Last day in Romania

Can’t believe today has come around so quickly, but at the same time I’m grateful. It’s been very tiring, especially with less volunteers this week (although there have been some local teenagers who have stepped up, thankfully).

If anyone was thinking I’d want kids when I return, or want to bring some back… erm – nope!  I do NOT have the stamina required and am totally amazed at my friends and family who have kids! I take my hat off to you! Of course I loved the kids and enjoyed playing and feeding and all the rest of it, but I’m glad to be able to step away too. Maybe when I’m over this trip I’ll want to come back (our favourite nurse Coca was asking when we’d be back!) but boy I’m glad it’s temporary!

I think the hardest thing is to know what to do about discipline. I have to admit there was one child I desperately wanted to give a good smack to (call me old fashioned, but it didn’t do me any harm!!!) when time out, toy depravation and ignoring did nothing. AGH!!  It was also hard without much room for them to run around safely. Even outside we had to watch them as the park was right next to where the cars drive in, and some did not drive slowly.

Anyway, back to the good stuff… my Ana Maria changed a lot over the 3 weeks we were there – by the end of our time she was sitting more, almost ready to crawl, and even ‘speaking’. Yesterday I swear she copied me when I said ‘oh darling’ to one kid, even though she generally just says ‘ga’. I swear!!  If only I caught it on film! Today a few of them had haircuts and Ana now looks like a boy. Admitedly it’s hard to tell what sex any of the kids are, as all clothes are unisex as far as the nurses are concerned.

I shot a small amount of video today and if any of it’s any good may put it on facebook later. I know other friends have been putting everything up on their blog but I was under the impression that they preferred we not put up photos of our kids online. I don’t want to put up images of kids like Maria Cleopatra as she has a huge gawk factor with her large head, and I don’t want to subject her to that. She was another of my favourites! I think I got her over excited today though. Oops. She liked being tickled but she’s unable to let you know when she wants to stop. Although I think vomiting might be a way of saying stop!!! Oops.

Here’s a ‘sticla’ or two.

Romania update – end of week #2

It’s been a strange week, and I haven’t been able to tell you about it as the internet at the hotel has been down, and probably won’t be fixed until after we leave. Which means – don’t expect another post for at least a week!

Now I’m in a place with free wifi, and it’s still trying to rain but I’m looking out into a yard filled with flowers – predominantly pansies and geraniums in all colours. I’m tempted to pick from a huge cherry tree overhanging the fence.  We’re actually at the back of a petrol station but from here all we can hear are birds and the tapping on computer keys.

The weather took a nose dive Monday and was unseasonally cold and wet all week, but it’s due to get back to normal this coming week.

I came down with a bug on Monday, and while that came and went, I also managed to get tonsilitis. I’ll be fine – saw a doctor and bought the appropriate meds – but it was annoying not to be able to be 100% there with the kids, even when I was at the hospital. It meant that I sat with Nadia and Maria Cleopatra a lot, in their room.  Nadia is actually 12 (not 16 like we originally thought) and paralysed from the neck down. She is only able to communicate in groans but she enjoyed watching Jennea’s ipad and being talked to (especially by her best friend and our teammate Kerri). Maria Cleopatra (Cleo) can’t communicate at all, except for a few smiles when she’s tickled. I managed to figure out how to feed her without her spitting it up again, so at least I achieved that this week!

Having tonsilitis also meant cancelling the Transylvania trip. In the long run I think that’s ok – we need to conserve our energy for the coming week. Friday night we said farewell to half our team: Jennea (my absolutely awesome roommate!), Kerri and Krista. This means that there’s now only myself, Terri and Emily to look after 13 kids. That might not sound like much, but all of these kids are special needs, some very active. I don’t think Nadia and Cleo will get much of a look in this week, poor things. :\

Tonight there’s going to be a wedding at the hotel I’m staying at so I might creep down later and watch them dance! Jennea and I caught some traditional singing and dancing on tv but it’s not quite the same thing!

Ask me any questions you have and I’ll answer them in the next blog. Meanwhile, here’s a picture of the Children’s hospital where the clinic is (the clinic has some rooms on the 3rd floor).

Romanian trip update

It’s been a few days. The end of last week was hot, busy, and emotional for a lot of us. Our schedule is full – breakfast at 8am, then off to the clinic at 9, all day there at the hospital (2 hours for lunch), back to the hotel with an hour to scrub up and then dinner/meeting each day. Then over the weekend we went up further north to the painted monastaries.

At the end of last week all of our older kids were taken by foster families. I was with the immobile kids so didn’t see it first hand, but some of our group were traumatised by the event – there were foster parents, kids, nurses and even one parent present, who had her three children taken from her right there. Dan has told us that Child Protection has only been going for 6 years in Romania so they are still working out the best ways to do things. From what we could tell the foster families appeared very caring so we took some comfort in that. By the end of Thursday we were left with only the children who will never be fostered as they need too much care, although Friday a gorgeous little boy Vali arrived.  I had to hold his arm while he was having intravenous fluids (hours!) and he was so good about it.

Friday afternoon we left for the drive north to the painted monastaries. The countryside was breathtakingly beautiful and the monastaries were just as amazing. It rained most of the weekend and even hailed as we were driving over the mountains (the driver had never experienced that before) – we had to shelter under a mulberry tree. After the monastaries we went to a place which makes pottery from the only place in the world that has black clay, and then drove to Iasi (pronounced Yash). We walked around the city and took in the sights and then went to a shopping mall!!  Yep, I succumbed. THEN we went shopping for more stuff for the clinic and drove back to Barlad. Oh yeah and I also had the chance to try some Romanian wine – YUM.

I’d like to say we’re ready for another week but we didn’t get much chance to rest! I might take a day off this week while we’ve still got six volunteers (3 left last week) as there’ll only be three of us next week.

Here’s a photo from the blue monastary:

First day of volunteer work in Romania

Imagine holding a ten month old, perfect, solemn, beautiful baby girl when a song comes on the stereo:  ‘I’ll stand by you… won’t let nobody hurt you… I’ll stand by you’. You’re holding Illeana, who was abandoned by her young mother.

Monday, our first day at the hospital. Terri, who’d done previous visits, had said the hospital looked like she imagined an American hospital would have looked like in the 1920’s, and I think that was pretty much right. Small rooms lined with beds and nothing much else. Our rooms had brightly coloured cots and buckets of toys but still very, very basic. We were given a list of optional gifts to bring if we wanted and even though I brought a lot I still felt like I didn’t bring enough. Not enough over the counter medicines and ointments, especially.  The nurses we met were all lovely – and busy.

They need so many things and it made me feel sick to think of how much excess we have at home and how little time we spend on people.

But enough of that angle… the kids. The kids were absolutely adorable.  We had been given a run-down of who was in our clinic. Sammy has Down Syndrome. He is 6 but looks about 3 and likes rhythmic clapping and being tickled on the neck. Ana Maria, 18 months, was a prem and has some problems but is doing well. Maria Cleopatra has hydrocephalus (water on the brain) and was originally left with the clinic to die. She now has a shunt and is doing ok. She likes having her head stroked. The twins Michaela and Gabriella are 2.5 – Michaela is very intelligent and ‘normal’ but her sister has mental and physical delays and other problems. They had been going so well at the clinic that they were sent home, but Child Protection sent them back after difficulties at home. Michaela was the first to welcome me and I got a huge hug and cuddle from her. We didn’t meet Raoul as he has a rare disease called ‘butterfly skin’ and was in another part of the hospital. Other kids have foetal alcohol syndrome and are developmentally delayed. Nadia is the oldest at 16. She is paralysed, doesn’t talk and is the size of a 5 year old. A new girl Diana was nicknamed ‘Sunshine’ today as she’s very bubbly and smiles a lot.

Our routine is to play with them when we arrive (9am), they get a snack, we go outside and play on the swings, then come back for their lunch, they go to sleep and we have our break, then we play until 5pm.  There’s no air conditioning in the hospital but the concrete building and the breezes keep it reasonable.

Needless to say we were all exhausted by the end of the day. It sounds so clichéd but I’ll say it anyway – it’s worth it to hear them laugh and see them looking happy.

I’m so glad we get to do it all again tomorrow… and the next day… and the next…

the trip… continued…

After breakfast we had our first meeting with Dan, one of the team leaders. We all got to know each other and went through the policies and guidelines, and a bit of what to expect. Then we had to leave the hotel as they were doing their monthly spray (no bedbugs here Richard, though my luggage is still as far away as possible from the bed!) so Dan took us to a local restaurant for lunch. Proper food, not the McCrap we had last night. In Romania it’s traditional to have soup before the main at lunch so most of us did that. And then there were the mains. Yum. Yum. Yum. So much for my idea of losing a couple of kgs here!

Across the road from where we’re staying is a supermarket. Outside are beggars – kids up to around maybe 12 or so. We were approached by an older child who looked like some kind of spider creature, with half of his body backwards.  Dan told us that some families purposely maim their children straight after birth – turn their knees around the wrong way – so they have a source of income from the child’s begging.

We are on a break now, waiting for the last 3 team members to show up later this afternoon, when we have the rest of our orientation, and dinner.

Tomorrow will be our first day in the hospital (the clinic has some rooms there). Needless to say I’m looking forward to it!

Day 1 in Romania

An early morning start saw a long day of travelling – 3 to 4 hours flying and then around 5 hours’ drive. Today’s miracle was that somehow when I booked my flight with KLM they’d accidentally given me an allowance of two bags instead of one – so I got to bring that donations bag for nothing! That was a divine gift if ever there was one! Flights were fine (if close) but at least my luggage made it – not like others! .After meeting the Global Volunteers team (5 Americans – from New York, Minnesota, Tennassee and California) at the airport we jumped in the van with our host Dan and our driver. Half way there we stopped for dinner. Ok we had no choice here so spare me… yep, our first meal in Romania was at McDonalds. *hangs head in shame* Anyway, moving right along… we drove through a few little towns and a LOT of (beautiful) countryside to get to the city of Barlad. We arrived around 9:30pm, just as the sun was setting. We reached the hotel to find a wedding reception in full swing. Our host Dan told us that it was likely to go to around 7am, which is why we had been given rooms on the top floor. We could still hear the music (mostly live traditional) but I still went out like a light. The hotel is much nicer than we expected. I’m sharing with the girl from Minnesota, Jennea. While the wedding may have gone to the small hours this morning, other people must have been up at the crack of dawn. We were woken up at 7am by churchbells, dogs, roosters and traffic.  Breakfast is always in the motel , and they make an awesome cup of coffee so I won’t be like a bear with a sore head, thankfully! We have our first meeting in about 45 minutes.

Day 2 in Newcastle Upon Tyne

Day 2 started with a two hour underground tour of the Victoria Tunnel.  It was surprising how much could be said for a tunnel, and our guide was very funny. I’ll spare you the details but will say that if you find yourself in Newcastle it’s worth doing.

I then met up with Krista and Craig from the Star and Shadow Cinema. If I lived in Newcastle I think my home away from home would be the Star and Shadow! They do underground film, gigs, live art, exhibitions, markets, fashion shows and whatever else takes their fancy. I’ll review it more on the SUFF blog later. Krista and Craig gave me so much of their time and showed me a bit around the place too, which was really lovely of them. We had lunch at the Tyneside Cinema, a gorgeous art deco building.

So then I headed back to ‘home’, which is almost what it felt like at Nigel and Anna’s. I was absolutely charmed by their 4 year old daughter. She gave me a special picture she drew so I won’t be forgetting them in a hurry!

Romania trip 2011 – it begins!

Well, not quite yet, there’s still two days and a few hours’ flying time before then, but the holiday has started really well. I’m now well and truly into the Newcastle experience.  The only slightly freaky bit was changing planes at Heathrow – had to go through the security and customs rigmarole just to get from one plane to the other and made the connection with about 5 minutes to spare. Breathe Jane, breathe!

But I got here.  The first synchronistic moment was when the taxi neared the place where I’m staying.  We were just wondering where to go next as the streets had no signs, when my host happened to be driving to work and saw the cab and me in it.  He recognised me from my photo and took me to his gorgeous home, introduced me to his wife and cat and after giving me the keys they both left for work.

So I settled in and decided to go for a walk around the area, just check it out and stretch my legs a bit.  It’s gorgeously green and leafy with plenty of stone walls around cute houses.  This area also has a lot of garden alotments.  I’d decided that all I wanted was a place for a good lunch, a massage and an off licence to buy a bottle of wine for my hosts, when I came to synchronistic moment #2.  After following a sign which says ‘local shops’ I came to a strip of 3 shops.  You guessed it – a cafe (Italian, serving perfect coffee), a beautician and an off-licence.  The beautician told me she had literally just put her new sign out advertising massages 5 minutes before I came along. She’d waited for today to put the sign out so that someone could hand write her sign nicely for her this morning. I love it when a plan comes together.

This is about all I’m up for today (apart from playing with my new toy, a little video recorder which was on sale in duty free), but tomorrow I’m going on a random walking tour with my host Anna and then checking out the Star and Shadow.

I’ll update more when I can!

New discovery – Funky Frolic – awesome funk music blog

I get really excited when I find new music blogs. I promise it’s not just because they’re sharing the old, fun and otherwise unavailable music, but also because it’s good to know that there are other people out there who like the same kind of odd music that I do!  Today’s find is Funky Frolic, by Mr Craig of Adelaide in South Australia.  The first of his Australian content I stumbled upon is this, which is NSFW but is a funkin’ good time!

There are heaps and heaps of gems listed, complete with reviews.  I say get yourself over there for some good and (mostly) clean entertainment.

Well… whatcha waiting for?

Swans at the Metro Sydney Australia gig review March 2011

What is this?  This, my friends, is the picture of disappointment.  And I’m not talking about the poor quality grainy iphones-really-can’t-handle-this-distance image, but what it represents.

This was the Swans playing at the Metro in Sydney, Australia last night.  I’ve walked out of two gigs in my life, and this was one of them.

I was introduced fairly late to the Swans’ music, about 12 years ago, and from the moment I heard the first song I was totally in love with them. The music was hard, dark, tough and mean, yet it had a raw, honest humanity about it. A dirty soul.  It struck a chord that most music missed with me and I was haunted by it.  I was thrilled when I heard the Swans had reformed and were even touring right here in Australia.  I’d missed Michael Gira’s shows when he was last out as I was in hospital so I was looking forward to this in a big way.

The Necks were support and there was a lot of talk beforehand about the contrast of the two bands. I like the Necks and have seen them quite a few times, but their music is more of a meditative style and not really suited to a normal gig set up. The best way to see/hear the Necks is when you can sit down, relax and let your mind wander. When I’ve seen the Necks that way I’ve felt as though time were suspended and I couldn’t have told you whether their set had gone for twenty minutes or three hours.  That wasn’t the case here, and I ended up missing most of their set this time.

Then came the Swans.  The lights dimmed, and a drone began. The drone went on. The drone went on some more. And some more. About 15 minutes into the drone, the drummer came on stage and played with the drone. Later, another percussionist came on. Another five minutes later, the keyboardist, followed by guitar and Michael Gira.  By the time the drone song finished it was about half an hour into the set.  This kind of thing I *do* understand (I’ve spent some time in the experimental scene, so yes I get that) but…. well…. sorry Swans, but it came across as utterly self indulgent and even pretentious.  We would have received the message just fine if it had been half the length. Yes, I know that this kind of thing is ‘stretching the audience’ and ‘going outside the boundaries of regular music’ blah blah blah but I think you can only pull that kind of thing off if you are genuine, and it hurts me to say it but I didn’t feel that vibe here.  The gig went on and they played to themselves and for themselves.

So perhaps this is just me. Perhaps if I’d stuck it out a bit longer it would have been ok. But like those times when a relationship  ends, I cried for what might have been.