Romania Revisited

Our first publication

Just wanted to share the link to our first publication. Sommer and I submitted a story and pics to SMU Magazine that came out in the Fall/Winter 2009 issue.

-Lindsey

Madonna Speaks Up about Treatment of Roma population

LOC founder Bruce Thomas sent along an interesting article about Madonna's recent concert in Bucharest. Madonna brought several Roma (the slang term is Gypsy) dancers on tour with her. She says after they told her stories about the prejudice they face, she felt compelled to say something. The crowd of 60,000 that booed and jeered at her comments weren't too excited about hearing Madonna's political views.

The article goes on to talk about how Roma's have been historically mistreated and may be one of the most discriminated ethnic groups. Lindsey and I had LONG conversations about this on bus rides to and from they gypsy village with some of the Romanian translators. And we discussed it with our journalism contacts. They expressed frustration at the fact American media only writes about orphans and gypsies if it is writing about Romania. I guess this article backs up that idea, but honestly I think the reporting on this story is pretty accurate. There is a clear class distinction between Romanians and Gypsies.

And yet it all goes back to the idea that these issues aren't being presented in the greater context of the nation's history. So why exactly do Romanians feel the way they do toward Gypsies? And what steps have been taken both by legislators and by Gypsy leaders to fight the prejudice? And where did it all start?

As always, lots to think about.

John Schreiber in 20 years

Even though we were halfway across the world, Sommer and I didn't forget about our friends and family back home. George, one of the Allen Bible Church members helping Livada, wore his baseball hat backwards one day and he immediately reminded us of our good friend John Schreiber. Schreiber was photo editor of The Daily Campus at SMU for most of the time Sommer and I were at SMU. He's now getting his graduate degree in photojournalism at Mizzou. He is ALWAYS wearing a baseball hat and wears it backwards when he shoots.

So we stuck Sommer's camera in George's hand and asked him to pose. Now, we know what John's going to look like in 20 years. George even has a great sense of humor like John.

Now, we'll take a look at a pic of John from about a year and a half ago compliments of The Dallas Morning News' Michael Ainsworth. Can't you see the resemblance? John, behold your future! :)

By the way, John's been doing great work. Check out his stuff here on his blog.

-Lindsey

A new adventure begins

My best friend is moving to New York today. It's a bittersweet day.

For those of you that don't know, Sommer is attending Columbia University this year to get her masters in journalism. While I'm incredibly bummed that I won't be able to have late night tea at her house or meet her for a coffee work session, I'm excited about the opportunities and adventures that await her in NYC. Plus, I'll have a free place to stay when I visit. :)

We had a late night jam session Saturday night to hang out one last time before she headed out. We discussed our Romania Revisited project (of course), caught up on life and discussed journalism.

Quick side note, Sommer shared her lede for an article that will be published in SMU Magazine, and it is awesome. Maybe she'll share it on a later post if we start getting more interaction on here. The lack of comments is hurting her self esteem, so we're going to have to start playing hardball with y'all. Give us comments, and we'll give you the content you want. See how it works? I can't have my writer suffering because our readers won't post comments. I need her in the game. We've got work to do!

Back to the post.

I can't talk journalism with anyone like I can with Sommer. We're on the same wavelength and we're both in similar situations trying to navigate our way through the changing journalism industry. And now we'll have even more to discuss when she's attending class. The best part: I get to sit in on her classes for free when I visit. Talk about a sweet deal for me!

-Perkins

Sommer and me in the city of Sighisoara. This was during our fun/relaxing time when we were doing the tourist thing.

Romanian Camp Songs are Catchy

I know these blog entries are delayed, but every time I open up my journal to reference the notes I made, the memories comes back quite vividly. The scenes of the first day at the Livada camp particularly stick out in my mind. I guess scenes of (organized) chaos are hard to forget.

I'm going to try and set the scene of our first day at the LOC Day Camp for the children at the Sincrai Orphanage. It was held in a gym (not so great for Lindsey's photos) and in each corner there was an activity station. The children were split up into teams and assigned a color, and each team was led by one or two American volunteers and one or two Romanian translators. Sounds organized, right? More like a chapter in Lord of the Flies. And yet, games were played, songs were sung (Romanian songs are CATCHY), and crafts were made. Everyone had fun and no limbs were missing at the end of the day. A success? I think so.

It was a lot to take in. Lindsey and I sort of wandered around the gym. She snapped shots and lamented over the poor lighting, and I took notes on the setting and lamented over the language barrier. Then we got over ourselves and let it all sink in-- that's when it all started to flow. Lindsey moved around, got low, got high, changed lenses and interacted. I grabbed translators, attempted Romanian and took note of body language. It was rough start but a great trial run.

The second part of our day was spent at the gypsy village. Lindsey was more excited about the photos she made there. And I interviewed some really interesting characters.

A story to share:
Filip (a Romanian translator and I) were standing and talking in the middle of the field where the gypsy camp took place. The children dispersed into different activity stations and a lot of the adults loitered around to watch. One man, a carpenter (looked about 70 but was only 52), approached us and engaged in conversation. He knew a bit of English but mostly spoke to Filip in Romanian. At one point Filip and the man bust out in laughter over a joke and Filip propelled his hand out for a high five. The man returned the gesture but his ring finger would not extend to make a proper high five.

"What's wrong with your finger?" Filip asked.
"Oh. I broke it nearly 10 years ago and could never afford to get it fixed," he said.
Philip couldn't resist. "Does it hurt?"
"Sure."
"Do you want to fix it?"
"Sure."

But obviously that wasn't an option. And we left it at that.

I heard a lot of stories from a lot of discouraged people that day. I saw a lot of 15- year-olds carrying their babies watching longingly as children only a few years younger got to act their age. And we saw a very dedicated non-profit director trying to make a difference. But can he? Are his efforts to prevent child abandonment by teaching the basics of parenting, hygiene, family values going to work?

We decided to investigate over the next few days and the things we learned are ideas we'll incorporate into our stories. So get excited about reading those. And get excited about reading our next blog, because of course there is more to come. 

Horses on the streets

When I was going through pictures of Day 1, I found a shot of the Livada Orphan Care (LOC) group with a common sight on the Romanian streets: a horse-drawn cart.

This is how the situation went down.

We're driving down the bumpy roads of Targu Mures and see a horse and cart. Several members in the van make comments, so Bruce (founder/director of LOC) asks, "Do you want me to stop and ask if we can take a picture?"

Well, sure, Bruce. That'll be great.

We saw several of these during our stay. It was sort of strange to see them on the roads alongside BMWs and Mercedes, but that's life in Romania.

-Lindsey

Half the battle was getting there

As Sommer told everyone, half the battle was getting to Romania. (Wow, that holds true for more than just the travel part now that I think about it. The appointments, the research, postponement of the trip...but we'll just stick with travel battles for this post.)

Here are some fun pics of the 24-hour journey to get to Targu Mures, Romania. Hope you enjoy.

-Lindsey

Me camped out in the Atlanta airport. Our flight was delayed. Yay! Oh, and I have to show everyone how enthusiastic I am about my super cool, Velcro watch from Wal-Mart.

Sommer tweeting from her phone in ATL. I will take credit for getting her started on Twitter. :)

 

I'm exhausted at the Amsterdam airport. Exhausted and hungry with a headache. Not a good combo.

Sommer pouting after they turned us away at the gate in Amsterdam and told us they had re-booked us.

 

Sommer's rockin' the shades on the bus ride to Targu Mures.

How do you say 'Carpe Diem' in Romanian?

Our first full day in Romania started in a church. Well, technically it started in the hotel dining room where we had hot dogs (not so great) and raspberry tea (AMAZING) for breakfast. But then we headed to the church where Livada Orphan Care's (LOC) foster children attend. It was my (Sommer's) first church service ever so it was a cultural experience on several fronts.

We arrived a bit late so we had to slip into the front row, but that was probably for the best. The entire service was in Romanian and we had to rely on the hand gestures and facial expressions of those on stage to figure out what was going on. When it was all over, we asked LOC founder and president--and of course, handy dandy team leader-- to summarize what was preached during the sermon.

The theme of the service was 'Carpe Diem.' Specific to the church, it was about seizing every opportunity to serve God, but more generally it's just about seizing every opportunity. I don't know if it's just me, but I think that theme fit our trip perfectly. That was the theme of our trip, pretty much. That and 'Don't let on that we're crazy.'

After the service, we visited the children in the LOC foster homes and spent time interviewing a few of the children (they spoke great English). We really connected with them and luckily Lindsey and I were able to visit them again later in the trip. And then we met even more people when we had a pizza dinner with the Romanian translators with whom we would be spending the next week. They all practically became family to the American team. It's amazing how quickly a group can grow together. I think that's a testament to how long the days were, how many obstacles everyone had to hurdle together and how genuine everyone was.

When all was said and done, we made it back to our hotel around 11 p.m. We knew we had to be ready to go by 8 the next morning, but I wasn't done. There had been a festival that day and fireworks were scheduled for that night. I asked Lindsey if she wanted to walk to the city center with me to see the remnants of the day's festival and to catch the fireworks. She thought I was crazy (remember the theme of the trip?) but I pouted enough and recruited two of my favorite team members, Troy and Amy, to come along. And Bruce wasn't going to miss out on the action so he volunteered to drive.

Watching a fireworks show in a Romanian village is an experience hard to describe. Luckily I got video. Watch below to hear our panicked voices and watch us scurry from falling sparks. 

- Sommer

Firework Show in Targu Mures, Romania from Sommer Saadi on Vimeo.

It's a boy!

We have to say congratulations to Benny and Ramona, our gracious hosts in Timisoara. On July 29, 2009, at 6:06 p.m., Jesse was born. Aren't they cute?

First Impressions of Romania (or second impression for Sommer)

You know what is fun to do after spending nearly 20 hours crossing the Atlantic? Ride a bus for another six!

No, seriously, our six-hour bus ride from Bucharest to Targu Mures was a lot of fun. That is because the 12-member Livada Orphan Care service team (members were mostly from Allen, Texas, but also from San Antonio and a small town in Illinois) made for really great company. We all spent a good time telling embarrassing stories, sharing random facts and introducing ourselves at the front of the bus (I found out that Lindsey might be wanted in Copenhagen) and then we all dozed off.

But before Lindsey and I both fell asleep in the poorly ventilated but very large bus, we soaked in enough of the Romanian countryside to make some late night observations.

You know you want to watch.

First Impressions of Romania from Sommer Saadi on Vimeo.