Well, it's finally happening! I'm going back to one of my favorite places on Earth... Romania! Ever since I went back in 2009, I've wanted to go back to see the children there that I connected with yet the timing was never right and I couldn't make it happen. When I saw that a Manna group was going in June and that it worked out perfectly with my schedule, I immediately jumped on the opportunity to make it happen! I am only teaching online for that part of the summer so I have the ability to still work but do it from anywhere in the world!
This Manna group will be visiting the same nutrition centers and orphanage (more like a group home) in Lupsa and Rogova that we visited a few years back. Once the group leaves to go sightsee at the end of the trip, I am actually going to stay behind (since I saw all the castles on the last trip) and I will spend an additional two weeks living at the orphanage and basically working for them in any way possible. This is the part of the trip that I am most excited for! As I have more details on what I'll be doing, I will of course post them here.
As for the basic trip information, the group will be there from June 12th to June 21st. Since the people are joining this group from all over (not just a Dallas group like last time), there was some flexibility in scheduling that will finally allow me to visit Amsterdam as well. So, here is my tentative schedule (I already booked my flights so that is set in stone):
June 11th- Fly out of Dallas in the evening.
June 12th- Arrive in Amsterdam around 11:30 am. I will stay the night in Amsterdam.
June 13th- Fly out of Amsterdam in the morning. I will meet up with the others in the airport and we will all be on the same flight into Bucharest.
June 19th- This is the day the group leaves to sightsee (I think). I will move into the orphanage from the hotel and stay there until I fly out.
July 5th- Leave Bucharest in the early afternoon and arrive in Dallas much later that night.
As you can see, I will be spending around 2 additional weeks there working in the orphanage and I cannot wait! I have to be back to teach face-to-face starting July 9th, or else I would stay even longer!
So, that's all for now. I'll post more as I know more!
