First Week of Camp

This week was nuts. I worked with the orphans this week for the first time and I had a great experience. It had its ups and downs but was something I won’t soon forget. On Monday, the American interns and the Romanian translators/paid volunteers got onto a bus and drove to an orphanage where we met 50 kids that were split up onto Olympic teams. The theme of the camp is the Olympics and there were 8 teams that competed in events throughout the week of camp and there was a closing ceremony where final medals were awarded.

My team was the UK. We had 10 people total, 2 American interns (me and Carrie, who was the yin to my yang because she was the type of person who loved all over the kids and was in touch with their emotions when I just riled all the kids up and provided a lot of the team’s energy), 2 Romanian translators/paid volunteers (Renata and Adi, both who spoke good English and were a great part of the team because they didn’t just sit and wait to translate, they went out and led some of our activities), and 6 kids (Tibi – 13 yr old boy, Alex – 14 yr old boy, Luci – 13 yr old boy, Cristi – 17 yr old boy, Ana Maria – 16 yr old girl, Felicia – 17 yr old girl). We competed in games all week like 4 way soccer, waffle ball, a body building contest, potato sack race, messy games, answering questions about a sermon they got each day, reciting Bible verses, and just cheering. Everything throughout the week was worth points and we got to win some events and completely lose some others. We made a UK commercial to try and convince people to visit UK and we did really well in that competition because of the enthusiasm our kids had and their costumes for David and Victoria Beckham. At the end of the week our team ended up getting 5th place. This was very god for the fits that some of our kids threw on an hourly basis and the lack of athletic ability on our team.

It was hard for me as a guy to be the leader of this team because out of all of the guys interns I am most definitely the least athletic, least talented, and most flabby. It was a little difficult to have your team rely on you for events where you need to be strong like the piggy back race. Also, the cheering part of the week was difficult. Every day at least 8 times our teams would have to line up and cheer our team’s name. My voice is gone. I chanted UK UK UK UK UK UK so many times. While I was in my I-week when I joined Sigma Pi I lost my voice because I had to yell so much. I lost my voice just as much this week. The only difference is that I have to lose my voice like that 5 more times.

On the Friday of the camp week, every one goes to “The Weekend” where we all swim. I’ve blogged about this pool before, so if you want details, continue to read my past blogs. When we went this week it was great for about 30 minutes. After that, the weather stopped being sunny and hot like it had been ALL week and turned to a torrential storm. Everyone had to get out of the pool and get under the nearby shelters. The thought of all of those kids shivering but smiling will never be erased. It was so funny. The all had such a good time, even for a half hour. None of the kids took the pool for granted, they went crazy for those few minutes and enjoyed it so much that they didn’t even care that they had to get out and go home. When they left it was kind of sad, but we all cheered anyways because it was just such a huge relief. It was great.
Last night, 5 of us went out on the town and went to the festival that the town of Tirgu Mures has every year. It was neat because the center of the town which is usually packed with cars was turned into a big shopping center. There were lots of craft booths, and car dealerships, motor cycle places and all of that stuff. I definitely bought some souvenirs there for you people that get souvenirs. It was pretty great to see the musicians there and to watch the kids dance. Also, there was a Native American booth where they were showing off what Native Americans looked like and shared their culture. It was very interesting to see how intrigued the Romanian people were. It was so funny because its something that I see all the time in New Mexico and all over America, but here its such a rare sight and such a novelty. The Native Americans were signing autographs and getting pictures taken with the locals. I made sure to ask them if they were from America because I was a little suspicious that they might be some Romanians in disguise.

If you are one of those people who are continuing to pray for me, please do so. The thing I need most right now is continued strength. The camp week is long and I need some strength to get through all of them. One of the Romanian volunteers said that this past week was very very easy because the kids that are coming are little brats and will fight each other. Please pray that the camp weeks will go smoothly. Please continue to pray for our team as some of them come home this week and fly back to America. Thank you for all of your prayers. I will add more pictures as I am able.

more pictures

at the pool

The last two days were great. Wednesday was spent at camp Vetsca where we shoveled rocks into pathways. I cut the sleeves off of two of my older t-shirts to get rid of this awful farmer's tan. I know I said that I'd never do such a thing, but it was about time. I worked very hard and got a bit sun burned. Yesterday I volunteered to go to the pool called The Weekend with the orphans from camp that Livada takes care of. They are so much fun and very well-behaved. Playing with those kids took a lot of my energy but it was so worth it. They jumped on me, chased me, had me chase them threw water at me, threw food in my mouth, taught me how to flip and lots of other fun stuff. One kid, Cornell, told me very seriously when we got out of the pool,
"You have... how you say... (asking another kid: Cum se spune en romaneshte blah blah blah) You have Boobs."
I dies. It was hilarious. I thought I was going to hear something important. Another great thing about the pool was the culture there. By that I mean the men's speedos and women's thongs. I guess clothing must be limited in Romania.
Speaking of clothing, this morning a large group went thrift store shopping because it was our day off. And you know me, I just had to go. Well, we got to the first store and I looked for some stuff because the store was having a sale where everything was 1 lei (40 cents). I found a pink polka-dotted silk shirt that had my name written all over it. The coolest thing about going shopping was meeting this guy, Peter. Peter was a younger man who approached me while I was with our group. He asked me first, "Are you a Christian?" I said of course and he said that he wanted to shop with us. I said that was fine and then he spilled his guts to me and gave me his testimony. He was a Gypsy and just got out of a 7 year stint in jail about 6 months ago. While in jail he contracted HIV and now he has only a little bit of time to leave. He told me he was baptized and received the Holy Spirit while he was in jail and now he wants to live out the rest of his life serving the Lord so he can make the most of his time. This guy really touched my heart and I wanted to talk to him a bit more, but he started to creep out some of the people we were with because he was a little touchy feely so we had to part ways. But he told me where his church was and I'm going to try and go to that church this Sunday. I'll keep you posted.
Last night we had to make dinner for ourselves so we went shopping for ourselves at the grocery store. It was an adventure. I bought some bulk cheese, some delicious European style bread, pasta, sauce, and an American Action Soda, which is a funny name for a not so great Romanian imitation soda. I make garlic bread and it was pretty tasty. After dinner, I sat down with a few of the girls from the trip and had some "girl talk." I'm getting in touch with my feminine side while I'm here. I'll keep uploading pictures as much as I can. I am taking so many that it's hard to keep up with the slower internet here. Sorry.