01.

What an incredible first day--I am overwhelmed at the opportunity that seems to have just fallen in my lap. Ashley and I took the first of many daily walks to our bus stop to meet with Sanda, the social worker with whom we are working closely this month. I felt ready, I won't lie. No anxiety, no preconceiving thoughts about how my first day would go.

The drive was lined with cornfields and little, brightly colored houses. It's amazing that even though we live in the city, we can drive out for ten minutes and hit the countryside. It's pleasant.

DEBORAH HOUSE 1- A delightful family of girls under the age of 16.

So, we pull up to a big yellow house with rod iron flower boxes--bright red and pink geraniums. The girls are already peeking their heads out and running to meet us. We arrive to find a team from the U.S. (South Georgia) already there, making reparations on the house and doing crafts and music with the girls. We introduce ourselves, tour the house, meet the wonderful girls, and start work. We reviewed a case or two, but I spent most of my productive time translating a handful of grants from Romanian to English. This was difficult for me, as I am not confident enough to translate legal and business terms. However, I know as I increase my fluency and vocabulary, this type of writing will be easier, and extremely useful. They have just completed a huge project planting a large spread of land to be used as gardens and orchards. The House seeks to be completely self-sustaining (and therefore 100% organic), so the food they grow is the food they eat. This is a new project, and the fruit (literally) will not be ready for another few years.

Lunch break! Prepared by the lovely, older girls at house number two.

DEBORAH HOUSE 2- A sisterhood, really. The older girls who call another big, yellow house their home. The walls are covered in murals, and the windows overlook acres of sunflower fields. We sat down to lunch here, and I felt myself get intimidated right away. These girls were my age and older--who am I to come with something to offer? I think these silly thoughts melted as soon as I opened my mouth and spoke Romanian. Gasps. Every one of them. You're ROMANIAN? And so begins the rush of questions. "Wait, you were born in America?" "Are you saying you come here every summer?" "What are you studying?" "So, you really like it here, huh?" In the middle of Q&A time, a girl bursts in the room and holds her arms up saying, "Hellllooooo!! I am here!"--what a diva. I like her. At one point, we were walking around the house and one of the girls comes up to me and stands shoulder-to-shoulder with me and says "Look, Tasha makes me so happy. She's just as small as me!" I like her, too. I'm going to feel at home here.

After lunch, back to grant writing. The grants were all regarding the development of the gardens and orchards. Let me tell you, the Romanian-English translator is your best friend when you don't know your Romanian agricultural terms.

All in all, I am enjoying my time here. The people already so dear to me are finally not an ocean away, and this summer promises to bring so many more dear people into my life. Sincerely, I am grateful for this opportunity. We shall see what tomorrow brings!