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).