Anecdotes from Africa: A Weekend to Remember...

Friday:

Friday is a cherished day here. We made it through our first week – all the way through with working everyday with our regular assignments, working at the hospital everyday and getting into our regular routines.

At the hospital, we go in partners to different floors. Kala and I have been working together and tag-teaming. Our first day working on the 7^th floor, the nurses took us into a room with 3 kids – (2 who are orphans) and pointed into the other room with another sleeping boy.

We have gone to visit them everyday this week to play with them. The two girls in the room we visit are Nicolina and Denisa. At first, we were convinced Nicolina was a boy, but we finally realized she was a girl. They are both incredibly beautiful girls. Nicolina is 5 and Denisa is about 18 months maybe? The first day, we were just trying to learn the ropes and figure out everything. By Friday, we pretty much had the system down. We knew what toys worked, what the kids liked to do, what games we could play, etc. They are a handful, but so fun.

The first day after we left, Denisa just cried and cried. She has such a soft growing cry you can barely hear, but you can see her alligator tears. The next day was much better because we were familiar faces and she knew we would be coming back. As soon as we walked in the room, they just lit up! That alone makes my day!

We usually bring a few different toys/activities to play with the kids. They have nothing. The hospital floors and walls are not in good condition, not the most sanitary place to be and the bed sheets are usually stained. Every once in a while there will be a toy to play with, but most of the time there isn’t. The first day we walked in and met Nicolina, the only thing she had was an old catalogue (like an Avon catalog) and a pen to draw on it with.

I’ll tell you what – balloons, pinwheels, foamboard puzzles, stickers, balls, coloring, reading stories and singing songs have made them so happy! It kills me everyday to have to take everything away. I’m just glad we can atleast allow for some consistency by visiting them everyday.

Well, after getting home from the hospital tonight, I am exhausted and will probably use tonight to get some laundry done, start on some hw and head to bed. I need a weekend to recooperate.

Here are a few pics - I can't wait to see them again on Monday, even if it is SO HOT in the cramped room!

Gorgeous Denisa and her curls!

Nicolina has a slight obsession with sticking out her tongues in pics.

There is another cute little girl they share a room with that is so shy, but she is

starting to warm up to us now.

My beautiful Denisa! I love this little girl! And she loves the camera!

Definitely saw this on my way to the orphanage apt. today. I have no idea how the

couple actually got on top to ride and steer! Funny thing is - it's not a strange sight here to anyone else.

Remember the pigeon poop we cleaned up the first week, well I finally got the pictures for it...

Before...

Note to self: Never have pet pigeons.

Saturday:

This morning, we played b-ball with a few of the branch members. It was a good outlet. I haven’t been running like I usually do, and although we do PLENTY of walking, it’s just not the same. It felt good to sweat, not because I was in a hospital room that feels like a sauna, or because I have been walking across town, but because I played some serious streetball! It helped me to distress for the weekend.

Later that afternoon, we had a Relief Society activity where we talked about marriage and families. It was amazing – we had all of the RS presidency and older sisters teach us (thank goodness for translators) and they made us an amazing feast! They just kept bringing food out! I tried homemade apple nectar and goat cheese (not together of course) Delicious!

Then, we had been asked to prepare a musical number and for a few of us to share our testimonies. They made the announcement that we were now going to perform the musical number, but they forgot to tell us in English, so we just sat there for a while. Finally, one of the sisters who speaks English turned to us and said, “Well? Are you going to play?” It was pretty funny. 4 of us sang “Families can be together forever” and Ashley played the flute and Megan accompanied us. It was amazing to feel the spirit and to hear the testimonies of these sisters who have such incredible faith.

Dani and I were asked to share our testimonies. As I was speaking to the sisters, I started to get emotional as I shared my beliefs with them. I never cry, especially not in front of people, this was a first. I guess all of this is turning me into a huge softie, or an emotional wreck…one of the two! It was amazing because I felt like this was something that I feel very strongly about and the things I know to be true aren’t a result of my upbringing in the church, even though I was taught by my parents and I had incredible examples to look up to, but because I had discovered these things for myself through prayer, scripture study and through personal revelation. The whole activity today added such strength to my testimony.

Kala and Megan on the way to the court. The court is fenced in and covered with vines. I secretly love it, because I feel like I'm in the movies when they play real, legitimate, streetball

Aurelia, Kala and I. Aurelia is my competition at bball every week!

RS activity. Love these people :)

Sunday:

High for the day – getting 4 new stamps on my passport!

Today we woke up at 5:30, met at the cultural palace at 6 and headed to Moldova for district conference. Because Moldova is not part of Romania currently, we had to leave the country and re-enter later and go through the border control in both Romania and Moldova.

I also had my first experience with a “squatter” or should I say hole in the ground. I knew they were real, I just never thought I would have the privilege of using one. Well, today was my lucky day!

As we were crossing the border, a few of us got out of the bus for a quick restroom break. When we entered the bathroom, my first thought was, “great, the toilet is gone in this stall.” After looking closer, I realized that this was indeed the famous “squatter” I had heard about. I won’t go into any more detail other than to tell you I am now an accomplished “squattee!”

We drove the bus for about 3-4 hours for district conference. It is similar to stake conference, only it is considered a district because it is made up of branches. There were only about 60 people there, including missionaries, but this was HUGE for them. It was in Russian and Romanian and we had English translator headsets. A lot gets lost in translation, so it wasn’t quite the same, but the whole meeting was very good. We heard from a few members and also from President and Sora Lundberg (the mission presidents in Bucharest). They are an amazing couple. Sora Lundberg’s talk on faith was fantastic, partly due to the fact that she spoke in English, but also to see the sacrifice she and her husband were making, and to see what an incredible example she is of a righteous woman in the church. It was a fabulous meeting and although it was difficult to have to hear the messages through translation, there was an amazing spirit there and you could see the strong faith of these members. It was truly an experience to remember.

On the way home, I busted out my book of crossword puzzles. We had half of the bus doing them by the end – you never know when your jumbo crosswords will come in handy!