Buna Sera (since it's 9:00 over here),
So today I came to the shelter this morning and played with the little girls all morning, drawing adorable pictures and such. Then I walked the older kids to school and the younger kids back to the house. They were excited about that, they wanted their friends at school to see them with me. When we got back to the house we played around here for a little while, then they ate and napped, during which time Ronaldo, one of the older boys whose name isn't actually Ronaldo, but he absolutely LOVES socer, gave me five more Romanian words to learn and I gave him give more English words to learn and then me and a few of the older kids read in the classroom (which also is the play room and TV room) while the younger kids napped. Then they did their homework and I helped them with some of their English homework and then I played in the front with a couple of the kids which was fun. Then we went to McDonalds for dinner, not that I like McDonalds much at all, but over here it's good, especially since my dad has me too scared to go anywhere near chicken, my choices are limited, so at least there is something that I'm used to and isn't chicken. Of course my mom thinks its horse meat because there is a lot of horse meat here, but I'm pretty sure it's not, so I chose a cheeseburger over the potentially avian flu infested McPui (McChicken)!
I have to say, one of the most frightening things over here has got to be the driving. There are trams everywhere causing even more problems to their terrible and unorganized driving. On the street off of which the shelter is has even more problems because the tram is under construction. With the tram tracks in the middle of the road under construction in order to make a left hand turn one must make a left hand turn into oncoming traffic and drive on the wrong side of the road until you reach a makeshift road over the tram tracks under constructions. Well there are only so many of these ways over the tram tracks, so not only could you be driving for a half mile on the wrong side of the road, but when you get to these overpasses they are quite crowded and typically just have a huge mass of cars on them, so it takes you forever to make that left turn that you wanted to take in the beginning. Oh and by overpass, I mean thin pieces of wood that don't even look like they'd hold me. It's a really comforting process, let me tell you!
Tomorrow should be a really interesting day. I'm going on the streets for the first time this trip tomorrow, so I'm sure I'll have lots to say about it when I get back, so I'll be sure to write about that as soon as I can. Oh and I keep forgetting my cord that lets me upload pictures on to the computer, so I'm going to make sure I bring it tomorrow and upload pictures for you all to look at so you know more of what I'm talking about and can see the cute faces of all the kids!
Noapte Buna (good night!)
Buna! (Hi!)
I've been so busy I haven't gotten a chance to write in awhile. We didn't end up getting to go swimming on Sunday because the party went late, so we're going to go next weekend. It has been a pretty interesting couple of days though. The shelter is running kind of low on money and yesterday the guy came from the gas company to turn the gas off! They use it for so much here. Cooking, hot water, heating....it's really essential. Unfortunately Russia isn't too happy with Romania for wanting to join the EU so they raised the oil prices, so the shelter couldn't pay for them, so the guy turned the gas off! Today we went to pay the bill and get it turned back on because we came up with just enough money, but we went all today without it. So the kids at cereal and sandwiches all day and then we ordered pizza for dinner! Except they eat it with Catsup (ketchup....however you spell it!) on it! Gross....I know. I'll have to forgive them for it, but especially being from New Haven, I could NOT bring myself to even try that.
There are four kids around me right now, so I'm getting a bit distracted. They're so impressed with how fast I'm typing and how I'm not even looking at the screen, haha. The past two days we've also played a lot of UNO. I brought it with me and its like a game they play with normal cards here called "makow", but they like the UNO cards a lot, playing with different colors is more fun than different suits. We've been playing in both English and Romania. It's a good opportunity for them and me to work on the letters and numbers and basic words for them in English and me in Romanian. I have a very good UNO vocabulary now for whatever thats worth!
On a more frightening note...they found a chicken in the sector of Bucharest I'm in that was infected with the avian flu! Yeah I'm a little scared. And all they really eat here is chicken....so thats kind of a problem. I'm trying to eat other things...but its hard. We're trying to get the chickens in the house next door tested! I don't want the bird flu! So I'll definitely keep you posted on that situation, more and more places around the city are being isolated by the military. That would be quite the experience!
Well it's dinner time, so I should go, but things are still going well. My and one of the kids are having a little competition. Everyday he gets 5 English words (although his English is pretty good, so I give him new words) and I get 5 Romania words and before I leave we're going to have a little contest to see who's learned more, me or him. He is dying to beat me, so I think I'm actually going to have to study a lot! Oh and I also bought the first book of Harry Potter for them and one of the kids has already started it and they've made a waiting list for it. So I figure when the first kid is done I'll get them the second book. I'm glad they like it, there aren't enough books in the house and the ones that are here they've read, so I'm happy that they're reading it. Especially since they don't seem to go to school enough here. The public schools only have the younger kids go in the morning and the older kids going in the afternoon. And then the last two years of high school you go all day to a specialized high school. I don't understand that, it doesn't seem to be enough, but these kids seem to be doing well in school, so thats important. Ok time to go eat pizza, I'll try to write again tomorrow!
I made it! I'm in Romania, it's Sunday afternoon now. After driving to JFK airport Friday night and learning that my flight was delayed two hours meaning I'd miss my connection to Bucharest and having two bags that my mom and I were convinced were way overweight, it seemed as though my trip was starting off with some bad luck. Fortunately, my bags were OK and the really nice lady who helped me check in pushed me onto an earlier flight so I'd make my connection and even better in order to do that they upgraded me!!!! My luck completely turned around and I was excited to get this trip underway, except for the saying goodbye to my mom part! The trip went well, but as always it was exhausting. I got off the plane in Bucharest itching to get my bags and get to the shelter to see all the kids. The best part of the trip is being reunited with my Romanian children and I knew that it would relieve my exhaustion. But it seems like not getting all of your luggage with you on your flight to Bucharest has become a tradition and so I had to stay at the airport and file a claim to get my bag back. What a pain! My bag wad delivered this morning, however, so everything worked out fine.
I got to the shelter to see all the kids. They were really excited to see me, some were shy, but most greeted me with lots of hugs and kisses. They all look pretty much the same, except Ionut (pronounced yonootz), he's one of the cutest little boys ever and he used to be real short and stocky like a football player, but he has thinned out quite a bit since he has grown. I'll be sure to upload a picture of him soon. They had just finished napping and were doing some arts and crafts and playing basketball on the little concrete area in front of the house. I spent the rest of yesterday hanging out with the kids and catching up with them. It was so much fun to see them again!
After sleeping for what seemed like forever, I got up today to a much quieter house. Most of these kids are not in fact orphans, thats why it is a shelter and not an orphanage that I work with. They have parents who simply live on the street or in the sewer and can therefore not take care of the kids and can definitely not send them to school, so they have signed papers giving custody of the kids to the shelter in hopes their kids will have a better life. Some of these kids are completely abandoned by their families, some we don't even know who their families are because they were found in the streets living by themselves. But most of the ones who were living with their mother before they came here get to see her every once in a while. So today a lot of the kids are visiting with their mothers for a few hours. So it is quiet, but nice around the house with just about 10 of the kids. It is Elena's birthday today, she's turning nine. So this afternoon we're having a party for her and then going to the public swimming pool, so that should be fun. It's beautiful weather here right now, not too hot yet which I'm happy about. So far I'm doing really well and having lots of fun! I hope to hear from all of you soon, lots of love. Pa!
Just wanted to make sure this was working. I'm leaving in two hours, so of course in typical Milikowsky fashion, I am running around frantically doing last minute packing. I don't think it's really hit me that when everyone wakes up here tomorrow (except for maybe my mom because she wakes up way too early in the morning), but when all my friends will be waking up on a normal Saturday morning, I'll be reunited with all the kids in the ARCHWAY shelter in Bucharest, Romania. I'm really excited, but really nervous at the same time! I can't believe I'm going to be alone in Romania for 8 weeks, wish me luck! I'll post an update as soon as I arrive. I'm going to miss you all so much, so please email me! Jenn@Milikowsky.com or my school email will work well for the summer, hope to hear from you!
Pa (bye in Romanian)
