No More Waiting (for now)

The packages finally arrived this morning after over a month in-transit!  To truly appreciate what this means, here is the process Iulia and I had to endure.  
1.) Receive a letter outlining all of the steps of receiving a package outside the European Union, and subsequently call the Romanian FedEx rep. to understand what this meant exactly. 
2.) Fill-out a detailed form about the organization to submit electronically to the Romanian customs authorities.  This in itself took several days and multiple attempts because the form could not be accessed on the first four computers we tried.  When it finally opened we had to dig up paperwork to obtain sundry numbers.
3.) Mail a hardcopy of the form and the paperwork of the organization.  Again, quite a process because the "print" button in the program which contained the form would not allow us to do this.  Nor would it allow copying and pasting the form, print screen, or changing printers.  Finally Iulia discovered F4 was the magic key. (And why do they need a hardcopy if they automatically receive the computerized form?)
4.) Wait for the EORI number.
5.) Translate the packing list that individually listed the items.  Seems like this should be their job...
6.) Call and email the Romanian FedEx rep. with the EORI number and other required documents.
7.) Wait for the packages to be delivered from Bucharest.

Now that we have the magical EORI number, receiving subsequent packages will be much easier.  I told Iulia I should have everyone I know send packages to make this process worth it-- especially because of the time she invested and headaches it gave her!

Nevertheless, here are the fun donations that arrived for the children from the McHenry First United Methodist congregation:

·         8 educational computer games

·         6 educational board games

·         8 educational card games

·         9 puzzles (of several varieties)

·         4 sets of Legos/Tinker Toys

·         5 containers of sidewalk chalk

·         8 jump ropes

·         18 containers of Play-doh/Model magic

·         4 containers of bubbles

·         8 balls (of several varieties)

·         3 packages of pencil grippers

·         2 packages of whistles

·         1 therapy ball

·         1 weighted therapy ball

The parachute also arrived this week, and was purchased from generous donations of friends, family, and church members.  It will be so exciting to see their reaction to such a foreign game!

Another major update: I have chosen to suspend learning Romanian and pursue learning Italian.  More people around here speak Italian, it is MUCH easier to learn, and I can pick-up on it more quickly because of its similarity to Spanish.  It's definitely been an adjustment, but I know in the long-run I'll be better off.  The large group of Italian volunteers here for the week had so many great songs, games, and skits for the children and I know my assistance and participation could have been augmented if I knew more of their language.  Instead of just waiting and wishing, I decided to act.