There was no more time to write on the trip, but I wanted to finish the story for those of you wondering what happened the last few days. This is going to be long...it's a lot of days.
Wednesday was a great day of camp for most, but the green team presented a challenge. The older kids were not setting the best example, and the entire team was not allowed to go with us to our outing at The Weekend, a public pool. It was sad not to take the entire group with us, but I think it was a good lesson for the kids. That evening, we took a trip to The Center, which just like it sounds is the center of town. Not much was open, but we stopped for ice cream at my old favorite place, The Gallery Cafe (my fav last year only b/c of the free Internet). While we were sitting there, another American group passed by. The team leader noticed Emily’s Texas shirt and came back to talk to us. Turns out he is from Lubbock and just moved to Romania to teach English a few months ago. He gave me information on their program, which was pretty exciting. (Perhaps that’s why I randomly became certified ESL last month?)
Thursday was a much better day at camp for all teams. We had an afternoon of messy games followed by a water balloon fight that hardly seemed fair. Basically all the kids had balloons and none of the adults! I’m pretty sure Krisztina attacked me with at least 20 balloons. That evening we went to The Weekend for dinner with the mentor apartment group. It was great to see Gabi and the girls, especially Maria whom I sponsor. My mom and I had a bag of clothes for her but she was most excited about the Twilight themed bag. Apparently she is a huge Edward fan. But then again, who isn’t. ☺
Friday was a long day at a much nicer pool, The Apollo. The kids all had fun and we were worn out. My favorite part was at the end. We were given a chance to share with the kids and I shared a little bit about my testimony and tied it in to being adopted. During that time, Krisztina also finally admitted that she had fun all week, even though she had tried so hard to look bored all week. Friday night we convinced our translators Andrei and Violeta to hang out with us and walked all around TM, and of course they were tons of fun.
Saturday was by far the most difficult day. We woke up early to visit the Gyspy village and I had no clue what to expect. When we arrived, we learned that another group was actually there doing a camp with the kids. It seemed pointless to be there at first. But we walked around anyhow. Somehow, a few kids decided that Amanda and I were great for catching them as they ran full speed down a hill. It was pretty funny. The kids ran and jumped into our arms, then we spun them around and set them down just in time to catch the next child approaching. Definitely wore us out quickly but was great!
After the village, we headed to lunch and prepared gift bags, then to the Casas. Because of some of the craziness earlier in the week, the kids decided they wanted to throw us a “Thank You” party. It was the sweetest thing ever. As soon as I got out of the van, Krisztina brought me a card and told me not to read it until later. The kids sang songs for everyone and gave us treats. They even made us a slide show saying thanks. As I was eating my snacks, one of the kids came to me telling me that Krisztina was off by the fence crying for me. I went and sat with her and said goodbye. It was probably one of the hardest goodbyes I’ve said in Romania.
As if that wasn’t enough emotion for the day, we went straight from there to Sincrai group homes. I was greeted almost instantly with Ileana. It was so great to see her again, even if it was just for a few minutes. I would love to be able to sit down and really get to talk to her (with a translator of course…can’t get very deep with my limited Romanian).
From there we headed to the cookout and shared stories. After that, my mom and I went to Gabi’s to see where the mentor girls lived. It was so great to be invited and wonderful to be able to picture what life was like there. Gabi made us amazing cake made from scratch and the girls played on the iPhones. After, I stopped by my translator, Paul’s, house. It was only for a few minutes, but well worth it. I was able to see so many people from last summer I hadn’t seen yet and even found out Paul was my friend Laura’s brother. It’s a small world, or at least in TM it is ☺
The next day we had a lot of free time while waiting to leave. I was able to catch up with two of my favorite translators Ioana and Amy (ok, they're all my fav). Then we went shopping with the mentor girls for a few hours. At last it was time to board the bus.
Leaving did not feel real. It was so hard to leave not knowing when I will be back, but the trip was amazing and I know that no matter when I return, the relationships I built will continue.
