Day 30.. One Month Anniversary!

Today marks one month! So crazy.. I feel like I have been here my entire life and then at the same time it feels like I got here yesterday. This week was seriously a blink..

K as a precursor to this post.. I have a ton of pictures so I am going to put up all the pictures first and comment later so that the formatting does not get all messed up.

Enjoy!

Cezar!

Ionella and Cezar

at least one of us looks happy...

Playdough heart!

Cristi and Mustache!

-----------------------------------------

So today was a great day. The orphanage was so relaxing.. it is crazy how this can change day to day. Gabby took the 4 active boys into one of the nap rooms for class twice today. She has puzzles, beads, numbers, colors, books.. like a kindergarten or constructive preschool. The kids left behind are all the low maintenance yet much love needed children like Petra, Cosmo, Big Boy, Cristian, Pretty Girl, Harry Potter, Letzoo, Darian and Alex. Usually only 5 at a time because others are in physical therapy, music therapy, napping or something else. I have been so impressed this week because because Gabby has been doing school, more attention has been given to the children who are in wheelchairs. These kids are often put on the ‘backburner’ because the 4 who are in school wreak havoc and take everyones full attention. Also this week, the “wheelchair” children have been getting a lot of physical therapy which is so great. Basically each child has a special routine for physical therapy that typically consists of stretching out their arms and legs. Many of the kids rock their heads or clench their fists or have their legs continually bunched up bodies contorted so I help straighten out their legs. With Cosmo for instance, I stretch her arms up above her head. She always breaks out giggling. It scares me sometimes though to straighten their limbs because I feel like I am going to break something. She has respiratory problems so she always sounds like she is gasping for air and it is hard to tell if she is hurting or not. I love seeing the smile on this girl's face. I made it a goal today to make her and Petra smile every day. You really have to work for one of these two to smile but when they do you can seriously feel something deep inside of you. I love these girls and I know that I am not alone.

---------------------------------------------

Rundown of hospital.. Megan stayed in ICU.. I was on the 3^rd floor with the 2 babies from yesterday and our beloved Cristi and Rodica. I made sure I brought toys today and played with the two little girls and Cristi. We had a play dough party and read some Romanian alphabet books. I played a little Pictionary game with them but with playdough which was very fun. The girls absolutely loved when I made a butterfly and a rose. Cristi loved the crocodile. It is interesting how the smallest things always work out. I threw the playdough in my bag not really paying attention to the colors but at the hospital Cristi insisted on having pink.. I looked in my bag and sure enough I had another pink one. These little miracles happen everyday and it is so important to not only notice them.. but find joy in them. Playing with these girls is so different than playing with the boys from last week. It is so interesting to see nurturing tendancies even in a young age. Instead of wanted to play with the ball or balloons or something.. they wanted to kiss, touch and play with the baby that I was holding. There is one girl who I think broke her pelvis and she insisted on holding the baby. This made me nervous but she was sitting in bed so I figured why not. She absolutely loved it! I was talking to Megan about this on our way home.. but one really cool influence we have on the kids is sparking interaction between themselves. Before I was playing with them.. they were all sitting on separate beds. By the time I left, they were all introduced to one another and sitting on eachothers beds talking. There are 4 children, two moms and two babies in one room. There were 3 full beds and 2 cribs.. the two babies shared a crib. Crazy! Plus me that makes 9 people in one hospital room. Another influence I hope I can have is to show these kids to love and give attention to these babies. The other BYU girls and I are only working in the hospital 3 hours out of the day and these babies only really have us to hold them. These kids and moms see us take care of the babies and it kind of opens the doors for them to do the same. Today for instance.. the little girls all wanted to hold the baby and when I turned my camera on later I noticed she snuck like 6 pictures of the sleeping baby. That is another thing that they love.. cameras and pictures! they wer taking pictures of everything! With the two babies I was not sure what I was going to do if they both got fussy because there was only one of me and two of them but one was awake while the other was asleep so it ended up working out perfectly like it always does!

Kicks and Giggles:

If you have read to here you deserve some comedic relief!

I was letting 5 year old Ionella hold the baby and the other girl snapped this photo right as the doctor walked in and I bolted to pick the baby back up so we would not get in trouble!

Day 29

The orphanage was really good today. The kids were all happy for the most part.. Gabby and Luminita were the workers so go figure. The kids are always so much happier when these two workers are on shift. Some observations: Jello loves being tickled, "Letterzu" loves when you growl like a bear.. he also has a funny fascination with clothes on his head. If you put an apron or t shirt or something on his head he will walk around the room with it and come back for you to fix it if it slips off. I stayed behind while they went to masa again. It was ok though because I was able to spend good time with the girls. I held "Petra" for a bit and stretched out "Cosmo's" arms (which she loves!) Cosmo's legs are pretty twisted so it makes me nervous to stretch them because I don’t want to hurt anything. I need to ask Sara, the physical therapist, what I can do with her legs. Jr. can babble a few things like ‘mama’ ‘sus’ ‘aici’ ‘asa’ and is starting to say my name! It is so exciting! He kind of just says the ‘ash’ sound over and over but it is seriously puts the biggest smile on my face. I was showing Jr. and Jello a book that named the different animals. I, as well as Gabby, work hard with these two because they both are babbling and I think this speech reinforcement is so important. Jr. is really good at repeating sounds and Jello I have to work harder with. Jello is a really compassionate boy. He will often bring a toy and place it in the lap of one of the girls in a wheelchair and has recently started tickling other kids.I really have come to love him. Lately though, he has started a couple behaviors that really worry me.. He has started rocking .. hurting other kids intentionally (pulling hair.. pulling ears.. yanking them to the ground.. particularily Jr.) and he also will slap his ears which is a behavior neglected children often do. I have not seen him do these things before so I really hope that they are just experimental stages more than an onsetting digression.

The hospital was really good but really tiring! Megan and I visited 9 different babies.. I think that there are 13 abandoned children in the hospital right now. We had such a special experience.. We were only expecting the babies in the ICUand Cardiology floor but our friends Rodica and Cristi were outside! We thought they had left! Rodica told us that there were two new orphan babies in their room. What a miracle. They were only in the parking lot for a few moments and we just happened to arrive right when they were there. If we did not see them we would not have known about those 2 babies. Also later in the day we had a really special experience. We were worried because we only had size 4 diapers but we figured size 4 would swamp these babies but they were better than no diapers. Megan had even checked her backpack yesterday and we made a note to buy more size 2's this morning. When we were leaving the 3 babies on the cardiology floor, Megan somehow found the perfect amount of size 2 diapers that we needed in her backpack. Bread and fish?

Day 28

Note: all the kids names are code names due to strict privacy laws of the Romanian government..Today was a really rough day.. I was not feeling well as my ulcers have been hurting a lot lately but I will tell a story about a good thing today. So at the orphanage, we went on a walk that ended up being a 2 hour trek. Gabby and I took "Jello","Jr.", "George" and "The Monster" to a little park past Hala Centrala up by the bus stop. I was in charge of "Monster" and "Jello". Jr. and Monster have fetal alcohol syndrome and are not the best at walking.. they can walk they just are pretty unstable.. so I found myself lifting Monster back onto his feet every 5 seconds. It is typically a 20 or so minute walk but it took us an hour. This walk was so good for the kids.. they wanted to touch every parked car, every stray dog, every garbage can. They were so caught up in the sights that they were too busy to watch their feet.. another factor of the continual tripping. Monster thinks it is funny when I try to discipline him so he would often trip on purpose and then sit on the ground waiting for Gabby to shout "ridica te" or "merge frumos!" before he got back up. The park was just a little central park of sorts. There were lots of trees and pigeons. Gabby identified each object to the kids. She is so great with the kids, I really like that she has their best interests at heart and wants to help them with language. She pulled out a little gingerbread donut hole for each of the kids to munch on and it was a nice relaxing 20 minutes or so before we headed back. The kids absolutely loved it and it was good for them to get out of the orphanage and get some fresh air. We were probably such a sight though! One Romanian woman, one American girl, and 4 wobbly children decked out in brightly colored and mismatched hats, coats and boots. It was so great looking down at the kids and have them smile back up at me.. even though Monster's continual tripping was short of driving me crazy.. seeing him giggle the entire walk there and entire walk back made it all worth it.

Day 27

The hospital was weird today.. Megan and my kids were all gone from the 3^rd floor. Sad for us but good because it means that they are healthy. We dropped off diapers to the ICU and one of the babies there that Megan has been visiting has gotten a lot worse. He now had a cast on.. was on oxygen and was gasping for air. It was really sad to see. There were 3 babies in the ICU. We went around the floors asking if they had any kids ‘fara mama’. One one floor they said no and the kissy boy (one who always follows us around but I think he is like 14) insisted that they did and told us to follow him. We did and a mom like.. stood in front of the door saying no. It was just weird. Then on another floor the head nurse said that they did not have any.. another nurse tried to contradict her saying that they did. She got like hushed and then she too shook her head saying no. It was like they were trying to keep a kid from us or something. We found a little girl on the 6^th floor but she was sleeping and so we left a coloring book a starburst and a crayon. The mom in the room was asking us for a toy… we did not know quite what she was asking so we shook our heads and left. I am worried that the mom took the things we left for the girl for her own son. It is why I don’t like leaving diapers because I feel like gypsy moms steal them. This is hard because the orphan kids do not get provided for via the hospitals. We realized that there is an 8^th floor. It is really nice and seems newly renovated (why they didn’t renovate from the bottom up is beyond me). It is the gastronomy floor. The nurse took me to a little baby who was 4 weeks I think. The nurse did not even know the baby’s name. I thought it was a boy until I changed her diaper! Her stomach was very enlarged but her pelvis and legs on the other hand were absolutely tiny. It looked lik she had had surgery of some sort recently because there were three long incision scars that were healing along her middle. She was in a size 4 diaper which came up to her sternum.. basically her entire body was in a diaper. I changed her and put on a two but it still swamped her. I picked her up and started rocking her.. I could not believe how skinny she was. There was another woman in the small room. She was there with her son and her mother.. her mother was like many elderly Romanian women. She donned the floral head scarf, sweater and long skirt with stockings and clog-like shoes. Her face was dark and wrinkled with age. They were staring quite a bit which is uncomfortable with you are only a few feet away but I have gotten a little used to it as people stare like this everywhere. I think the elderly woman was asking if this was my child. I told her I spoke very little Romanian and she looked at me even more strangely as if she did not understand how I could not speak Romanian. She looked at her daughter who asked me where I was from. I said ‘statele unite’ and the elderly woman stared intently. Her daughter then asked if I was a student. I said I was and she asked if I was studying pediatric care… not exactly but she got the jist so I nodded. She turned and explained this to her mom who nodded in comprehension. This woman was so kind and her understanding made my job a lot easier. Explaining why I am here is a little complicated with the language barrier and I get asked it in the hospital like 3 times a day. I gestured towards the baby saying ‘fara mama’ or.. ‘without a mom/ orphan’. The elderly woman crossed herself exclaiming something to the effect of ‘dear god’, came over and touched the babies hand shaking her head. It was such a tender moment. I continued rocking and singing to the baby and could tell that she was hungry. It had been about an hour when the nurse walked in with an apprehensive looking woman. The nurse tried explaining something to me and I think she was saying that this was the baby’s mom. I suddenly felt awkward holding this woman’s child and did not know what to do. I tried handing the baby to the mother but she was not eager to take this child up in her arms. She stared intently at the child and then looked up at me. The other mother in the room walked over and from what I could understand she told the mother that the baby was crying and I held her and she stopped crying. The mother thanked me. I did not really know what to do so I handed her a baby saying ‘nu acum’ explaining that the diaper was for later. I then got my backpack and had to just walk away. I don’t know if the mother was having second thoughts and was visiting the baby.. if she wanted the baby.. if she would just walk away and never look back. It was hard to just leave, not knowing but I will check if the baby is there or if the mom is there tomorrow. Sometimes there is only so much to do and the rest is up to people’s agency and the lord. This little girl will be in my prayers tonight.

sorry I did not mean for this to be so long!

Sunday! Day 26

Soooo what a great day! There were a lot of unfamiliar faces at church today .. it is crazy to think that out of the whole city there are only 12 or so really active LDS members. Today there were probably 6 or 7 visitors whom none of us had seen before. One of the women, her name was Mihaela said that that was her first time attending church in 6 years.. pretty cool. She was sitting behind me and tapped on my shoulder. When I turned around she said 'be patient and be wise'. It caught me off guard.. not your typical greeting. She went on saying 'be patient and wise with these people'.. I never found out exactly what or about whom she was speaking but it is great advice.. just a little unexpected advice! My mom gave me this quote that says 'to handle yourself use your head; to handle others use your heart' I think that wisdom is not so much thinking.. but processing with an open mind and open heart.

At 3 pm we decided to visit a monastery with the girls, Mihai, Petru, Radu and Aurelia. We all packed into a bus to head outside of the city. We had to hike through the forest a little ways and it was such a refreshing hike. I miss hiking as crazy as that sounds.. we walk everywhere here but not being able to go to the gym, hike, or even run outside is making me go a little crazy.

The monastery was so peaceful. It was built in the 1600's and had a very middle ages feel to it. The art inside the chapel was so gorgeous. It was pre-renaissance so the art was all a bit stoic and primitive but still breathtaking. The sound of a monk singing praises rung melodically through the chapel and it was so amazing. I sat in a pew seat and just took it all in. The sound of the monk singing joined with the ebbing candle lighting was lullingly lethargic. I loved watching orthodox individuals enter the chapel, cross themselves and kiss the pictures of the saints. I saw a mother guide her little son through the steps and it made me smile. I loved seeing how faithful these people were and I could definitely feel something here. Not only the monks, but the church goers who came here were all actively seeking a relationship with God and it was really cool to see and to feel.

This is where people come to light candles for prayers for people. There are two sides, one for the living and one for the dead. Petru was telling me that you can submit a name to the monks for them to pray for.. every day you want them to pray for that person it costs you 1 leu (romanian dollar). Basically.. the more money you have the more prayers you get. What a strange

concept. Strange at least, for me as a mormon because I believe in being able to have a personal relationship with God. Orthodox Christians pray to Saints as their advocates to God.. this is similar to our belief that we pray in the name of Jesus Christ.. but completely different from the sense that saints are just men like our prophet and apostles.. whom we would not pray to. Regardless of the distance that the Orthadox church seems to put between man and God.. I was deeply impressed by the faithfulness and dutifulness of these people I see in everywhere in Romania.

Us goofing around! It was definitely fun with the crew there.. I had a really good talk with Aurelia today about her and her boyfriend. She speaks a bit of english, less so than Mihai or Radu so the language barrier was difficult. Initially I thought that Romanianswere surprisingly open about things that we consider private (family issues, financial issues, hardship, loss of job etc.) but I was realizing that they are not open so much as this is life for them

Everyone here has such a hard life and we have heard so many tragic stories.. noone's life is easy and therefore the stories about a mom who has to work because her husband is home with cancer and 5 kids making less than $150 a month are not as crazy to them as it is to us. It correlates with the infamous romanian saying 'this is life'. It makes me wonder why I am so blessed with a solid whole family who loves me, great friends, a loving boyfriend who my parents accept and support, a job, college education, a house, a phone, a laptop.. a functional government and democratic home country.. not to mention a gym pass.

Interesting fact: all of this land is owned by the church so that the monks can grow all their own food, wine, etc.

So we all ascended up a narrow and secret stairwell into a pretty bell tower that overlooked the entire monastery and surrounding farmland. There were names and prayers written all over the inside of the bells with chalk and on this wooden beam with pen. Petru was saying that people write down prayers and names of people that have wronged them (he gave an example of lending someone a lot of money that you need and they dont pay you back). When the Priests ring the bells and pound on the wood with mallets.. they pound the names wreaking a

justice of sorts. A picture of the beam and mallets is below.
I loved visiting this monastery. I had a lot of time to think and relax. It was a much needed breath of fresh air.. literally.

On our walk home it started to rain and the trail turned into a straight up mud-slide... at least for us Americans! Petru made a joke 'oh look.. now you look like Romanian!' haha we were all just waiting for Petru to slip and fall in the mud in his suit and tie but we were not so lucky.

Day 25

I do not have much time to go into detail but today was such a crazy day. I will probably come back and go into more detail later when I have more time! Basically what we did today was make a 3 course traditional Romanian meal called Ardei Umpluti (stuffed peppers) well as Supa de Pui (or chicken soup) with a salata (salad).

The day started with grocery shopping from 10 am-12pm and cooking from 1:20 pm-6pm... woof! But it was so cool. Basically the jist of the peppers was you create a mixture of tomato paste, pepper, ground pork, uncooked rice and fill the pepper. You line the bottom of a stew pot with grape leaves and put in the peppers. The leaves help maintain the condition of the peppers. You then place a plate on top of the peppers to prevent floating, fill the pot with water and boil until the rice and meat is thoroughly cooked. The day got a little crazy with 7 girls and 3 Romanian helpers all trying to get the groceries and cooking accomplished but by means of turn taking and patience it was such a cool experience. Mihai, Petru and Aurelia all had different ways of cooking this traditional meal and they all had the techniques down pat. The cool thing about this recipe is that it is one that is SO delicious and I can make it at home. What a cool, unique little (ok not so little) experience we were able to have! Many thanks to Mihai, Petru and Aurelia for their patience and help today!

Day 24

It's Friday! Woot woot!!

The orphanage was good.. one of the workers told me that I was not allowed to take the children outside which was a little weird because we have been taking them outside for the past month. I had to leave early because GUESS WHAT?? I GOT A PACKAGE FROM MY FAMMMMIIILLLYYY

oh my gosh I was so happy. I AM so happy. The entire box smelled like cinnamon when I opened it because my family lovingly packed apple cider packets. It was such a wonderful piece of home! There were spices and seasonings (much needed).. gum!.. headbands.. some pens.. There were cards from each family member with pictures from Boston, Faneuil Hall etc. My family always has a huge jar of jelly bellys in the kitchen so my dad gave me a baggie of jelly bellys with his infamous post it saying 'Dont Forget'. This love package made me so happy I got so choked up.. I have the most incredible family. Leave it to them to go so above and beyond.

Today at the hospital I mainly just played UNO with Alex, the spanish girl and a new girl Ionella. Danut, Julian, and Dana were gone which was sad for us but good for the children because it emant that they were healthy enough to go home. The hard part was not even knowing that they would not be there.. we did not even get to say bye. I spent all week playing with Danut and getting to know the vibrant little boy, only for him to leave and never hear from or about his life again. I wish I knew where the abandoned babies go like Julian. He left the hospital so does he just go to an orphanage somewhere? I asked the spanish girl and she just shrugged and said he left. I asked where and she was like i dont know he just left. One thing I noticed about the hospital is that there is no real sense of privacy like the United States. Obviously there is no actual physical privacy but also there is no sense of confidentiality. The nurses talk about patients openly to other patients and answer any questions really. Paperwork is just laid out on people's beds for anyone to see or pick up. When lawsuits and technicalities are not an issue.. neither is confidentiality. It was just an interesting thing to observe.

Plan for tonight: homework.. return emails.. sleep! Our weeks are so busy that when weekends roll around we just want to rest and relax. Hopefully this weekend lasts a little longer than a blink.

Day 23

The orphanage has been a little difficult this week because for some reason the kids are all in bad moods. There are typically 4 or 5 kids continually screaming at a time and there are lots of little fights over toys and attention. I think it is because these other workers are harsher on the kids and they soak up the negative energy like a sponge. I noticed that because the workers treat all the kids the same (harsh and inconsistently), they treat even the good kids like bad kids.. they yell a lot and are very forceful. It is a difficult balance though between giving them the love they need while helping them develop and know right from wrong. How much is it ok to expect from the children in terms of behavior?

I think one thing that is so crucial is to know each child individually. They are not one big collective child.. each has specific disorders, needs, wants and because there are only 2 or so workers to 15 children, it is impossible to help each child grow up to be the most capable child he or she can be. That is why I think being here is so important. Yeah.. if I did not come here someone else would have taken my place and the kids would still have someone to play with. I think that I am here because I need this. Sure the kids need love from us but I think that I need these kids more than they need me. Actually I know I do. They are already working changes in me that I did not anticipate. They help me see strengths as well as weaknesses that I did not even know that I have. I am becoming a more compassionate and humble person.. not to mention a freakin softie! I have gotten more choked up in this one month than I have in 6 months back home. I see miracles every day here.

The high of the day: I took Alex into the computer room today though and he wanted to play this new computer game... I was not sure if we were allowed to because typically they want him to work on numbers, letters, etc. I figured it could not hurt. I popped the game in and it was a music game. In this one section there

were 10 different mice.. each with a different

instrument. As Alex went along and clicked each one.. the mouse would play the instrument. When all 10 were playing.. they made a cool little mexican song. Alex absolutely loved it so I started to dance.. like full on dance haha. He got so excited that from his wheelchair he stiffened up his legs, stretched his arms out, bowed his head into his chest and started moving around as much as he could. He had the biggest smile on his face and we just danced for a good few minutes. A couple times I would grab his hand and swing it back and forth singing along to the song. Man it was enough to get me a little tired afterwards! It was so fun though. It made the whole day worth it. He was so happy that he didnt mind going back to his room afterwards. He has such a special spirit. Just by looking into his eyes it gives you chills because you know how much love is in this boy's heart. How many hopes and desires he wants but he is trapped in this handicapped body. It still blows me away to think that he has a fully capable mind, emotions and everything. I really wish I could tap into his mind.. I wonder if I could somehow create flash cards or something to ask about his likes, his dislikes.. his opinions.. the person inside of the crippled body in the wheelchair. It is great to help him do math and read.. but I think I can help him express his emotions too and if I can find a way to effectively do this.. I think that could be so great for him.

These are some pictures from the hospital..the spanish girl (her name was like 7 syllables haha) and Julian..Us and Cristi's Mom Rodica.. Megan and Alex.. a picture Danut took.. the cute orphan Julian..Us and Cristi. It was cool because Rodica wanted our contact information. I gave her our apartment phone number, my email and home address. She says her sister has email but that she will call. I am not sure how that will work because... we dont speak any Romanian! That may render our conversation impossible. We will see!

Day 22

So today I had to leave early from the orphanage. Our apartment needed some plumbing work and Mario asked me to head home to make sure everything went ok. There is a new worker in my room that I have not met yet. Her name is Maria and she is very intimidating. Good news though is she will definitely help with my romanian skills. The hospital was great again. We brought a flower for Cristi's mom, the one who we met yesterday. She was so happy and asked us to stay and play with her son while she went to the store. One thing about Romanians is once you break their shell, they are incredibly thoughtful people. She brought Megan and I some fruit from the store!

They had rearranged the patients.. so in our old room there were 2 new girls. Danut had been moved to a different room and Stefan (the boy with hydrocephalus) was no longer there. Both of the girls were 13.. one was named Bianca and I forgot the other girls name but she looked like she was 25. The other girl was from Portugal and had broken her ankle in a car accident. I was able to use my Spanish skills. It got a little complicated though when the others would speak in romanian for her to translate to me in spanish for me to translate to english for Megan. It was definitely a work out for my brain!

Bianca was a gorgeous girl who spoke a little english. She was there with her mom, and unlike the other patients she actually had a cast on her broken leg. She, similar to Danut, was very shy at first but opened up once I gave her a necklace and kitten coloring book. I painted her nails hot pink and she loved it! I just wish I could have spoken to her.. I could only smile and nod and shrug my shoulders. I really hope she is there tomorrow but she was saying she might not be depending on her leg.

It was Dana's birthday today and it was so fun! She was 6! We gave her a necklace.. some stickers.. and a thing of bubbles! We were blowing bubbles in the hospital room but there were so many people that the bubbles were popping unwantingly on other patients' beds. We moved the party out into the hall and was so surprised that the nurses didnt mind the sound or the mess that the bubbles made all over the floor. I think that the nurses on this floor really like what we do. I mean even if we didnt play with the kids we change the abandoned kids diapers which is a relief for anyone. We spent the rest of the day playing with the boys and Dana.. the notorious balloons were a huge hit as always. As was the ipod! All in all another good successful day.

Here are some pictures.. Danut is the blonde boy.. so cute!

It is so sad though.. yesterday the baby did not even have a diaper. When Megan was changing a baby named Julian... she noticed he did not even have a diaper.. it was a bundle of dirty rags and a garbage bag wrapped around his body. It was heart breaking. The picture below is megan and Julian. Oh! I got to skype with Chantal today. I love skyping with her although it makes it really difficult sometimes cause it just makes me miss her more but the hour of down time and feeling like I am almost home is such a nice indulgence and power up! Anyways we just finished watching father of the bride on Jessi's laptop. It's pretty late here and I am off to hit the hay. We are pretty sure that we have bed bugs again because Megan and I have been waking up to lots of little bites all over our bodies. My head itches like crazy so I am just hoping its bed bugs and not fleas! Doesnt help that we work with orphans and sick children all day... but hey. It is all worth it. You just have to pretend they are mosquito bites! Well I am out.. catch you on the flip side!

la revedere

Day 21

So today was an amazing day. I went to the orphanage this morning only to realize that I have new workers this week. A bit of a downer but hey. new experiences. These workers proved to be a lot harsher on the kids as well as favor different kids than the Gabby and Whatshername. They favor The Monster which is interesting.. they take him out on walks a lot which makes my job easier in the play room. The day was a bit crazy because these workers seem to always be yelling which makes the kids in turn scream more. There were typically like 3 or 4 kids crying at a time today. Jello is usually the happiest and he was crying every time I turned around. I think it was because he is a good kid being treated like a bad one. The moment of saving grace was the moment I pulled the bubbles out! Man it is crazy to see how much these kids love the simple things. Give them a fancy expensive toy and they dont know what to do with it but the moment you tickle them, give them a balloon or even sing they are the happiest kids in the world. I tried to take A.U to the computer room today.. They changed his wheelchair so the head piece with the mouse buttons does not fit any more. We tried setting up the webcam software that helps him control the mouse with his eyes but 5 minutes into the game the electricity in the orphanage went out! I guess it has been doing that a lot lately. Good thing none of the children are on machines! A.U was very frustrated but we explained to him we would play tomorrow and he pouted the entire way back to his room. This is life.

The hospital was incredible today. As many of you know.. the hospital has been my least favorite part of this experience. The conditions, the grumpy nurses, the stares, the disorganization just set me off. I think this was because I had not yet had an experience like today. The children that Megan and I wanted to play with had left so we went on our child hunt asking each section if they had any abandoned kids. We found two babies on the 2nd floor. Also in the room was the cutest 7 year old boy with a broken leg tied to the bed and another injured boy and his mom on the other side of the room. One of the babies had a severe case of hydrocephalus and looked like Brain from Pinky and the Brain. It was surreal. I held him for a while but his head was so heavy that I had to put him down for a bit. We tried talking to the boy but he hid his head and would not talk. I pulled out a coloring book and he tentatively took it and started coloring. It was not until I pulled out the bubbles that he really came out of his shell. I wish I had the pictures to put because it quickly became a party. The boy's name is Dănuț and he changed character 180 degrees. He popped the bubbles with his tongue.. hands.. foot.. and was having the time of his life. Two other kids came in the room to play, a cute little girl named Dana and another boy. I painted Dana's nails hot pink and she was so happy! Another thing Danut loved was music. At first he was playing with a little "Old McDonald had a farm" toy I had for little kids.. but then I gave him my ipod and put the headphones in his ears. I showed him how to use the controls and he insisted on having the volume all the way up and kept yelling "maximum maximum!" while grooving to the beats. The songs he loved were:

Call 911 (Fred Falke Remix): Florrie http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mtv7cvOr70E

Heads Will Roll (A-Trak Remix): Yeah Yeah Yeahs http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TEDtccZHRFE&feature=related

If You See Kay: The Script http://www.playlist.com/searchbeta/tracks#if%20you%20see%20kay/all/1

On Melancholy Hill: Gorillaz http://www.playlist.com/searchbeta/tracks#on%20melancholy%20hill/all/1

She Wolf: Shakira http://www.playlist.com/searchbeta/tracks#she%20wolf/all/1

Business: Eminem (wouldnt let me change it!) http://www.playlist.com/searchbeta/tracks#business%20eminem/all/1

I have an english-romanian dictionary in my backpack that i find myself using often in the hospital. Anyways.. I have a picture of Brad and I in there. Danut insisted on seeing the photo. He asked "prieten" meaning boyfriend. I said yes and he loved it! The mom of the other boy came over and asked to see it. She took it over to her bed and showed her son. Megan pulled out a photo book that she had and they all loved it. It is interesting how fascinated they are by pictures. I am hoping to get more pictures tomorrow so that I can show you all. The day ended with a wonderful trip to Kaufland. It is a big grocery store here and we had to take a taxi. I got a ton of groceries for only 40 USD! Im loving this exchange rate. Last week in total I only spent 20 USD.. so nice. I got chocolate chip ice cream and pomegranates so it was an almost as good as christmas. Anyhoo sorry this is longer than I expected but tune in tomorrow for some more! lates.