Monday, June 20 - Thursday, June 30, 2011
On Monday, June 20nd, after leaving Sibiu, we took a 6 hour train trip to Bucharest, Romania, arriving at 1:30 and were welcomed by our good friend Kristina, an intern with Children to Love. We took the metro and walked to the CTL office. We met the CTL staff and three new interns, Jake, Matt, and Terresa. Kristina took us walking to the closest store (.75 miles) and we shopped for dinner. People in Romania shop for food that will last 1-3 days usually. We stayed at the Ministry Center for 10 days and did a lot of different things.
Tuesday (6/21), We visited Rehab, an orphanage for mentally and physically disabled children and took a group of them to a park by walking and taking the tram. The kids needed one on one care and supervision. The child I (Hans) was responsible for enjoyed wearing Denisa's sunglasses (staff member) and running away whenever she had the chance. Her name was Bianca and I had to hold on tight! I'm not sure if she liked me that much-- but we really bonded on the teeter-totter. After rehab, Alina and I split off from the team and went to old town Bucharest (Lipscani) and ate shaorma (really good). We went to a park called Cismigiu. Many of the places in Bucharest are meaningful to Alina and I because we spent our first summer together here in 2007.
On Wednesday, June 22, we celebrated our anniversary by providing breakfast for the staff and went to number 6 orphanage, with mostly boys ages 7-12. We played soccer, basketball, and a game involving taking turns slapping each others hand until somebody said 'ow'. After #6, we went back to the office and the CTL staff celebrated our anniversary with a wonderful lunch of schnitzel, mashed potatoes, and salad. They also gave us flowers! Thanks CTL! Then, we went to Sfanta Ana, an orphanage housing boys and girls ages 8-18-- which can be a tough place. I played soccer with some boys (amazing), while Alina reconnected with girls she knew when she was working for CTL. After that, Alina and I went to Starbucks close to where're she used to live and then we went to Kiselev park, which was the first place Alina took me when I arrived in 2007. It was like going to our first dating place. We also ran into Alina's roommate Roxanna. Then we went to a fast food place called, Springtime, where I first called Alina.
After that, the events were kind of a blur, so I'll just bullet them:
• 6/23 Thursday, saw Madalina
• 6/24 Friday, Alina helped with a sewing project, while Hans started editing a "CTL Intern Orientation" video. We spent Friday evening with Teresa the intern exploring Bucharest and at a folk music festival at a park.
• 6/25 Saturday, we went with interns to Herastrau, one of the biggest parks in Bucharest, and walked, and rode on a boat. Then Alina and I got caught in a HUGE rainstorm-- without an umbrella and me without long sleeves (brrrrrrr!). We watched, "Mr. Popper's Penguins" at a movie theater in Piata Romana. Meh.
• 6/26 Sunday, we went with Teresa to Alina's previous baptist church, Holy Trinity. There we helped sell sewn items like purses and accessories for CTL. Then we spent the afternoon with Roxanna, Naomi (old roommates), and their boyfriends at Alinas old apartment. The guys cooked and the ladies cleaned! After that, we spent our evening with Anca and her husband, Ionel, having dinner at their home and enjoying a live, free orchestra concert in front of the Atheneum downtown at the Bucharest Music Film Festival.
• 6/27 Monday, both Alina and I stayed at the office to work on our video projects. In the evening, we went with David and his sister, Hally, to the same music festival and enjoyed beers with crapes, watching an acapella group and the amazing female pianist, Laura Pauna.
• 6/28 Tuesday, video edited until I lost all sanity. Alina spent time with her friends Carmen (the psychologist) and CARMEN (the Tae Kwon Do instructor).
• 6/29 Wednesday, we took the morning off and went out to breakfast in the rain. We ate cheese and meat pastries at an expensive place called, Golden Pie (no joke). I edited and edited until I started splicing my own reality into a sequence of meaningful events like a mad hatter. In my mind. While I was editing, a boy (now young man) came to the office. His name is Mihai and I had watched him play rugby and taught him guitar in my guitar class during my internship in 2007. It was really good to see him, but I could tell that the last 4 years had changed him.
• 6/30 Thursday, Alina and I packed early and I showcased the CTL internship video to the staff, interns, and the Bakersfield team and then we said goodbye :(. We rode the metro to Gara De Nord (Train station) and rode the train 4 hours North back to Codlea, where we will spend a week recovering before our next adventure!
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