This week was also the last week of my online class and, since I finished my homework early, I was able to spend a lot more time at the orphanage. It has been so hot here, that we take the children outside every day, which seems like a strange thing to say but since the rooms are so hot, and they don't believe in opening windows, it is much cooler outside. There are two large cribs sitting in the shade and we lay the children in them. One of the volunteers is working with me in my group and it is nice to have a companion to speak English to, although I am working on my Romanian.
My day speaking Romanian usually goes like this:
I enter the room and say "Good day'' in Romanian, even though I should be saying 'Good morning' but can never remember how to say it. The children are usually being fed, and in order to ask if a child has been fed yet or not, I'm pretty sure I say, "Anton I eat?" or "Anton I eat already?" because I'm not sure how to say he or she eats and definitely has\ve no clue how to use the past tense. I then feed the baby and say 'Na' (here) when I want to get the baby's attention to take a bite. When the baby is eating well I say "Bravo/Brava" (Good boy/girl). If I need a bib for a baby, I can ask for it (sounds like shortz). I also can warn the caregivers when a child has peed/pooped/vomited. And I can say "What Anton?" when a baby cries or makes a loud noise.
After feeding the children, I say "Anton outside?" "Yes" answer the caregivers and then we wrap the babies up in multiple layers as if we are living in Siberia, despite the 70-80 (20-25 Celsius) degree weather. I sometimes say "stroller" and they say "yes". Most of the time we take all the children outside and lay them in large cribs sitting in the shade. Outside is such a relief from the stiffing heat inside since the caregivers believe that any draft coming from a window will kill the children. We play outside and I can say brief sentences to the caregivers using the following words or phrases:
I am, I have, You have, How much, I come, I need, I forget, I like, here (baby and normal versions), rain, I make (which in Romanian sounds like the f-word), I speak, in my arms, kiss, booboo (hurt), why, airplane, car, apricot (apricot), cherry, juice, pretty, don't do that, stop, finished, yuk, pretty, hot, cold, little, big, stand, walk, and Let's come to Jacy or Let's come to sister, which is what the boys call me, etc.
Around noon, we head back in and feed the infants their bottles. To ask whether I should put a baby in their crib to sleep, I'm pretty sure I ask "Anton I sleep?" When all the children are in bed for their afternoon nap, I get ready to go to lunch and say, "I come at the hour of one and thirty." I know there is an easier way to say this but for some reason I remember it this way.
After lunch, I return and again say "Good day" which I think is appropriate now. Once again, I ask if I can eat a child and then feed them. Sometimes we go back outside, and sometimes we just play inside. At the end of the day, I tell the caregivers "Tomorrow" or, on a Friday, "Monday." They are very excited whenever I speak Romanian and often speak to me. I repeat their words back the them and usually give them blank stares because I don't understand. They keep asking and eventually I say yes to be agreeable.
A couple of weeks ago, I was riding on the van-bus (a van that is used to bus people around) and noticed the door had a sign on it that said "Nu trintiti USA". I wondered what it meant. Were Americans not allowed to ride on the bus? I know 'Nu' means 'no' or 'not' so it could also mean something like "Don't _______ USA." I kept meaning to ask my hosts what it meant and kept forgetting. Finally I asked and my host laughed uproariously at me. It actually means "Don't slam the door" Usa is door. So now I know how to say that too! I actually said it to one of the boys at my house the other day!
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| Main street of my village |
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| My street |
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| One of the many crucifixes in my village |
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| The school where I teach ESL |
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