastics related?"  These are all amusing reactions that I have heard upon telling people that I am leaving the United States for a Romanian volunteer trip.  Hopefully by checking in with me as I write this blog, I can answer such thought-provoking questions.  Enjoy - feel free to leave a comment!