Kindergarten was the first program my group volunteered in. The first day was a bit crazy, but things improved with each day I went. On the first day, I and a few others from the group taught a Bible lesson. We talked about Noah's ark in Genesis 6-7. Szeri, the teacher, translated for us. We gave each of the kids a foam die cut animal, and as we talked about the animals boarding the boat, they put them inside our paper ark. They seemed to enjoy the interactive part of the lesson. We wrapped it up by singing "Old MacDonald." They really got into the "E-I-E-I-O!"
I didn't have the opportunity to teach any other lessons, but I did get to help with crowd control and various projects. It was humbling to learn the same material the students were, such as the names of wild animals, but they thought it was pretty funny. I was able to interact with the kids a lot during their craft time. We colored pictures and talked - as much as we could with my extremely limited grasp on the language. The kids took such pride in their work, and they thrived on the extra attention. This doesn't mean, however, that they didn't try to push our buttons. Kids will be kids, in any part of the world! I wish you could have seen their faces as they proudly displayed their work, though. What a memory!
It wasn't long before I got to know the kids and better understand the kindergarten program, and soon I wasn't such a novelty. It was a joy to get to know each one of the children. They have infectious joy and mischievous energy; they're also rotten - in a fun, yet challenging way. The small things - having a short Romanian conversation with one of the boys, helping with a lesson, learning animal names in Romanian, making crafts - meant the most. As personal relationships were formed, the kids started approaching us out on the street or in the park. It was fun to interact with them in a different setting.
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