A week in the life of an intern...

Ok I realize that I have been blogging all these deep emotions about camp and I haven't actually shared what we do. I am going to explain a very generic version of what a week is like in Romania. I will try hard to leave out stories and emotions...but its me :)

MONDAY
Usually we sleep in a bit and do some stuff around the house/town. At about noonish -we go to the office for lunch and divide into Countries (teams) with translators and the visiting group. We take some time to pray for the week then head out to the orphanages or group homes. When we arrive, we paint nails and play with kids. After we know all the kids are with us, the Romanian volunteers start us off with a skit explaining that the Olympics in China are canceled and instead will be at Vetca...only we need people to compete. We divide the kids into teams and after some cheering and face paint start off the competition with four sets of games. At the end of the games, we say goodbye. We are usually exhausted as we arrive back at the office for our pizza dinner. Evenings are free and usually include walking someplace to use the internet or packing.
TUESDAY
Tuesday mornings always involve packing and taking that last "real" shower before heading out to camp. The bus picks us up about noon and we head out to Vetca. We arrive a few hours before the kids and set up their tents making sure each kid has sheets, a pillow, and two blankets for the cold nights. By the time kids arrive, we manage to finish (usually) and have enough energy to cheer for them. After camp rules and moving in to there "5-star" tents, we create our team flags...and usually spill paint everywhere. Then we have an amazing game of wiffleball. Romanians seem to have no concept of baseball, the translators and the kids are always so confused. Picture a clip from the beginning of the Bad News Bears and multiply the lost confused kids by about 10 and you have our game. Kids pile up on first base and the ball is thrown to just about every person before the next pitch. Its a bit stressful, but most weeks all I can do is laugh. In the evening, we have "Club" time, a great talk about how rules are actually in place to make life better. Then we play around a bit more until its dark enough for a camp fire and smores. By then, its 10ish and time for bed...and everyone of us is very ready.
WEDNESDAY
We begin every morning at camp with an 8:00 meeting to discuss the day and pray for energy (very needed at this point). At 8:30, we begin "morning exercises" with the kids - mostly dancing around to YMCA and other choice songs while doing stretches, always fun. It even gets me energized and everyone who knows me knows I am NOT a morning person. After breakfast, we have "Club" time again and then stations of games. The kids also get to make a t-shirt and memorize the days verse.Then free time and lunch, followed by slip-in-slide and sometimes another water game. This usually involves hosing off at the end, the only shower for many the entire week. The evening is the wonderful "Messy Games" Olympics, a series of fun games for more points. By the end of it all, its once again time for bed to rest before another day at Camp Vetca.
THURSDAY
Morning meeting at 8:00 always seems so early by Thursday. The morning exercises and breakfast are pretty much the same. Then "Club time again, and the singing usually wakes me up. The stations for the day include decorating a picture frame and each kid gets a photo of the team to take home. After lunch we make AMAZING advertisements for our team's country. These will hopefully be posted online later, but let me tell you they are funny even if you don't speak the language. Afternoons include a walk to the village for ice cream and conclude with a Decathlon that usually has about seven or eight games (hmm). After dinner, we watch the videos and create our own body builders (great for photos). Then we learn the final standings for the week (still working on getting the gold medal). We conclude the evening with my favorite part of the week, a time of prayer for each of the kids on our team. This part of the night includes tears, laughs and lots of pictures. The kids go to bed with a gift bag full or little items that they love and a camp t-shirt. By this time, we are usually all emotional as well.
FRIDAY
Friday morning after the meeting and exercises, we help the kids pack up and load the buses. We head out to "The Weekend" a really large public pool. We spend our last day with the kids swimming and playing around at the pool and then say our goodbyes. By the time we get back to our house, we are exhausted and usually shower for the first time since Tuesday. The rest of the night is almost always low key.
SATURDAY
I usually have no trouble sleeping in these days. We have the option of visiting the orphanges, the Casas (Livada's own kids) or hanging out around town. For dinner, we head to the Livada office for a cookout with the visiting team, usually followed by hanging out with them.
SUNDAY
Most Sundays I have been going to the Baptist church down the road which is actually very similar to our churches. After church, we have afternoons free. Dinner is always with the other interns at the house and we gather for a time to share our weeks and what God has been teaching us. We pray and prepare to begin it all again...