the last few days.

hello friends and family,
i have healed from my sickness and am alive and well. ive been too busy to write the last few days but i am doing good. i rested and took medicine and started feeling better a few days later. i think a lot of it had to do with dehydration even though i have been drinking so much water the humidity just sucks it right out of me.

the last few days have been good to me. so much has happened that i cant even remember or know where to start. tuesday maybe? that morning we went back to marion pazon (the rehab orphanage) that i had such a hard time at the first time. this experience was much calmer. there were more staff and fewer kids and the kids were also much more relaxed. i spent time walking around with this girl who just wanted to hold my hand and walk. she had her hands tied back because i guess she would try and hurt herself or pull out her hair so that was kind of sad to see but we had fun together. in the afternoon we went to Sfant Ana, where we hung out with about 10 boys ages 10-15. we had a lots of fun with them. they were pretty well behaved and for the most part acted the same as other teenage boys in america. i played soccer with this one boy daniel and we had so much fun together. a few other boys joined us and it was still good. the hardest part about this time was that they were trying really hard to communicate with me and i couldnt respond. the language barrier hasnt been a huge problem since ive been here but that afternoon was hard. it was nice though because josh hung around and helped translate with us and also helped me to work on my romanian. ill have to tell you later what these boys were saying....

the next day was deadly. a hundred degrees and humid i couldnt handle this. i prepared for the day knowing that i would get sweaty and wet and disgusting so that made it a little easier. the morning was pretty relaxed and we hung out with some kids from sfant ana just inside working on crafts. in the afternoon we went the chatila (the girls orphanage) where we played water games and jumped on the trampoline. we got yelled at in romanian by some of the orphanage staff because the kids were wet and making a mess. shanna replied with "nu vorbesc romaneti" (i dont speak romanian) which only made them even more upset. but we still had fun. this little girl Florica, who is one of the most precious children i have worked with this trip, was there. she is very shy and during the water activities she was scared of everyone so she kept hiding behind me and running all around me just trying to get me to hold and protect her, it was so cute. after this we all went inside and listened to them practice a song they are working on for a project, and then we proceeded to have an all girl dance party to romanian techno whatever you call it, which was the best time EVER. you do know how i love dance parties....

That evening, Kristina, an intern from CTL from wisconsin, took us shopping at a little boutique. when we left it started to rain and storm. the funny thing about romanians is that they would rather wait inside all day then go outside and get a spot of rain on them. as americans, we sprinted down the sidewalk and tried to get to the metro as fast as possible. we stopped under a short ledge for a break when it started to hale inch sized ice balls that were so funny. they started to set off all of the car alarms and as painful as they were all we could do was laugh. it let up and we continued running the rest of the way. we got back to her apartment and she let us relax, watch some tv (in english) and she made us crepes and french fries from scratch which were one of the best things i have ever eaten! it was getting late so we headed home. we walked and made it on the metro and back at night all by ourselves.

today we went to orphanage #5 (a disabilities orphanage) where we held a mini carnival for them. June 1st is The Day of the Child so we helped them celebrate it a little early since some huge elections are being held on June 1st this year. We brought over a trampoline, face paint, cotton candy, and balloons. all of the staff members were there and we had a lot of fun. the kids were a little wild but that was expected. with some of their disabilities a few would often break out into song and i cant tell you how many times i heard the song jingle bells being sung. it was amazing.

we got the rest of the afternoon off which was a nice break. i wrote in my journal and then took a nice long nap. everyone else is still asleep and i think we slept through dinner. time for some cereal- which is what im known for around here. my enjoyment of romanian cereal.