Trip Reports - It pays to schmooze! LAX-MUC

Hi Gang,
I just had a great trip to Bucharest Romania doing volunteer work.
I'm not a very good writer or web page maker but pictures sometimes tell more then words.

I started a thread called "have you ever given anything to FA's?"
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=450955

Well I did it again, before I left for the airport I went to my local mall and bought a one pound box of See's candy plus 2 of the smaller little boxes.
Total cost about $26.

Our happy group of 13 get to the airport 3 hours early and check in for the 1st leg LAX-MUC.
I am the 1st to check in and I have a trainee agent checking me in.
I give her one of the smaller boxes of chocolate and thank her for helping our group check in. She was very suprised as was her supervisor.

I then ask her if their are any exit row seats available, to which her fingers start tapping furiously on her keyboard, next thing you know I'm in seat 30C
EXIT ROW! WooHoo! :D

When we board their is a FA stationed near my seat.
I then give her the 1 pound box of Chocolate and she is just as suprised.
Her name is Mona and she has only been a FA for 2 months.
We start to talk during take off as her jump seat is right in front of mine.
She was really a pleasant person and went out of her way during the flight to make sure I had everything I needed.
At the end of the flight she gave me 2 bags.
One bag had a bottle of red wine and a bottle of Champagne.
The other bag had about 8 pounds of chocolate bars for the kids at the orphanage I was going to and I think 8 pounds is a conservative estimate.
What an awesome flight! I've never had a better economy flight.

Another positive aspect of the flight was my seatmate named Steve.
Steve was travelling with his wife, daughter and niece.
Steve is 6'8" and deserved an exit row seat. He played basketball at UCLA during the 70's with John Wooden and Bill Walton.
He and I talked about all sorts of stuff and I could not have asked for a better seatmate.

Here is a webpage I put together of Mona and Steve
http://home.pacbell.net/taylor42/newrom2.html

Bucharest was great as I got to see all the kids at the orphanage again
and had such a special time. I also did more street outreach delivering food to poor families and the homeless
Heres are some pics
http://home.pacbell.net/taylor42/newrom.html

I really think exit row seats are hit n miss and I lucked out getting one.
Even if I didnt get it I think I still would have had a great flight over to MUC as I was able to hang out in the back galley and talk to the other FA's when they were on break. They all appreciated the fact that someone cared enough to give them a small present.
This is something I plan to do from now on.
Take care and happy flying.
Tom

Loved the story, the pictures, the glow on your face, and the glow on the face of the people you were helping. It's great to see someone so grateful for a coach exit row seat, and it's sobering to see the conditions under which the people are living whom you helped.

Impressive!

^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^

Thanks for a wonderful and warm report!

Carfield :-: :) :-: :) :-:

Really admire your work!

Just out of curiosity, what made you choose volunteer work with Romanian orphans? Personal experience?

The reason I ask is because it takes true dedication to devote time and energy to a charitable cause like you have done - would love to hear about what motivated you....

Warmest Regards.

Perhaps you can post a link to the agency where interested FTers could donate $ or items for their use. Thank you for your post.

Really admire your work!

Just out of curiosity, what made you choose volunteer work with Romanian orphans? Personal experience?

The reason I ask is because it takes true dedication to devote time and energy to a charitable cause like you have done - would love to hear about what motivated you....

Warmest Regards.

Well its funny about 18-20 months ago i had a week where I was seeing references to Romania either in print or on tv. I even made a mistake of speaking spanish to a woman at a place I work at who had what i thought was a Mexican accent, turns out she was Romanian.

So many of these little Romanian encounters left me wondering why Romania all of a sudden. The only thing I knew about Romania was Nadia Comaneci
from the olympics when I was a kid.

Then one day at church, Nannette Gonzales from ROCK ministries came to speak at our church. www.rockministries.org our Pastor then announced we were putting together a missions team to go work at the hospital in Romania with ROCK, thats when I put 2 and 2 together and figured God had been prepping me to take this trip.

I prayed about it, signed up and next thing I knew i was off to Bucharest.
Working at the hospital really blew me away and to be honest I'm not a baby person. My wife and I dont have any kids, never wanted any.

I did this work but mid week I really couldnt handle it. I was having a tough time with the trip in regards to the thought of the babies being abandoned,
the conditions of the hospital and all sorts of other issues and asked God if their was any other way he could use me in Romania.

The next day (thursday) a guy we were staying with named Costin asked me if I wanted to go with him to an Orphanage to drop off a birthday present for a little boy there. Our team had brought with us 9 dufflebags of donations for ROCK but also a present for little Catalin. At first I was weary and imagined
a bunch of smelly kids trying to pick my pockets but Costin assured me they were not like that anymore so I said yes.

http://home.pacbell.net/taylor42/Romania04.html

When I got to the Orphanage www.archwaykids.org I found the kids to be
clean, well behaved and full of so much love.
One little girl named Casi singled me out and wouldnt leave me alone.
She also had a sister (violeta) and they both just won me over.

Archway wasnt really part of our trip in the 1st place so when I wanted to go back after work the next day only 2 other people went with me.
Not even the leader of our mission trip wanted to go but I sensed something about Archway.

Unfortunatly we left for the states and I never had a chance to go back but fortunatly the people at Archway put me in touch with Tony Annunziato who lives not to far from me. Tony has been with Archway from the start, he and I got together and I found out more about the kids and about how Archway started out.

That trip was in August of 2004 by October I decided to I wanted to go back for Christmas and purchased another ticket to Bucharest and got my church to sponser all 23 kids for Christmas gifts

http://home.pacbell.net/taylor42/decrom.html
http://home.pacbell.net/taylor42/Romaniadec.html

I can't begin to explain the love these kids showed me or the way the staff took care of me while I was there nor can I explain my desire to drop everything I am doing here and move over there. I cant do that because my wife has her career here and it would be unfair of me to say "Honey, were sellin the house and moving to Bucharest", I just couldnt do it.
She has the career and I really only have a job.

On the plus side my Church now makes Archway part of the trips to Romania
which we did 2 weeks ago. As I write this to you I am already planning another trip this Christmas and the good news is that my wife is going with me. She has never been to Europe before and I am excited she will be meeting the kids and they want to meet her.

When I go to Bucharest I spend all my time at Archway, on Tuesdays and Thursdays we do Food delivery to Homeless and Poor families like the ones you see in the photos.
The rest of the time is spent with the kids either doing crafts, playing games or just spending time with them letting them know that someone loves them.

The two sisters I told you about Casi and Violeta are so part of my life now.
I wish I could adopt them but their are no international adoptions out of Romania. When I was there Violeta was calling me Tata Ma ( My Father) and I called her Fata Ma ( My Daughter).
I am learning Romania which is not hard since I know some spanish and every trip I pick up more Romanian from the kids. I'd say half the kids know limited english. Violeta (who never went to school) is now the best student in her class and is learning both english and french at the same time.

Tony and I plan on bringing her over here for College once she turns 18.
Well, thats it in a nutshell.
Their is so much more to Archway then what I have been able to scribble here
Maybe I could post how it got started. Thats another story and I would have to get together with Tony to make sure I got it right.

Thanks for reading this far and I hope we all have happy travels in the future.
God Bless,
Tom

Tom,

Had tears in my eyes while reading your report. It is people like you who still make the world worth living in. I hope Casi does well in life.

best wishes...

D.

Tom,thank you for reminding me that there are still good people doing good works.Your true love of god and your fellow humans is sadly lacking in most"church going"folks these days.
Thanks and keep on keeping on.

Truly admirable.

Thanks for the kind words.
I was weary about bringing my faith into the subject ( i shouldnt) but so many people over the years have used God to line their pockets or justify their actions. I can't stand TBN, at our church we call it Totally Bad Network.
Sorry if I offended anyone.
Every person has the option to believe in whatever they choose and I respect that. I could never tell anyone "You have to believe this or else" and I'm not trying to solicit anyone to give money to Archway or ROCK.
I think all I want to do is show people the people who have touched me and made a difference in my life.

I have spent my entire life in pursuit of my own happiness.
I am a product of the 70's and in high school sex, drugs and rock n roll was the main theme. I unfortunatly carried that philosophy throughout most of my life. I'm 43 years old now and have only been clean for about 4 years.

I never really did anything in my life besides feed my own desires and now I feel I have found something where I can make a difference.
If you would have told me 4 years ago that I'd be going to Romania twice a year to do what I'm doing I would have laughed at you and told you to pass the joint.

If you dont mind I'll put together some other pics of the kids so you can meet more of them.
Once again, Thanks for reading this post.
Tom

Excellent report. Moving photos. Thanks for sharing. One of the best parts about FlyerTalk is the wealth of personalities, backgrounds and lifestyles that all come together here. I'll be looking for updates (and of course a trip report ;)) the next time you go back.

I enjoyed this report as well, thanks for the post.

Chris

Tom--I very much enjoyed reading your posts, and viewing your pictures. What a fantastic way to bring joy to children.

I don't take any offence to your bringing up your faith. Given that your faith has brought you to Romania to help these children, I think your devotion to your faith should be celebrated.

The world is a better place because of people like you, Tom. ^

http://home.pacbell.net/taylor42/newrom3.html
Another page.

Their is a girl named Oana. You can see her on the page.
She is a true orphan. Her mother sold her to a gypsy so she could be used as a prop for begging. The Authorities found her sleeping with the dogs.
When they took her to Archway they had to shave her head because of lice and found rat bites on her head.

Today she is happy and healthy. Her nick name is the little bear as she is solid as a rock and heavy too :D

Archway started just as a home where street kids could come and take a shower and get a meal. Now its home for 23 kids whose parents live on the street and cannot afford to keep them or kids who have no one at all such as Oana.

Dear Tom,

Thank you for the beautiful and keen insight into your life. I must say that until now I've only been an armchair philanthropist - writing a cheque once in a while and assuming someone else does the work.

Reading about your experiences has taught me that sometimes its not enough just to do that - I hope to draw some inspiration and help the lives of less fortunate people in the world around me.

Warmest Regards,
-seenu

What a wonderful and touching report. I was surprised to see something so special given the topic I clicked on!

At first I was intrigued by the story of giving the candy to the FA - and I thought, what a neat idea!! Especially in times of cutbacks and other things, this is a wonderful idea.

Then I read the rest of the story and thread - how touching!! We hear so often about the "bad" things going on - how great it is that BambooTom would take so much time and energy to help these children!! It is nice to know that there is still "good" in the world.

Great report! One of the best in a while.

My Aunt and Uncle adopted a Romanian orphan a few years ago, so your story is especially interesting to me.

Did you do any traveling outside of Bucharest?
Was language a major barrier for you?

Tom,I was truly inspired by your post,my sister-in-law just adopted a little boy fron Russia last year and plan to bring another next year.I wish you well in your very important work,may you and your family be Blessed.Gary

Hey Friends!
Thanks for the really kind words :)
I'm going through refinancing my home and I have been really stressed.
I really feel a desire to serve over there (Romania).
Its heartbreaking but also so rewarding when you see the kids faces light up or watching them do well in school despite the fact that they started school years later then their counterparts.

Every trip I take I learn more about each child at Archway (23 kids there).
This December my Wife and I go back for Christmas and New Years.
At 1st it was just going to be my friend and I, then my wife commited to going. Last night 3 more people showed interest in going with us so we may have a party of 6 going. That leaves 6 extra Luggage bags of donated goods we can take (assuming everone just needs one bag).
It will also be my 1st time leading a group over there.

Fortunatly I have a good friend named Tony who lives here in L.A. but keeps an apt in Bucharest for his visits to Archway.
Tony flys more then I do as he visits Romania 3-4 times a year.
I'll try and get him over here to FT.
Thanks again for the interest in this thread and I will post more pics a soon as I can.

Take care.
Tom

Great report! One of the best in a while.
Did you do any traveling outside of Bucharest?
Was language a major barrier for you?

I've only been to Sinaia, a beautiful mountain resort area located near Transylvania. As far as language goes, growing up in a hispanic family I learned a little spanish (not as much as I should have), since Romanian is
latin based I was able to learn some Romanian.

I've only been studying Romanian for about a year through books I've bought and the Pimsluer Language tapes. I also have the Berlitz course.
I know enought Romanian that I can take a taxi anywhere I want to go and
I can order whatever I want in a restaurant, you know the important stuff :D

You should see the way I brutalize the Romanian language when I have the kids teach me a lesson from one of the books. They laugh so hard.

Take care,
Tom

Tom...Thank you so much for sharing your feelings and those wonderful pictures. You are blessed, and you're obviously a "carrier". May the word spread. Hugs, and good wishes, Jean

Great post Tom! I'm not sure you were schmoozing as much as treating others the way you want to be treated. Funny how that Golden Rule seems to bring good things to all involved. :) :) :) What if that became SOP for us all...

God bless you as you reach out to the youth of Romania!

What a wonderful way to start the day - by reading your story. Thanks for sharing, Tom.

I will certainly remember to take small gifts with us when we fly to Venice in October AND to count my blessings and share them every day.

Sheila