preview

holocaust memorial: hungary, budapest

night time joys

the colors of a romanian train ride

did you know buda and pest are two different places?

we love eachother

more to come

FYI-IZZLE

Dear Student:

Your application for acceptance to the College of Nursing for Fall 2008 has been carefully reviewed. We are sorry to inform you that you were not among those admitted this semester.

We know you are disappointed. Unfortunately, the number of students applying for Fall 2008 was significantly greater than could be admitted this semester. Because your qualifications meet the minimum requirements, you are eligible to reapply in the future.

Decisions of the Admissions Committee are final. Please feel free to arrange an appointment with Dr. Mark White if you have questions regarding procedures for future applications.

Sincerely,

Nursing Advisement Center

...

also i am home safe from my adventures, and am so excited to see my kids. it was weird, around one o' clock last night as we were literally jumping unto a moving train in cluj, there were romanian boys jeering at us, and confusion everywhere... it made me feel like i used to, when we would get off the toll road on our way back from long road trips. iasi, my home away from home!!!

well i have lots to unpack (haha not really because i didn't bring much), but i do have stuff to do before sports so i better get going. hope you are all sleepy sleeping well!

dragoste dragoste dragoste!

HOW I FEEL TODAY: Can't Go Back Now - The Weepies (click to download it)

auschwitz today

was amazing and sobering and so much more... i will write more later... i miss everyone lots and lots! email me with updates soon please! everyone! well i just got an email from kimmy, so she is exempt

pa pa!

eight days

over 50 hours of train traveling

one backpack

a camera, a good book, and a journal

toothbrush

i pod

swimsuit

passport and ID

talk to you guys when i get back!

p.s happy anniversary grandma and grandpa

and happy birthday grandpa!

days 51 & 52

Momma,
Sorry it has taken so long to write you back. Things have been really busy getting ready for our trip. We had to set things up for our kids at the hospital... the missionaries are all going to take turns going and visiting our kids... anyways, we have been showing them around the hospital, and we went shopping yesterday and bought over a thousand diapers. that should last us till me are done, hopefully, lots and lots of wet wipes, and food for Marius. his aunt left to go back to the US, so we are completely in charge of him and are taking care of him. he is doing really well.. i have actually been seeing him a lot lately.. his looks don't even phase me anymore... he is the burn victim that is getting surgery in california... remember him.. anyways, the other day we were so happy to see him because when we got there he was wearing a shirt!!! it was cool.

anyways, sorry if i've been dramatic, i dunno why it was getting me so down. but today i had a really cool experience with my kids at the orphanage, that confirmed to me that i am supposed to be here and that these kids really do need me, specifically. o mom, i love them so much. thanks for supporting me and helping me. it really means so so much. i am not too sure what the fall will be like either, but i guess we will find out once know if i got into the nursing program. secondly, you should not feel bad at all about the situation. you and dad have already done so much for us kids, it is about time we get up and do more.

so... have you ever heard of scabies? yep, they are no good. can you please schedule an appointment for me to get a physical the day after i get home? thanks.

o and guess what?! you know all those jobs i applied for at the hospital in provo? guess who is in charge of doing the hiring! elisa's mom!! anyways, elisa told me that she will for sure hire me and that means i can get into the IHC program if byu doesn't work out. sweet stuff huh?

o, here is a story i want to share with you. do you know florine? the orphan in the wheel chair at the hospital. well i used to love him... well i still do but i don't like him. anyways yesterday i had sora betham with me and i was showing her the hospital and we were with florine and my adorable marion ( the kidney boy) and this other doll face girl mirella. we took them outside, but before we went outside i told florine we could only be outside for an hour because marius wanted to go outside too. (there is only one wheel chair so they have to share it) so we went out and were playing with them and florine kept throwing the ball really far so i had to run and get it and i told him if he didn't stop he couldn't play and he took the ball and threw it down this hill into the back yard of this gypsy village because he was mad. (o and p.s i took a special trip to the grocery store to buy him his favorite candy and gave it to him when i first saw him). anyways he threw the ball on purpose and i told him that was rude and he said sorry and then asked if i would push him to the store. i told him if he promised to be nice from now on we would go. so we went to the store and got some juice for him and i got little candies for marion and mirella, and then it was time to go upstairs. on the way up florine started throwing a fit saying he hated marius because he was ugly and looked like a monster and he wasn't going to get out of the chair. he was making a huge scene in front of everyone and poor sora betham is so sweet she didn't know what to do. i pushed him back into his room where he continued to throw a fit and the moms in the room butted in and started getting mad at him, but he still wouldn't get out of his chair. then a nurse came in and asked what was going on, and florine told her that he wasn't getting out of the chair because i wouldn't get him a balloon. she told me to give him a balloon, i did, and he moved to his bed, and as soon as the nurse turned around he threw the balloon on the floor!!!!!! what a pill!!! i was so so mad. i told him i was never coming back, and he acted like he didn't even care. after i had done so much for him and stuck up for him and cared about him.. seriously.. i know he grew up in an orphanage, but there is no justification for being rude, ever, period. with that in mind, i will go back to see him, and i will not be rude to him, but i will not take him outside anymore, or bring him candy... just diapers. anyways, it made me think about my life and i sure hope that i never made you feel the way that florine made me feel. and if i did i am so so so so so so sorry.

alright, well... i am off to work again. thanks again for everything. i leave for hungary tomorrow night, and get there around noon the next day.. i dont think i will have internet so you may not hear from me for a week or so... do not worry though we will be safe! we know missionaries in hungary, and the moldova boys will be with us in krakow so we will be fine.

also, i just decided i am going to copy paste most of this letter into my blog b/c i don't feel like writing more stuff... okay have a wonderful day!

love you so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so sooooooo much!

whit


[p.s. the photo is of my marion and mirella, two of my most favorite people on this earthie earth, o and dont be fooled by the photo, i do not have rabies, or any other psychotic disorder]

days 49 & 50

today is day fifty! thats 1,200 hours or 72,000 minutes since i left home!

high: getting an email from my mommy
low: buying new pajama shorts from a second hand store and finding sunflower seed shells in the pockets when i got home and tried them on
high: vlad was wearing super tight spandex hoochie shorts today! haha it was amazing
low: burning the popcorn i was really excited to make
high: talking to chelsea on skype!!!
low: dropping the lid from the burning popcorn pan out the window and all the way down to the street below
high: deciding to still go to krakow
low: paying for the train tickets there
high: catching elder barclay throwing the cookies we gave him out the window, b/c they were a little bit burnt!!!!!!

okay and i will leave you with a picture of my wonderful branch, minus a few members. p.s. the man on top acting like a thug is president popovici at his finest and the lady next to him is the beautiful sora betham, not to be confused with the sora below her in pink that i like to poke with needles

o and here is a picture of some of our english class friends

mooovies

ALI: this is the worst of the two films i got of him, but the other one got deleted... anyways, florine has something to tell you

also, here is a little documentary from inside the hospital

lastly, we had a great day at work today... elisa and i brought in paint and got prints of our kids hands and feet!! yay those will be fun to have.

o and ps... i might of died some of my hair romanian red... and by might of, i mean i did :)

o and p.p.s have i ever mentioned how much i love the iasi branch?

o and p.p.p.s auschwitz may not be happening for me... that's life

days 47 and 48

so, i am in love. with a romanian man. he is 29. his name is ionut. we sang love songs together on the keyboard at the villa. we held hands as we walked. i was sad when we said goodbye, but happy as he ran back and grabbed my face and..... kissed me! it was really embarrassing that our first kiss was in front of his mother.

...

anyways, we are really not in love, but we pretend to be, but actually, i really do love ionut and how he comes to every relief society activity, (remember last activity we dressed him up in a mini skirt?). yes. but he really did kiss me. and it really was funny, and i really was embarrassed.

...
yesterday was my whitney is a tourist day!

i wore my vladd the impaler shirt, went to a how to cook romanian food class, bargained for souvenirs at the cultural palace, touched saint paraskeva's remains, and pretended to be orthodox at a prayer service. life as a tourist in iasi was more than i ever dreamed it to be. and the day ended with a karaoke night at the church, DJed by yours truly. it was really fun and the missionaries made root beer. i am so happy to be feeling better.

...
i gave a talk in church today. i was up till one typing it up, only to find out this morning that our printer is broken. so, i wrote down the main points and a few quotes, and prayed that i wouldn't make a fool of myself. i am actually really happy with the way it turned out. i wasn't even that nervous. i think having elder armstrong standing next to me translating helped.
also, just to let you know, the word integritous is not a real word, but it can be used if your name is whitney, and you want to embarrass yourself in front of a large crowd.
...
lastly,
HAPPY FATHERS DAY! I HEART MY DADDY

...

days 45 & 46

i found my secret spot in iasi. the window sill. the breeze is nice, the view is lovely, and there are lots of people to watch below.

anyways, i went to both the orphanage and the hospital today. it felt like forever since i had been there. i missed my kids so much.

the hospital was really neat today. the elders came to give marius a blessing. it was really fun to have them there meeting the kids, and seeing what we are doing here. i heart the priesthood.

so we were wandering the mall getting dinner and they had a projector set up and crowds of people around it, and what did we find? o just the romanian soccer team playing italy. we sat down and watched for a while.. it was fun and i would have been more than content to stay and watch the whole game.. the people watching were really drunk and really into the game. they would cheer so loud every time the ball was passed up to one of the forwards. also, there was one point during the game, that two romanian players went to head the ball but they ended up heading each other and they were both bleeding and one had to be wheeled off... i don't know why, but it was really humorous.

well... guys, i apologize for the lameness of this post... there is not too much going on right now.

love and miss you all!

days 43 & 44

"[insert your name here], I'm going to suggest something to you that you probably have never thought of and will want to resist, but I'm going to say it anyway because it's the truth. Here it is: Being mistreated is the most important condition of mortality, for eternity itself depends on how we view those who mistreat us."
- the grandpa in the peacegiver

the hard times in iasi, seem to be rising with the temperature. i am going on day three of being sick, but fortunately i am feeling better today than yesterday. i am not the only one sick too. this morning i was the only one in mickey mouse. haha it was quite the experience chasing 20 kids in 20 different directions between my trips to la baie. i didn't have to go, but i was tired of laying around, and the kids would have had no byu girls there which would have meant they would be tied into their chairs. it made me really grateful to know that if i get sick in the future as a mom: 1) i won't have 20 kids at once 2) 6 of them will not be rambunctious toddlers 3) i will have people there to help me 4) and hopefully my real kids won't have the severe behavior problems that my kids here do.

speaking of moms, sorry i didn't tell you i was sick last night.. i was planning on keeping it a secret, but i think i am going to be okay now, so don't worry.

there has been a lot of tension amongst all the girls lately. i think that many are in need of our upcoming vacation of bath houses and shopping. our budapest trip will be the perfect opportunity to mend all the damaged friendships.

hmm.. so mom, you asked about miss grumps, and my blue baby? well they were both gone when we went back after the whole mace incident. we have gotten pretty used to seeing kids come and go in the hospital. hopefully they are doing well where ever they are. we miss them, but are glad that they were well enough to get out of the hospital.

alright well... i am going to go read. hope everyone is doing great at home and enjoying the summertime.

cu mult drag!

p.s. look how cute my illiuta is!!!!

hahaha, he's great.

p.p.s is it embarrassing that i just had to google how to make baked potatoes??
p.p.p.s i just reread this post, and it seems like a downer but i promise things are going great. don't worry mom. here is a funny story from today to brighten things up:

i was outside on a blanket with 5 of the kids. alex, our oldest CP boy, who is so smart and very aware was laying on his back near my feet. cristina, my hippie girl was sitting next to me flailing her arms in every direction singing. valentina, a fetal alcohol syndromed toddler was crawling everywhere and i was constantly having to pull her back onto the blanket. maria, our energetic, fidgety lady was in her chair to my right with her ridiculous pink sailor's hat on (see photo below). and lastly, i had ghiorcel in my lap and i was feeding him this nasty wafer, that he was spitting out everywhere. anyways, all of the sudden i hear one of the workers gasp and start laughing hysterically. i look at her and she points to valentina who was now laying on top of alex, going back and forth from cheek to cheek, kissing him. hahaha it looked so funny, and alex was smiling so big. (he tries to be a flirt with us byu girls by reaching for our rears whenever possible). hahaha i jumped up and grabbed valentina, and we all had a good laugh. just another everyday experience in iasi!

here are pictures of valentina, and maria. they are whitney alexander's kids normally, so it was fun playing with them today.
valentina si maria


i heart romania!

also: i bet you didn't know that this song is a romanian one
http://youtube.com/watch?v=cn4Y60cv__U

day 42

it has been said that biologically , adults produce children;
but spiritually, children produce adults

days 40 & 41

so i am pretty sure this was the busiest week in iasi... but one of the most fulfilling. i love love love my kids, and the hospital has been great this week.

yesterday was a wonderful busy day. friday night we had a sleepover at scala and did girlie stuff and as expected i was the first to fall asleep on the floor (887, remember when i fell asleep on your kitchen floor?) we woke up and went and took some pictures of churches, but not too many turned out because the sun was really bright, but here is a sample...

after that we had romanian lessons with the elders and then, drum roll..... my date with mindy! roberta wanted us to go on dates with each other so mindy and i wore matching outfits and went on a date.. see:

then we played another intense game of ultimate frisbee.. showered and went out with the soras on splits. that was an experience. i didn't say much but i understood what was being said. we gave two lessons and i love sora betham.. she grew up in laie and moved to long beach in high school so we had lots to talk about... she kept saying, "just go on a mission, whitney.. just go!" it definitely wasn't a bad experience, but we shall see...

today was general conference for the romanians.. we did the sacrament and dove right into the saturday morning session. so we read to along in our ensigns as they listened and watched the solemn assembly in romanian. it was awesome. i love conference. also, while we were watching, president popovici and petru left and bought the branch treats! the elders were so mad, they refused to eat them. it was funny.

well that is all!

cu mult drag!!

p.s. our neighbor man had a crush on us. he brings us flowers.. we invite him to sports.. he smokes cigarettes while we play... he brings us more flowers.. and offers to give us contacts b/c he is an optometrist... but the flowers are pretty huh?

days 38 & 39

here is a clue as to why i am so happy here in iasi



this little boys name is marion. he is from our orphanage but because of kidney failure he most likely will never leave the hospital. we love him. the doctors are not optimistic about this situation, so we are doing are best to make him as happy as we can while he is still here. we love him!!

also: iasi = big hair... proof:

days 36 & 37

preface: so i wasn't feeling super this morning and was nervous about going to the hospital so i decided to stay home and read the ensign that i finally got yesterday and sleep... but i woke up to the sounds of saws and drills coming from what sounded like our bathroom. i am pretty sure that the people next door are playing prison break and are trying to break into our apartment through the wall. therefore, i am now writing in my blog and keeping watch on the wall... waiting for a hole to appear

yesterday was melissa's birthday! the highlights include:
- hot gogosi for breakfast
- shortened language lessons
- a package from momma scott
- A+ day at the orphanage
- lunch with a man named lyfe - he works for lonely planet writing books on romania
- ice cream with lyfe
- shopping
- bumping into the grumpy elder and him being happy to see us
- walking around iasi looking for chinese food
- eating chinese food in romania - i still can't figure out if i liked it or not...
- annies yellowcake
- and of course prank phone calls - we are limited in the number of contacts here in iasi, but we still had fun

timeout - this is kinda scary being home alone with scratching and knocking noises.

here is a photo of us girls on saturday.. unfortunately we decided to take pictures after a few of us had just played ultimate frisbee for an hour and a half, so some are more up to par than others.

today is wednesday. work was good this morning. i am loving my kids more and more everyday and am already dreading having to say goodbye to them. after work we met the sisters at the bread stand, and then they came over. poor sister r. she is afraid of needles, but did really great as i poked her. it was fun. outreach is tonight and the elders promised they would help elisa and i call this jewish man for my research.

o have i mentioned that i am doing one of my culture proof papers on the holocaust in romania, iasi specifically? well here are some previews:

- before WWII, there were over 90 synagogues in iasi and now there are only 2
- also before the war, over half is the population of iasi was jewish
- in june 1941, one of the most violent pogroms in jewish history took place in iasi
- according to the jewish community here, about 15,000 jews were killed, just from iasi

anyways... it might be bad that i am more interested in this than my music research... but thats okay with me

we had to research a lot and call around asking, "vorbesti engleza" to a bunch of people before we finally got the number to the man in charge of the great synagogue in iasi. there is no way we are going to be able to talk to him without a translator... which brings me back to outreach, which reminds me i need to get going!

cu mult drag!!!!

days 34 & 35

suntem fiice ale unui tata ce ne iubeste si noi pe el. il iubim.

sunday, was a great fast and testimony meeting in the branch. i wasn't positive, but i was planning on bearing my testimony if there was a lot of quiet time like there has been in the past, but this week was different. romanian after romanian got up and bore the their simple testimonies full of faith. there was no need for me to talk, and i am actually glad, because one sora towards the end mentioned how proud she was of the branch that they could have a testimony meeting with out the americans doing most the talking :) that felt good. they are going to be alright, i know it.

today was a good day. i didn't get to spend much time with ghirocel at the orphanage because he was sleeping, but vlad and i went outside and had fun swinging and walking around.

so, the hospital is full of children... not many babies, but lots of children

there is this one boy samson (p.s. i love that name) who will not talk... all he does is cry and call for his mommy. it is heartbreaking. anyways, it took me a while to get him to allow me to hold him.. i think the bag of legos and bubbles helped. so, i was holding him and playing legos with him and talking to another mom in the room. she spoke english really well and she was super nice.. she told me a sad story about samson and why she thought he wasn't talking to anyone today. there is another orphan in the room who is about 14 months. i guess earlier today for no reason samson got out of his bed and went over to the other girl and starting beating her fervently. the nurses ran in and reprimanded him in the same manner. i then understood why he doesn't look people in the eye, or respond when they talk to them.

second hospital story of the evening: ali, remember that one time that i was so mad at you, i wanted to hit you... but before any punches were thrown we were both on the ground laughing? well take out the second half and that is how mad i was today at this gypsie woman. i recognized her right away and kept giving her dirty looks at she followed us from room to room. in one room and kept talking to me and was just being straight up rude.. she kept asking for money and when i told her that i didn't have any she called me a liar. then she asked why i was even there. i told her i was there to take care of the orphans. her reply was i am an orphan, give me money. o, i was so mad.. she was so sleezy and rotten. she then when on to ask us if we had boyfriends and started saying gross things.. i havent been this angry in a long time, and i don't think i have ever given anyone as dirty of a look as i gave her... but it made her quit talking. it is just really frustrating dealing with the gypsies because they have been raised to be rude, and disrespectful, and manipulative. but even still most of them respect the work that we are doing there, and leave us alone, but there are the few that really get to me. anyways, i think i might be venting now.. i am actually a lot calmer than i was earlier. i don't like feeling angry, but i dont like rude people that are mean to me and my kids.

fhe was really fun tonight. we read the giving tree which is one of my favorite books ever.. so now i am happy.

o and the picture above has nothing to do with anything, but i like it.