It's Almost Time!

Two weeks from today, I am going to be on a plane going all the way to Romania. Okay, technically, it's going to Amsterdam from which I'll catch another flight to Bucharest, Romania.

Being at BYU this last year, I was asked many times what I was going to be doing over the summer. Most of my friends are going on missions. Some are even getting married (yes, married, it is BYU after all). And when people would ask me, I would tell them, I'm going to Romania. Most would be like, oh... Romania? Why would you want to go there?

This is why:

It was my first Friday of classes. I went to my human development class for the second time, and my teacher showed us a video. That video was a documentary made in the early 90s about the institutionalized children in Romania, the left overs from the Communist regime. The video tugged at my heart strings. I wished there was something that I could do to help them. And then the video was over and my professor was handing out flyers about information meetings for an internship there. I went to one of those information meetings the same day, and I knew that it was something that I wanted - needed - to do. I got all the details, I got my parents go ahead, and I started my application.

I got my acceptance in early November to go in Fall of 2014. People wanted to know why I was starting so early, why I was going so early. I just told them it was something that I needed to do. And then in January, it was decided that Spring-Summer 2014 was going to be the last time the internship happened, and I knew that I had felt the need to go now for a reason. I talked to the facilitator, and she said that she could transfer my acceptance over the Spring-Summer and I could still go. Waiting for the acceptance to be finalized was agony to an impatient person such as myself. But it finally went through, and I knew I was going in May.

Now that you know that, it is time for me to answer the questions that everyone has asked once they find out where I'm going over the summer.

1. What exactly are you going to be doing there?

I and eleven other BYU students will be serving in various places. The main place is an orphanage for special needs kids. Get all those horror movie images out of your head, it's not actually that bad there. I have seen pictures and it is quite nice, but as with all institutions, there are not enough workers to give the children much individual attention. That's where we come in. Another place we serve is in the local children's hospital. Like in the United States, people can drop off babies at a hospital and they will be taken care of. We help give these children attention, even if it is just holding them and changing their diapers.

In addition to the orphanage and hospital, there are also opportunities to serve in the apartments - transition homes for children getting ready to go into foster care - and to teach English in a local kindergarten.

2. Do you even speak Romanian?

Kind of...? As I was supposed to, I took 2 credits worth of Romanian during Winter Semester. I loved my teacher, a native Romanian woman, and the class was very small and very fun. I've always been good in the classroom, and I learned all the basics that she taught us, which will come in handy.

So, no, I don't really speak Romanian, but I will learn it while I'm there. After all, people always say the best way to learn a language is to be dumped into it with no other option than to speak it.

3. Are you just going to be working the entire time?

No, definitely not. We work six hours a day, Monday through Friday. We go to church at the local branch on Sundays, FHE on Monday nights, and are allowed to explore the city in the evenings. As part of a BYU study abroad program, we are actually required to do activities that immerse ourselves in the local culture. We can also travel around the country. We have to get a certain number of hours of work in, but there is still plenty more time to take days off to travel, either in one fell swoop or in smaller long weekend trips throughout our time there. Romania has a lot of castles, cultural stops, and beautiful nature that I will be able to see while I am there.

Here are some pictures to give you a taste of Romania:

My internet will be limited while I am in Romania, but I am aiming to post on this blog once a week. If you need to contact me, Facebook and email are both good ways. Do not expect regular personal communication from me: I'm in Romania for a limited amount of time, we can catch up when I get back.