Getting to know ARCHWAY Tuesday and Wednesday Oct 9 and 10

It has been unbelievable to be able to tag along with Sue for the past two days and see the true inside operation of both ARCHWAY and other similar operations.

I think I have gotten a grasp on the kids in the house. 19 of them living there currently between the ages of 6 and 18. All great kids, in school and doing well. One or two have some trouble time to time with testing their boundaries and hanging out with kids that aren't the best influence. That is nothing new when it comes to teenagers though.

They are all the sweetest kids. The 10 and under girls are so adorable. Always want a hug or a kiss, to hold your hand, style your hair, or anything to be close and get some attentions. Boys are the same although more on boy timeline. The youngest of the boys at 8 is pretty affectionate off the bat, but the older ones it takes a bit more.

They are all also the best partners to practice my Romanian on. Even with the ones who speak English well I try to speak in Romanian to them and they generally speak to me in English. It is actually quite funny.

We walked the 10 year old girls and a few of the boys to school on both days. So adorable. We held hands the whole way and talked. Then when we got there they wanted to show us their classrooms and meet their friends. About 20 minutes later the new plan hatched for them and they thought maybe they could just hang out with us for the day rather than go to school. It took us a minute to catch on, but we soon realized what they were up to - back to school for them and back to the house for us. On the way out I heard a little voice calling my name and over comes Kinder, one of the 8 year old girls. I had to quiz her to make sure she really was finished with school and not trying to pull a fast one. Luckily she really was done for the day

We headed into central Bucharest with Susan for dinner and to get to know each other. The work she has done over the past 10 years is just incredible. To see the 19 kids in the house doing so well now, it can only make you wonder where they would be without a place like ARCHWAY. Their stories are all so different and range from the extreme cases of abuse, to just pure poverty.

We ended up near the Capitol Hotel, which was funny to be back at a place I recognized and knew where I was. From there we walked to City Grill for dinner and it was really good. Susan filled us in on her desire to be able to focus more on the street program and I really think it is feasible. There are so many people looking for an outlet and avenue to help support a great cause, and here is an incredible one. Great people, already established, and the work they do is incredible.

The next afternoon my friend Ramona came over to visit and it was so great to see her. It was more than a year ago that she and her husband Daniel moved to Brussels, so it was so great to have then back in Bucharest again and see them. She came over to the house and the kids were all over her. They kept asking her if she was going to be one of the new house mom’s – very cute. She had some great ideas for ARCHWAY and I hope that she is able to work with Susan on some level. She would be great.

We also began the painting project of the house. The colors picked were red, blue, and yellow for the Romanian flag. We went to the Brico Store to pick up all the paint and supplies and we were off. Susan coordinated to have some of the street kids come in and help. In exchange for working they would be fed and paid. Three were on the schedule. Marachica - a 27 year old street girl who I can’t even begin to imagine what her eyes have seen over the years. Radu, the local “mayor” who must be about 18 or 19 now and has known Susan since she first started working in Bucharest. He is a friend to the orphanage although he has never stayed there or expressed a desire to do so. He is a true child of the streets. Another boy, who I unfortunately can’t remember his name, but is Marachica’s friend.

Painting was a bit chaotic, but all in went really well. Marichica and her friend whose name I can’t remember were the two foreman on the job, both with prior construction experience. They were rather frustrated with the lack of ability of us and the kids, and lectured us quite a bit. We ordered pizza for everyone and it was a great way to cap off a hard days work.

Finally here!! Monday Oct 8

Finally here in Bucharest!! I left San Francisco last Monday to meet up with my friend Nora, who is volunteering as well, and help her out with some work stuff in Chicago. We then left from there for Amsterdam on Thursday evening, and arrived early Friday morning.

Amsterdam was great, such a cool and pretty city. It is so easy to navigate so it was a perfect choice for a few day stop over. Our hotel was ok - undergoing renovations, so basically a 4 star in the lobby and about a 1.5 star in the rooms. Luckily neither of us had any trouble sleeping at all, and kicked most of the jet leg.

We saw most of the major attractions, The Reijmuseum, Ann Frank house, Heineken Brewery tour (my kind of museum for sure), and a canal tour of the city. We planned for the Van Gogh museum the day we left, but it didn't open until 10am, and we had to leave by 10:30. No red light district either - maybe some other time.

Our flight leaving Amsterdam was delayed, of course, so we arrived in Bucharest about 2 hours late. Gica, the Director of ARCHWAY was there to meet us in the van. He was very nice, but didn't speak much English to us (although later I found out he speaks English quite well, but I don’t think he is always really comfortable doing so, especially I suppose to 2 total strangers). Bucharest traffic was terrible, much worse than I remember it being last year. About an hour later we arrived at the house. A few of the older boys ran out to carry our bags in and show us our room. They offered to make us food as well, but we didn't want to add any extra work for anyone. The other kids were watching tv in the front room so we waved in to see them.

We decided to take a little walk and found a patio bar a few blocks down where we could relax and have a few Ursus (my favorite Romanian beer). Then back to the house to see what was in store for us. Everyone was in bed, so morning will show us.

Around 6:30am it sounds like there is an elephant stampede that happens - footsteps and little voices everywhere. We were both so tired we decided instead of getting up at 9am,
maybe 9:30am.... that quickly lead to 10am, 11am,, etc... Finally at close to 1pm we peeled ourselves out of our beds. The smaller kids had gone to school in the morning so were in the kitchen having lunch with the house dad, Bogdan, and the cook. I apologized for sleeping so late and we said we were going to run to the store for a soda.

On the way to the store we ran into Gica, returning from the airport with Susan Booth, the founder of ARCHWAY. We were sooo happy to see her. It will be so great to work with her and pick her brain.