Anticipation Before the Romania Trip

Six fellow juniors and one senior will be joining me on a trip to Romania this March break. We all agree that the departure date, March 9, is rapidly approaching and that the pressure to complete and to purchase all the necessities is intensifying. We were provided with a list of important items that the Romania Children Relief (RCR) workers need. In the past weeks we have been struggling to find the time to meet as a whole group in order to assign jobs to each member. Our faculty leaders, Ms. McGee and Mr. McCartney, have been guiding us as we plan how to monopolize our stay in Romania. Essentially, our goal for the trip is to make the day of a Romanian orphan a little bit brighter, and to have fun while doing it. Hearing the stories from previous trips, it is clear that this experience can potentially change our lives. Personally, I anticipate learning from the kids just as much as I hope they will learn from me.
As a student going on the trip, one has to think of an activity for a variety of kids. The orphans we will be working with range in age from babies to pre-teens. We will be splitting our time at several different sites, including a hospital, an after school group, and a placement center. Some of the kids will have mental disabilities but the severity is unknown. All of us are anxiously awaiting our trip and are scared because we don't know exactly what to expect. Our biggest fear is communication: the children are unable to speak English. Despite this, Ms. McGee and Mr. McCartney have assured us that many of the RCR workers are bilingual and communicating with the kids won't be a problem. Although we are unsure of the internet access available to us in Romania, we plan on blogging about our experiences as many times as possible.