Today I got lost in Iasi

Yes, as the title suggests, I got lost in Romania! Don’t worry, folks, I am safe now and both in retrospect and in the moment it was quite a hilarious day. I have so much I want to to update on the blog, but I had to put those on hold to record the day. 

So, first, Caroline and I are working in the apartments that are an extension of the orphanage. Some of the kids at the apartment were in the clinic or the orphanage in past semesters and have now been moved to the apartment. Like the orphanage, the apartment has workers with them in shifts throughout the week, and us! To get to these, we have to take the tram to another part of the city. Both me and Caroline arrived in Romania a little over a week later than everyone else because my sister was getting married. Anyway, we are just going on our one week anniversary of arriving in Romania while the other girls are going on their 3rd. Having said that, we know our way around least and I am working quickly to catch up! I accepted the challenge to go to the apartments on our own today, putting responsibility on myself to know how to get to the tram stop, where to get off, how to get to the apartment from the stop, how to get back, which tram to take to get back (there are several different trams), locate the correct stop to get off at to go home (which is different than the one I got on at), and find my way home from there (which I thought I had done, but I later discovered I had not). Easy, right?

We successfully got on the tram and to the right stop, but couldn't remember how to get to the apartment. By the process of elimination, we finally recognized where we were and got there safely. CHECK! We laughed as we walked down an unfamiliar street how we were lost...in Romania. 

It ended up being a fabulous morning! The kids were happy to see us, and after a long weekend away, I was so happy to see them too. We went to the park and played for a couple hours and then finished the morning in the apartment. The worker there today was wonderful, too. You never know who you are going to get. Some of the workers are really strict and seemed very harsh and mean, others, like the one we worked with today, are very helpful and seem to really care for the kids. I set a goal for myself to try to have conversations with the worker rather than looking at her with a blank stare saying "nu stiu"(I don't know) like I felt like I did far too much of last week. So, I studied up on some questions to ask and conversations starters the night before. Nervous, and with the help of my helpful notebook I carry around, I had quite a few conversations with this worker. She told me about herself and her family and I did the same. We were able to talk about the work and the kids and somewhat even understand each other. It was great! That goes to show how much you can actually get if you just try. No, I am not fluent in Romanian, but I can learn more each day and drastically improve.

We have write-ups on the little boys I worked with today from past interns. Reading these is heartbreaking, but also very informative. They let us know what kind of physical and mental disabilities the children have, along with things the interns have done in the past to entertain and help them.

After leaving the apartment, we made our way back to the tram and got on the tram we were told takes us back to my apartment. As I was sitting on the tram, I asked Caroline to refresh me on what stop it was. It was then I realized that she was sick the other day when we had the stop pointed out to us, so it was all up to me to get us home. Oops. I didn't recognize anything and we rode for what seemed like forever. Finally I got off what seemed to look familiar, and I was right! I skipped off the tram feeling all good with myself when I had another realization: I never actually went back to my apartment from this stop. You may call it lost, but we called it adventure. I put my confident face on and started trekkin' through the city. When I found myself in an unfamiliar place, I just took it as an opportunity to practice my Romanian by asking some natives where different landmarks are. After over an hour of trial and error, we made it back!!! With some fried chicken and slushies in hand too!

To top off the day, Caroline decided to nearly burn down the apartment. I ran into the kitchen to a pile of paper towels on fire on the kitchen floor. Classic.

Lots going on here in Iasi! More updates to come!