everything is made in china

This week was a tough week for me. Instead of the usually cuddly kids, I got to work with older kids who are harder and institutionalized in the Romanian orphanage system. The kids are hardly kids. My team had people almost as old as I and admittedly I was intimidated. They could have mustaches in 2 days if they wanted. My team for the week was China pronounced kee-nah when chanted in Romanian. The starting line-up:

Dorel - 20 - talked dirty to girls, but was a nice guy a heart who just wanted some people to love him and to be a good example of a man - smoker

Cocan/Atila - 20 - sweet guy who was easily influenced by the more rambunctious members of the team. when he was separate from them he was a really great guy and a potentially good friend - big smoker

Dany - 17 - spoke amazing English, just as good as the translators we had. such a nice girl and was a natural leader. she seemed like she had a good experience with her childhood. she resd like a Geisha in our video - sometimes smoker

Rosalia - 17 - didn't do anything, was very hard to motivate and didn't allow anyone in her space, i think she was "with" Dorel, who most obviously was not "with" her, probably upset by that - smoker

Isti - 11 - sweet Hungarian kid who was the baby of our team by far, the team all took care of him very well, i learned that famiily is still a concept for most of the orphans and a very strong bond even though their experience might be liimited - thankfully not a smoker yet

Fritz - 16 - the traditional "bad kid" who wanted attention and got it by breaking rules and being a pain in the butt all of the time. easily the most frustrating member of t he team, but easily he smartest member as well. he go kicked out of camp on the last night for bringing wine to camp. i could go on with a whole blog about lessons i learned from Fritz - biggest smoker at camp - like 2 packs a day at age 16, rough life

I also had 3 Romanin girl volunteers with me this week. All of them were new to me but they were wonderful. Onuka, and Laura spoke great English and always were helping. Raluca didn't speak any English which was frustrating but she worked well with the girls in our group because she identified with them s o much. Not having the consistency from the first two weeks that I had with Renata being on my team was not the best but everyone survived and at the end of the week we learned a lot. And actually Renata got volunteer of the week, something I had been pushing for the two previous weeks.

Wednesday was not so good of a day for me. It was one of those where you just wake up on the wrong side of the bed. Early morning we got started by playing some basketball. And having just graduated from one of the premier public insitutions in the U.S. I decided with my wisdom that I would play in my flip-flop sandals. As you can imagine this was not good for my ankles or for my foot which got a huge gash. I officially was treated by a doctor in Romania. It ended up being okay but was a pretty frustrating beginning to an already less than pleasurable week. Another thing I realized this week was that I am not so talented athletically. Basketball was frustrating and the kids were wearing me down physically and emotionally which jus started a pity cycle that left me unhappy. It also was rainy and muddy all day during our video about how China produces everything. My Romanian volunteers and I were stinky, wet, and unhappy. The funny thing I never thought I'd get to see is how much other people noticed. People were very quick to ask me what was wrong. At the end of the day we had a good day and our team did decent in the messy Olympic games. I had to remind myself before I went to bed that this trip is not about me. It's not about me.

Thursday was a more relaxed day. My prayers for ease were answered. The clouds literally parted and all was well. I took a great shower for the day and felt competely refreshed for the remainder of the week. So many people had encouraged me the previous day that there was no way I could go through Thursday with another frown on my face. Throughout the week we found that there was a stray puppy hanging around our camp and on Thursday we fed him a lot and named him Ionel. He was really adorable and I have some great pictures of him.

Thursday night rolled around and it was a mixture of sadness and relief. There was a beautiful herd of cows coming home which made the night seem like it was going to be good and relaxing. When it came time for the medal ceremony my team got 6th place out of 8th which was 2 places higher than all of us thought we would get. After the ceremony we had prayer time and it was so great. I had asked God to give me the ability to pray amazing prayers for these kids. And when the time came, each kid was receptive and ready to have me pray for them. My best prayer was for Fritz who was a pain all week but understood English and was visibly upse tafterwards. I talked to him about his gift bag and he said that he didn't deserve the gifts and that he was refusing them. I don't know what that meant, but I can only hope that night had a profound impact on him in some way. Please pray for that kid and that he makes wise decisions in the future and that he becomes a positive role model for others because others already mimic his behavior, just not in a negative way.

Thursday night, after praying, I felt a bit inadequate. I let some of my team down and I didn't feel like I was doing a great job. I looked up at the stars in Vetca and talked with God about how I need reassurance and I needed to know that I was doing a good job in Romania and that my life was giving God glory back at home as well. No more than two seconds after that, a shooting star ppeared right in my field of vision. I know God put that star there to let me know that He will take care of me here and back at home. I don't have a job or a place to live, but there is no reason for me to worry. God has got it.

Another comforting thing from Thursday night was that when I woke up I found out that Ionel had snuck in our tent and slept in my pants that were laying on the ground to keep warm. It was a god feeling to know that I had the warmest pants.

Friday breakfast is very Romanian. We have Romanian French toast which is deep fried bread served with honey and jam. Along with fried bread they serve bread for breakfast. In Romania its carbs all the time. We went to The Weekend with only 4 of the 6 people from my group because Fritz was kicked out and Isti's group didnt go so we had such an easy job. We ended up playing soccer with the older guys on this nice field you could rent at The Weekend. It was an intense game that my team ended up winning. They were playing really hard and weren't letting goals go past easily. Nevertheless, because I have always been known for being great at soccer, I scored a goal and got some good passing with an assist in. It was very much a happy moment for me to score a goal in a foreign country where soccer is a big deal. When the kids all left we went back to the house and then passed out until the guys went out on a bro-down date for some soft serve ice cream.

Saturday we went to the baby hospital once more and I got to see Anka, my blind girl. She loved the humming, but I spent more time with one of the other kids who tells the nurses and other staff to "Tac tin guram" which means shut up. He's a cute kid and I wish he didn't spend his whole life in a hospital being taken care of by a staff and not parents. After that we went to Zau orphanage with the new Irish crew and I got to see my kids. We had an amazing time. They had their kiddy pool out and of course even though it was dirty and nasty they wanted to throw me and Jake in and have us play with them. So we obliged and got our clothes all wet but had a wonderful time. As we were leaving Erika and Lidia from my France team told me they didn't want me to go and that I shouldn't go back to Jackie in America. It was heart-breaking and cute at the same time. I'll for sure miss them. I wish I could adopt Erika.

I'll continue to add pictures so long as you continue to pray for me and comment on my blogs. Thank you to everyone who is supporting me out there.