Touching dead saints hands...

November 10, 2010

All of the kids were home again today sick with colds. I think I’m catching a bit of something because lately I get headaches a lot, I’ve been sneezing all the time and my nose is starting to get stuffy.

I got a lot of homework done these past few days. For one of my projects, I learned about the Sfanta Parascheva who is the official saint of Iasi. I talked to my workers and found out more about her, and one of the things that I needed to do to complete my project was to go touch her hand. Yes, you heard right, touch her hand.

Her body has been preserved from the 16^th century and her relics are housed in the Metropolitan Cathedral just down the street. Because relics are an important part of the Roman Orthodox religion, the line is very long to go pray to her and touch her hand because she is considered the protector of Iasi and the people. We went in the middle of the day, so that it wasn’t as long, but we still had to wait a good half an hour.

I wasn’t sure what to expect. I was hoping it wasn’t just bones that I was touching. I got up closer and saw that it was a body, covered in white clothing, and people would lay their hands on hers and pray for a few seconds or minutes. I got up to her and did the same. I couldn’t tell you exactly what was under the white cloth, but it definitely felt like hands when I touched it. It was a bit creepy, but a good cultural experience. Bet most people can’t say they have touched the hand of the Sfanta (Saint) Parascheva!

This is a picture I found on the internet. The glasscase covers her face, but in the middle, you can see where her hands are folded on her lap and there is a hole cut in the glass where you lay your hands on hers.

November 11, 2010

I thought I had something going on this morning, so I told my workers yesterday that I would not be coming. Our plans fell through this morning, so I was planning on going anyways, but I’m not feeling so hot. I’m not stomach sick by any means, just didn’t sleep because of a slight stuffy nose,  and a bad headache.

I’ve been working on my child write ups – they are files that we update every semester of all of the kids in the orphanage so that the next interns know more about the kids, their background, what we have been working on this semester so that there is some type of continuity. I was expecting them to take me a long time, but I realized that as I sat down to my computer, it didn’t take me long to fill at least a page about each of the boys.

It made me really sad to write these because I realized that I won’t ever see them again. I feel like I have really grown to love them and to care for them. I can’t even explain it – these kids are a part of me, part of my everyday routine, I know everything about them and to think that I have to just up and leave them, makes me sad. I can’t tell you how good it makes me feel everyday to walk in the door and have kids running up and climbing on me and hugging me like I walked in there the first time – everyday I get to experience that greeting and a wonderful one it is! I have learned so much from them. I have seen first hand how children have this astounding capacity to love, they are humble and teachable, they are innately good, they have this sensationql desire to learn and they each have their own unique personalities. These are things that I knew before, but I think I have learned it in a different way.