While growing up, I was that kid who LOVED new school supplies. Going "back-to-school" shopping was one of my favorite things to do. So when Gina (13), Flavio (11), Beni (9), and Codrut (6) were excited to show me their new school supplies, I knew where they were coming from. These 4 are siblings, and from what I was able to gather from Gina in the little bit of English that she knows, they have a mother, but not a father. I don't know the whole story, and honestly, I don't want to know it because I would be willing to bet everything I have that they were abandoned, which is the most common way kids end up in an orpahanage in Romania. The new school supplies were sent by their mom, and I can't even express how excited they were to show me. We were in the middle of playing a game when Beni turns to me and goes, "Kate, sus!" meaning that he wanted me to go up to the kids' bedrooms with him. When we got there, he and Flavio VERY excitedly showed me their new backpacks and they started pulling things out of their backpacks like crazy, getting more and more excited as they pulled out the next thing. It was adorable. Then we went to Gina's room, where her and Codrut's backpacks were (Gina had to keep Codrut's because he kept trying to use the stuff he needed to save for school. Typical Codrut. Hahaha). As she and Codrut were showing me their new things, Gina explained to me in her broken English that this was the first time they have had new school supplies. My heart broke. Every year before school started, my mom would take me to Target to get new school stuff and whenever I needed something new, I could easily get it. But, to see the joy that they had over their new things for school made me happy too just because THEY were happy.
I
spent most of my time at the orphanage on Wednesday with 15-year-old
Larisa. I first met her 2 weeks ago. She and I have really clicked. She
speaks a decent amount of English, so it works. We spent some time
watching MTV (which over here, there is actually music on it. Hahaha).
It was then that she tapped me on the shoulder and said "Friends." I was
confused and she said "you and me. Friends?" I said "Absolutely" and
she smiled bigger than I've ever seen. I see a lot of my 15-year-old
self in Larisa. From what she's shared with me, she's been through some
rough stuff, but knows that there is a reason for it. Larisa struggles
with the same kind of stuff I did when i was 15. I ended up being just
fine, but that came through the help of the Lord. She's
struggling with how she feels about God, so i'm hoping to help her. I
pray that in time, she can see the Lord the way I see Him.
I spent time at the orphanage every day this week and it was great :)
So here is where I begin my new thing. I'm going to call them missionary problems. They're actually quite hilarious. It all began on Friday when I was asked by Vasile to help kill a bull on Saturday morning. I refused. I was like "Not a chance!" Needless to say, I wasn't there yesterday when they killed it. So, then after Divine Liturgy today, I went to Vasile's house to hang out with his daughter, Ioana. About halfway through lunch, I (VERY STUPIDLY) asked Ioana what we were eating. It turns out I was eating the brain of the bull they killed yesterday. I didn't have much of an appetite after that. After lunch, I took Ioana and her mom up into the mountains to see a relative and a rock punctured one of my tires and it is completely flat. So, my car is at that relative's house sitting there until we can get a new tire tomorrow. And those are my missionary problems of this week. Hahaha.
My biggest struggle at this point is trying to remain in the moment. I've been here for a month, but for some reason, I keep thinking about when I'm leaving. I plan on coming back after a little "Christmas vacation" at home in Cincinnati, but I find myself having to remind myself that I have 3 more months here and A LOT can happen (and knowing how God likes to do crazy things in my life, I'm sure a lot will happen).
I am so in love with this country. It is SO beautiful and I am so blessed to be here. Everyday, I wake up and I think to myself "You are in Romania!" I waited for over a year to come back to Romania. Since the day our mission trip ended in April 2011, I knew I had to get back here. This place changed me as a person. When I was back in Austria, my friends said that they could actually see a change. They said I was smiling a lot more and I was a different person. I'm not going to lie when I say it was ridiculously hard to wait to get here. There were days I wanted to just quit school and come here and be a missionary. There were quite a few of those days this past year, but now that I am here, I know it's the perfect time for me to be here. I came here not in my time, but in God's time.
I spent time at the orphanage every day this week and it was great :)
So here is where I begin my new thing. I'm going to call them missionary problems. They're actually quite hilarious. It all began on Friday when I was asked by Vasile to help kill a bull on Saturday morning. I refused. I was like "Not a chance!" Needless to say, I wasn't there yesterday when they killed it. So, then after Divine Liturgy today, I went to Vasile's house to hang out with his daughter, Ioana. About halfway through lunch, I (VERY STUPIDLY) asked Ioana what we were eating. It turns out I was eating the brain of the bull they killed yesterday. I didn't have much of an appetite after that. After lunch, I took Ioana and her mom up into the mountains to see a relative and a rock punctured one of my tires and it is completely flat. So, my car is at that relative's house sitting there until we can get a new tire tomorrow. And those are my missionary problems of this week. Hahaha.
My biggest struggle at this point is trying to remain in the moment. I've been here for a month, but for some reason, I keep thinking about when I'm leaving. I plan on coming back after a little "Christmas vacation" at home in Cincinnati, but I find myself having to remind myself that I have 3 more months here and A LOT can happen (and knowing how God likes to do crazy things in my life, I'm sure a lot will happen).
I am so in love with this country. It is SO beautiful and I am so blessed to be here. Everyday, I wake up and I think to myself "You are in Romania!" I waited for over a year to come back to Romania. Since the day our mission trip ended in April 2011, I knew I had to get back here. This place changed me as a person. When I was back in Austria, my friends said that they could actually see a change. They said I was smiling a lot more and I was a different person. I'm not going to lie when I say it was ridiculously hard to wait to get here. There were days I wanted to just quit school and come here and be a missionary. There were quite a few of those days this past year, but now that I am here, I know it's the perfect time for me to be here. I came here not in my time, but in God's time.
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