A Summer for Visitors -- August 24, 2008

It seems that the longer I'm here in Romania, the faster things happen, so that means I have more pictures than I can ever possibly include in this web journal. It serves as a kind of record for me as well as for my friends and family, so I want to keep it up even though sometimes I'm overwhelmed. In the past three weeks I have had visitors staying with me every single day, and next week I will have more arrive. I wish that some of them were my own family and friends from home, but since I live too far away for that, these are Romanian friends who come to visit me at the seaside, and Peace Corps volunteers who want to see me and the area where I live and work. At the same time I'm doing presentations and preparing for future work, while I managed to get eight wheelchairs for small disabled children across this country. However these can only scratch the surface of the many wheelchairs and other equipment that are needed here.

Next week, thanks to a good Rotarian friend who donated a driver and vehicle, I will go to deliver those wheelchairs to parts of Romania that I have never seen. There is no reward quite like the smiles of young children who have a new tiny wheelchair of their own for the first time. Mobility and freedom are incredible gifts and I am grateful to be able to participate in this important work. It means even more since my own granddaughter got a wheelchair in Germany last month, and now she has a new prosthetic foot. Yes! For those who keep tabs on this web journal, I am delighted to say that Zarah is learning to walk again! I will post a couple of her photos below. Yesterday on the webcam, she even took off her foot and put it back on for me! Look at her smile and you can only imagine what an incredible gift we know we possess to have her alive and getting well again.

On the other hand, you must also have an idea of the pain I experience being so far away from my family when they need to have a grandma. My son Grey called last month to let me know that he and his girlfriend Barb want to get married, and I will soon have three more grandsons! That means I'll have eleven grandchildren! Life is amazing.

Here are some photos of the month's activities. I was delighted that my dear friend Camelia came with her husband Florin and son Manu from Targu Jiu! There are many more photos in the galleries.

They finally got me to the top of our Mosque, the tallest in Romania, and we took many great view pictures of the city (also in a photo gallery).

My friends Sonny and Gloria, the PC volunteers from Western Romania, came to visit along with other friends. Here we are trying to squeeze into the shade of a skinny pole while waiting for the tram. A surprise visitor was a woman who had written to me in the spring after reading this online journal! Stephanie is from New Zealand and now lives in Australia with her husband. We met by chance near the central square, she actually recognized me from my pictures!

With Iulia and Gloria in my apartment.

Here is when I picked up the little wheelchairs, and a very happy recipient of the first one! Now that I know the serious needs for these wheelchairs, I hope I can continue raising funds for them long after my Peace Corps commitment is completed.

At the Delfinariu Micro-Reserv, we have lovely pelicans... here I am with some of them!

Sora Mai Mica (Younger Sister) Fanica and Friends -- August 5, 2008

Last weekend I was invited to attend a workshop for artists in the village of Ostrov, in the western part of Dobrogea County, on the Danube near the Bulgarian border. It was an opportunity to meet people from other NGOs (non-governmental organizations) and to network with Romanians who provide services to children with social problems. It was an amazing weekend, one I was fortunate to experience and that I will never forget.

The workshop was sponsored by Oana Belu, a true philanthropist, for her organization Fundatia Sfanta Miron. All week, artists can sculpt in marble outdoors or paint in the bright, open studio, or anywhere outdoors. All work is donated for an exhibition to be held in Bucharest for the benefit of the charity. Every night there are barbeques over open fires, served at long tables laden with food. There are invited guests, many children, artists and dignitaries, with much hugging and kissing, laughing, dancing, drinking, eating, and happiness everywhere.

This is as close as I have traveled toward Bulgaria, but unfortunately I didn't take my passport so couldn't even cross the border to take a walk around. I am posting many photos on the gallery page.

I must thank Fanica for such a wonderful experience! You are really a dear younger sister!