Things are going really well, a lot of things have changed for me out here. Probably one of the biggest that I've noticed is some of my political stances. I really love Romania don't get me wrong but I think that I have seen some things that have pushed me back toward the right a little bit. I really think that while a lot of good can be done via government programs that it is really the lazy way of doing it. The government will never do as good of a job as the private sector can. The problem is that its easier to vote for someone else to go do something instead of doing it ourselves. But lets be honest problems are better solved by the people who feel it is a problem and 'if you want something done right do it yourself'. That pushes me back into some solution-less territory but I suppose its ok to be there until I can figure out my opinions. I think that the U.S. as much as it was founded on principles of freedom and liberty was also founded on a base of hardwork. I think that if we take that out of the mix than you begin to lose the engine of democracy.
Enough with politics let it be known however that for the first time maybe ever I felt some pride in my culture a few weeks ago when we were at an american restaurant with the group and a friend from Romania and I was trying to explain all of the sweet foods that we have in the states (its not a lot but I really like BBQ) I really wanted him to experience it for himself but I guess it will have to wait.
The kids, I'll be honest I didn't come here to 'hold babies' I just figured it would be a cool opportunity to live in a foreign country but my feelings have changed some. While it has been fun to be here and experience eastern europe I have also come to be pretty fond of these kids. Yeah I play favorites Valentina is really cool. She enjoys acting like a monkey and sticking her hand in the most disgusting thing she can find and licking it! She keeps me on my toes. Maria is also really fun, she really likes to be held and is like a little mom to all the kids. Amazingly she is one of the only kids that interacts with the others. I started working two days a week in another room about 2 weeks ago. There I battle Ana who is about 9 or 10 she is quite the trouble maker and has some serious behavior issues but for whatever reason I enjoy the competition and battle that happens everyday in there. Andrei is another monkey man he's the only kid in the room that will take on Ana even though she twice his age and size. I wish I could elaborate all of the kids have their fun little qwirks and although sometimes I get bored for the most part I really enjoy being there.
The hospital has also changed for me in the past few weeks. I had a really hard time in the beginning spending more than 15 minutes with an infant and now I am much better at just hanging out with them and holding them for 30 minutes to an hour it really helps when Brit is there I suppose there is inspiration in that whole marriage idea :)
With the end of this program not to far in the future its been really fun to reflect and realize what I should do before I go home to finish the way that I want to. I compare the ending of this experience to the end of my brother Landon's as he finishes his mission in Brazil. I get asked questions like "well are you getting sick of it?" "Are you getting ready to come home?" while he gets showered with hard hitting inspirational quotes and stories to "FINISH STRONG" and "RETURN WITH HONOR" really I just think its funny more than anything but it hit me the other day that 'enduring to the end' entails a lot more than just working hard at the end. You have to push yourself hard throughout the whole thing. That includes anything in life and especially life itself. I suppose doing your best in everything that you do is more than just a phrase that we tell 5th graders at their band concerts.
Well thats what I have been thinking about here at the end of the days in Romania. Hopefully we'll get some more pictures in the slideshow viewers and maybe we'll even add some music to the page. Who knows?
Um..... so my camera flash card somehow got corrupted (ah!!!! So many pictures gone...), which means that the "If you love her..." pic is gone. Soooo.... we are gonna have to get another, just for the fyi.
ReplyDelete