Day 1: Wednesday, July 6

Flying into Bucharest, the capital of Romania, was a beautiful sight. Although I wasn’t happy about having a window seat at first, I was suddenly gracious for the amazing view of the Romanian countryside. Maybe I was expecting row upon row of small, dark, concrete houses and buildings, because what I saw astonished me. As the plane descended, I caught short glimpses of short rows of colorful houses completely surrounded by green grass. Although the houses seemed simple, and fairly small, Romania at a glance seemed brimming with life.

My incomplete family, my mom, brother and I, have lovely company. Our ‘guide’, Wendy Gediman, makes the trip over at least twice a year and is my younger brother’s former teacher as well as a friend of the family. And we are very lucky to be joined by an extended relative of hers, Sammy - my new roommate.

Landing at 5pm in Bucharest translated to 3pm in London, where we had departed from, but 10am in New York, ultimately our starting location. With not much time left in the day, the group whizzed through security and baggage claim to find two taxis waiting to transport the group to the hotel. Racing down the narrow roads, our drivers were unclear on the exact location of our hotel, so, in the middle of a four-way intersection, they simultaneously blocked two streets, held up masses of traffic and managed to converse over the beeping and honking –AT THE SAME TIME. Needless to say, it was quite a scene and I’m sure the group was relieved to be en route once more.

I came to Romania with little knowledge of the country’s history. I could place it on a map, but that was about it, but I was eager to learn. I knew I was coming to work with orphaned children and that Romania had an abundance of abandoned kids. And as ignorant as it may sound, when I saw Romanian mothers walking with their children it took a moment for me to realize that although there is a multitude of orphaned children, many of the children here have caring parents who give their children lots of love. This, however, I would soon learn is a great privilege.