Vorbesc (I speak)....uh...a lot

I feel bad when I make multiple posts in one day. I honestly did not think I'd have so much to say...or the means to be posting so frequently. Hopefully people don't mind. I know a lot of my family does not keep up on this so it'll all get to be retold again in those classic hated missionary phrases "When I was in Romania...." I'm not even sure where to begin so...I'll start at the beginning!

The hospital (2-5pm 2 or 3 days a week):
Since my first experience that was probably really dramatic, it has improved quite a bit. It is still challenging when gypsies stop us and try to get us to give them diapers for their kids, but sometimes the 3 hours just don't seem long enough. I've gotten attached to a little girl (Cozmina)on the 8th floor. She's rather..demanding as we bring toys for her and she always asks "do you have more?" But she actually seemed quite content when we brought out Mrs Potatohead (thanks Mark!) and playdough. It's also been amazing to hold tiny babies who are usually soothed just by being held. We're not always this lucky (esp. when nurses feed on a schedule, not according to crying), but it is truly something else to spend your days trying to make children happy (see orphanage notes below). In the last room I was in on Tuesday, the baby without a mom was sleeping. I stood there unsure of what to do and a little girl with crossed eyes came up to me. Her grandma told me (I think) she was having surgery to get them fixed. So , I pulled out bubbles, Bert (yes that old puppet!), and Mrs. Potatohead for her to play with. Her eyes just lit up and she giggled when I asked her if she liked Grover, and Cookie Monster (she said "albastru!"=he's blue!), and especially when I told her Oscar was suparat (angry). Her grandmother then proceeded to give me an apple from their food supply. Okay, now this may not seem much to a lot of people, but this touched me for some reason. Maybe they had extra, I dont' know. But I saw this as an expression of gratitude. I could tell there were other mom's in the room that eyed the diapers as I changed the baby, but they also seemed to understand that I couldn't bring them for everyone. It was specifically for copii fara mama.

The orphanage 9am-12 5 days a week
I am working in Mickey Mouse rooms. Monday and Tuesday we rotated between Bambi and Isolation as well. All of the children are just cute...what else can i say. But I just felt more connected and more positive about Mickey Mouse. The children vary in their level of disability. Some are more severe than others and seem to be mixed...I can't find any rhyme or reason to who goes where other than isolation is kids that really don't do anything. I admit some of them really surprise me. Some children who appear innocent, have quickly turned "braznic" (naughty), and I have gotten responses from children who appear to be in their own world. It is great. Some of the kids could give you endess hugs and stay in your lap all day. One little boy wouldn't let me let go of him, which I was not going to fight, until another little boy began to demand my attention (he kept switching between me and Melanie the other intern in the room). I think the best part though, was in the last hour, most of the children were going down for naps (though I'm not sure they really sleep, it's just regiment) and there was a child left in the corner in a wheelchair just staring in the corner of the room. If he could see, it wasn't very well, so I approached him carefully. I took his hand and started tickling his legs. His blank stare turned into one of the cutest smiles I've ever seen. I stood close so that as his head fell to the side, it rested against me. His blank stare turned into a smile/look of pure enjoyment on his face. He turned his head in my direction, and even though I don't think those gorgeous brown eyes could really see me, it made me so glad I did go over to him. Almost every day I am here, I am reminded of the quote at the top of my blog. I have yet to do anything really enriching for these children, but there is no better feeling than putting a smile on a child's face, even if they can't see me, even if they are pulling my hair, and gouging my eyes out, there is nothing better than what I'm doing right now. I love it!
(PS Due to privacy and IRB-ness, I cant post pictures of the orphanage kids, or really talk about names so sorry for the vagueness.)

Life in General
Last week, I found myself looking back and realizing I was a very difficult person to live with (sorry gals...). Sure, blame it on "culture shock", but it was just the real me coming out. I haven't lived with girls since December and in past apartments, I just run away and do my own thing. But there's not a whole lot of room or places to run away too. So after me getting lost from the group at the Botanical gardens, and realizing what a brat I was being, I decided this week was going to be a better week. I was not going to be annoyed, I was going to be happy and have fun with the rest of my roommates! and guess what! It has been! Today, the ATM machine ate my card, I almost ruined the lemon bars, and overflowed my waterbottle (with precious apa plata!). And all I could do was just laugh...(maybe not really about the money) but I just thought "hey, it's not that bad. it could be a lot worse".
If you have never done this, I personally invite you to try it the "today is going to be a good day" theory. Whether you give yourself a pep talk in the shower, or just remind yourself throughout the day, it works!. (Spiritual part here, I've also been reading my scriptures every day, which I sadly admit, is not normal for me...we all have room for improvement don't we? But that seems to be helping as well.)

The Iasi Branch/Church (consists of 15 members aside from 13 of us interns)
The branch is awesome. The Branch president seems quiet but likes to joke around a lot. The missionaries give English lessons twice a week to people who are intersted so we go and learn Romanian backwards. The sister missionaries are awesome (so are the Elders but we interact more with the sisters). It always makes me smile and think of Mark. :) Eventually I'll be going on splits with them....trying to proselyte in Romanian with them should be fun! (more like one of the scariest things I'll do in my life!)
We all got callings the second week at church. I got called to be a rotating teacher in Young Womens with Branda (another intern) and the Young Women president from the branch. There are 3 other girls from the branch in there. 2 of them speak English, so it's intimidating, but not as intimidating as it'd be to teach in Romanian! However, the last time I taught was a few weeks back in Utah...and they were 5 years old! So I'm still pretty nervous for next Sunday.

I think that's about all I can type for now....I suppose the point of blogging is for shorter entries, but I just let it build up too much. Sorry!
PS..I already am just under 3 months until I come home...time is already going by way too fast!!