The most GIANTEST Romania blog post EVER! Da? DA!

So, I've sort of skipped some time here. It's been a crazy few weeks and our internet has been, unfortunately, spotty. I actually have a computer to write on this time, which means I can write fuller, more complete sentences now. It's kind of fabulous.

Okay. The last time I blogged, I talked a little about Sighisoara. Sighisoara was, for the most part, a dream come true. We worked in villages and with elderly clubs. It was quite the learning experience and is something I will never forget. People wanted a lot of prescription meds, which we are not licensed to give out at this point in our education. And Ibprofen and Tums only go so far. In fact, we've decided they're miracle drugs that we're going to give to everyone FOREVER. But we did what we could for the people we saw. We did have some problems in the last village with people taking advantage of our system. There were mostly legitimate claims, but some people came in at the beginning and then sent their children in later to get even more drugs. The kids all had the same symptoms: back pain and a headache that sits in the temples. We think they need to be a little more creative with their supposed ailments, but we can't really say no in case they really did need the medications we had.

In Sighisoara we were also able to watch the Euro 2012 football (soccer) matches. I watch for Christiano Ronaldo and other various good looking players. And for Spain. They really make football into The Beautiful Game. We're all rooting for Spain because half of the group will be in Madrid during the finals. EPIC. We watched every match at a classy institution known as Babylon. We ate pizza every night from a place called Quatro Amicii and watched both matches in the dark rooms at Babylon. Eventually, the owners knew our names and would hug us upon arrival toward the end of our stay. We still miss the Babylon crew.

We left Sighisoara (sadly) and went to Botosani to help at an orphanage. The drive there was unbelievable. We drove UNDER cliffs and over mountain passes without guard rails. Roads in Romania are bumpy and chaotic. While it was outrageously beautiful, it was also terrifying. I will post a video sometime of the drive. Unfortunately, it won't really do it much justice. Long story short, we survived and have all of our limbs in tact.

The orphanage, called Deb's House, was amazing. We bought shoes for all of the children (13 in total), which they promptly hid from each other so as not to risk swapping and thievery. These children literally share everything: clothes, shoes, toys, rooms, books, etc. They work together well though and are happy together. Deb's House is actually a wonderful situation for these children to be in, considering, of course, the fact that they are orphans. Conditions in orphanages are not usually as good as they are at Deb's. These children were all lined up to be adopted by Americans when Romania entered into the EU, which cancelled all adoptions outside of the EU. Additionally, the biological parents still have "claim" on these children and have the right to deny an adoption. So, even if someone wanted to adopt one of the kids, their "parents" will always say "No". These kids are stuck right in the middle of a heartbreaking debacle.

But we played with them everyday, mostly football and hand games. I played more Rock, Paper, Scissors, Cat's Cradle, and hand slapping games in those 5 days than I ever thought possible. Still, I will miss those children everyday. In fact, there is one little girl I would seriously consider adopting if it were a possibility. All of them deserve good homes and a happy environment to grow up in. And Deb's provides that for them. One can only hope they keep living happy lives after they leave.

The bad part of Botosani was the BUGS. We went to a park one day and it had a giant pond of stagnant, nasty water. Which is a breeding ground for mosquitoes. I now have roughly 70 mosquito bites on my arms, legs, and face. I look like I have the pox. I've been taking Benadryl like it's my job. Da! But, I'm surviving and trying to hide from society as much as I can.

And now we are in our final destination, Bucharest. I'm not a big fan of Bucharest, but I'm willing to give it a second shot. Our train ride here was, in a word, hellish. No air conditioning? In 95 degree weather? For 9 hours? NO PROBLEM in Romania. I downed 2 litres of water in no time, but I sweated every ounce out. Getting off the train and going to eat McDonald's was the greatest feeling ever. Plus, I got a super sweet souvenir from McDonald's: a Euro 2012 glass with wristband included. Can't get that in the States (which, p.s. is the GREATEST COUNTRY IN THE WORLD. For REALS. I love 'Merica!)

Five more days and I'm home! I will miss my group and the natural beauty of Romania. I can't say I will miss the bugs or the heat, but it has been a great experience overall, full of adventure and madness. I'll try to write one more blog before I go and a few picture/video blogs when I get back.

Until then, La revedere!

Sighisoara

So for the last few days, we've been in a town called Sighisoara.

Yesterday, we walked through the old part of the city to go through museums, churches, and so on. The city is stunning. It sits in the mountains and is greener than almost anything I have ever seen. The churches are immaculately kept. Sighisoara is one
of the last walled in cities in Europe and the oldest part of it is actually considered a "citidel".
We kept commenting about how we felt like we were in Lord of the Rings most of the time. We've loved our time here so far.

Today, we held a 5 hour clinic in a rural village for any and all who wanted
to come. We did everything we could to help, which unfortunately wasn't much.

Our training is limited and we don't have all the medications people really
need (antibiotics being the most needed). We gave out vitamins, pain meds, prenatal care items, Tums, and so on but it's never enough.

Most people work all day in their fields performing manual labor and come in with serious back and arm pain and headaches (from not eating or
drinking). We told them the best thing they can do is to drink water and
take pain medications. We can't tell them to rest or take it easy because they literally cannot afford to. Farm
workers only make 30 Ron/day, which is the equivalent of $10/day. They don't
have the money to buy food and water let alone pain medications for their
aching backs. A good majority of the individuals we saw were malnourished and old and probably shouldn't be out in the fields working anymore. But we did what we could and hopefully we made a little bit of difference. Tomorrow and Wednesday, we'll be
doing something similar, except with diabetic screenings too.

It's a challenge to be unable to help as much as we want to, but with our
limited knowledge and supplies, there isn't much more that we can do. But I
suppose we are doing everything within our power to spread our help out to as many people as may need it.

We've been here for about 2 weeks now but it feels like it's been months. And I know a few Romanian phrases but for the most part, people can understand us in the cities so that helps a bit. And in clinic we have translators to help us out.

There are a million things I could talk about, but I won't because a million is a lot. I want to write a blog about our time in Brasov but I need a computer and my pictures to be uploaded to do it justice, so I will write it when I return to the mother land.

Until next time, my friends.

Arad and Shaorma

We have been in Arad for the last week seeing the sights, meeting the people, and learning about the Romanian healthcare system. It's amazing how different our system is from what we have seen here. The doctors have limited resources and have to pay for a lot of their technology out of pocket. The technology they do have is often improvised. They use a baby incubator to personally mix their own chemo drugs. Funding is so low that they also do their own lab work.

We were also able to enjoy some local cuisine. The best so far has been the Fanta and the shaorma. Shaorma is basically meat, mayo, veggies, and a flat bread around it. Try it one day if you can...for reals.

We're now leaving for Brasov and Sigishora to spend time in the clinic and see Bran's Castle. We're excited to see more patients and enjoy some time in the mountains.

From Bucharest to Arad

Friday night we boarded a train to a city in Western Romania called Arad. We of CURA Romania are much bigger fans of this city. In Bucharest, people weren't exactly accommodating and didn't really appreciate our presence. But Arad is beautiful and the people are great.

Our train ride from Bucharest constituted (hands down) the longest night of my life. We left at about midnight and arrived around 11 in the morning. We were in a cramped little car and we snuggled up to try to sleep as best we could. It turned out to be an unsuccessful venture. We put packs on the floor to lay on, tried to stretch out and use each other as pillows and foot rests, but to no avail. And as our train ride started to some to an end, we started going a little crazy. And it seemed that any time someone would look at his or her watch, they would say we had about 3 hours left. And an hour later, we still somehow had 3 hours left. Math is clearly not our strong suit...

And today we will be going around Arad to see the city and spend the day learning more about what the city has to offer.

Things on a plane. Or three planes.

I officially arrived in Romania as of 12:07p.m. on May 31st (Romanian time of course). It is now June 1st...I lost a day somewhere in there. And I'm writing this blog on my iPod, so it may be full of typos.

During my three flights I discovered many new and exciting things. And these are they, listed in airport chronological order.

Salt Lake City has Cinnabon and it is happiness rolled up into something edible.

Salt Lake City was the least exciting airport of all.

I got to Dulles in DC with lots of time to spare. So I walked around to see if there was anything outside of the airport norm. Dulles is full of America stores (shocker). I suppose it's to be expected. When in DC, one must buy a shirt with a giant map of America, right?

Then from DC, I flew to Munich. So many things In Germany that I need to own. When I fly back through Frankfurt, I will be buying a ton of Kinder eggs and all the chocolate in the entire airport.

But the best part of the journey was the flight to Bucharest. I spent most of the flight reading the German signs and trying to understand what they said. This was my favorite, mostly because it included the English translation:

German: Schwimmweste unter threm Sitz

English: Life vest under your seat

Wait...that was German? It just looks like English a little mixed up...huh.

I also spent a lot of tome looking out the window to look at clouds. They were all sorts of fun shapes from above. My favorite was a woman with curly hair and a gun. Felt very James Bond.

And every time the German pilot came on, all I could hear was President Dieter Uchtdorf's voice in my head talking about airplanes.

And then I arrived and have spent the last day touring around Bucharest. And sleeping. More to come soon enough!

And we're off...

Tomorrow morning, bright and early, I leave for Romania.  I can't wait to get there and start this trip that I've been planning for since November.  I'm excited and nervous and all the feelings that I can think of right now.  And I just hope I can bring something to the people I will meet.  I have no doubt that I will get something from this experience and hope that it makes me a better person.  Over the next few weeks, I will try to update as much as possible, but internet may be patchy so I make no guarantees.


Happy summer!