Friday Aug 7-> two weeks done :(

The two weekers/ and one five weeker!

Lila, Eve, Terri, and Trent

Sad day today. We have to say good-bye to our new friends. Eve, Lila, and Trent are two weekers, and Terri is leaving today after 5 weeks here. Today at the clinic the kids were acting like it was a Friday. Fussy. A few of the kids were not feeling well. Marius didn't eat anything all morning. He wasn't even crying the same as normal for him. When he fell asleep he would wake up every couple of minutes crying. Andrei was still not looking 100% even after his round of antibiotics. Petre was fed by one of the aides in the morning and they don't burp the babies, so he proceeded to puke the first half of his bottle up. It was rainy once again and once again we could not take the kids outside. So we had to entertain them inside. 19 kids and not a lot of space makes for some very ornery kids. Amy Stretch went to the school so we were down one volunteer and then Susan had to leave early because she had a driver arranged to take he to Moldova. After 5 years of coming back she was finally getting to go to Moldova! On the way back to the hotel from the clinic we found 3 puppies coming up out of the ditch. They were very friendly.

At lunch today we had soup and salad again. We threw a small surprise birthday party for Amy J. because she turns 19 tomorrow. Mihaela brought the most amazing birthday cake for us. At 2 Stan and Carol left to go trace his ancestry in northern Romania.


On the way back to the clinic in the afternoon the puppies followed us up the driveway. Alex and her aide came to check out the puppies. I am not sure how she felt about them.

We fed the kids their 3 o'clock bottles and changed diapers. A few of the kids were under the weather. Maruis still was out of sorts. He refused his bottle and just sort of laid around. We let the nurse know and she took him and gave him some medicine and tried to feed him and sent him to bed. Andrei was audibly wheezing and we let the nurse know that as well. He got some medicine too, he ended up throwing it up so he got a shot in the end. He has a heart condition and they are waiting to do surgery on him. There were only 2 puppies when we were leaving- the tan one disappeared.

I went back for the evening shift bottle feeding and we came back for dinner- the last one as a group with the two-weekers. We had a team meeting to discuss how things were going as a group and then we decided to reconvene in 40 minutes after everyone had time to finish packing. Terri decided to say her goodbyes and go to bed for an early morning wake up call. We all met back in the dining room. We had a few drinks and played spoons- Holy Cow is that a vicious game. Even little Lila was a force to be reckoned with! Before we knew it, it was 11 o'clock and time to retire for the night. We said our final goodbyes to Trent, Lila, and Eve. They will be missed this coming week.

Alex happy and scooting down the halls in a walker Andreea

Ionella being a Mama and picking up the toys

They made a heart out of a pickle!!

Daniella- she is a tiny 5 month old and is wearing a 2t diaper pants

Of all the players, I think little Lila was the most vicious!

Amy finally won the game after 3 hours.

Thursday Aug 6

Even though we had a huge storm last night it is still very sticky today. We started off the day a few volunteers short. Lila slept through breakfast to help her feel better, Trent was in his room fighting his stomach bug. Luckily he is sandwiched between 3 nurses and we took great care of him. I believe between all of us we have a walking pharmacy! Alex stayed behind this morning as well. When we got to the clinic the babies were acting like it is a Friday. I know there is a full moon out there! Because of the rain, the playground was wet so we had to stay inside as well. Talk about stir crazy! Ionella was not in a playful mood and wanted to pull everybody's hair. Luckily, Dan brought his daughter Delia with today and she was helping us with the kids. She was also giving us Romanian language lessons. It was funny to see a 6 year old correct us on our pronunciations! Terri(who has been here 5 weeks now-and was here in Dec-Jan for 3 weeks) changed her first diaper today. Yay Terri!!

Having Delia along also meant we got pizza for lunch, but of course we also had the standard soup- this time with smoked pork rib in it. And of course the mandatory cooked vegetable that shall not be named. Someone at the table was being evil and said there was probably cooked carrots in the pizza. That is not even anything to joke about!!!!! At lunch Dan informed us that Trent could have gotten sick from drinking a cold beer on a hot day. Those silly Romanian beliefs!

After lunch we went back to the clinic and gave the kids there afternoon bottles. Half of the kids had dirty diapers and so I was changing kid after kid- usually the aides do it but it is just as easy to do it myself at times. And we also found Paula in her crib. She was back from her evaluation. She was full of bug bites. The poor thing! As we were leaving for the day she went into the jump-a-roo and was as happy as a clam. She even gave me a kiss when I kissed her on her head.

We all went into Barlad for dinner-this time at Arcadia restaurant. Before we ate we did the mandatory errand shopping and Terri found a cute stroller/tricycle for the clinic. Lila was left to push the empty stroller through town. Dinner was once again family style and there was a wide array of traditional Romanian foods. Dessert was Ice Cream. Delia joined her mother for dinner and shopping with us after. Poor Trent was a little skittish around all of the rich foods and so he limited himself to the Polenta, vegetables, and potatoes, with just a small bit of the meat. It was our last dinner with the two-weekers. This additional week has brought us all closer together and it will be sad to see them go.

Gypsy Caravan

Gabi Smiling for the camera

Alex pacing the halls with Susan

Paula in her happy place

Trevor hamming it up for the camera

Wednesday Aug 5

Today when we got to the clinic the babies were getting their nails trimmed. We fed them their morning bottles and immediately headed outside. It was so humid today! Marius was not feeling well and hardly ate his morning bottle. He was crabby all morning, but luckily we had one of the good nurses Valli and she took him inside and tended to him. I think he is still having problems with teething pain. The aides started taking the babies in for their diaper changes, turns out today was also measurement day too! How exciting! the babies all got their arms, bellies, heads, and heights measured. Petre was so hungry for his noon bottle he gulped it down and even with a burp in the middle of the bottle he puked up the entire thing. Through his nose too! All over me and him and the floor. He had such a pout face on him after he threw up. Luckily the nurse witnessed it and gave him a new bottle. He kept that one down. During lunch we went to a pharmacy so Terri could get her "magic" itch spray for he mosquito bites. We stopped at the Tiff mart for some ice cream- the first time all this trip! We went back to the hotel before the evening sessions. And while we were waiting it started to downpour, and then hail- Right into our time to go over and feed them. It was sad to be this close to the kids and not be able to go and feed them. Dinner was a couple less people because some went into Barlad to the temple. Trent was not feeling well either. We had the rice with peppers and carrots and pork. Dessert was Ice cream. We had a little party in our room where we taught Amy Stretch and Trevor how play Canasta.

Daniela- she is getting bigger by the day!

She is 5 months but is the same size as Petre who is 3 months. She is diagnosed with a chromium deficiency.

Amy and Ion

Alina giving Andrei a hard time.

Gabi trying not to look for the camera

Anna-Marie mesmerized by Trent

The Boys sorting socks and underwear outside the front of the hotel.

Tuesday Aug 4

Today was a very hot and muggy day. So hot they even turned on the A/C in the hallway of the clinic. We of course took the kids outside because if we can catch a breeze it makes it all that much better. I brought over barrettes to have a beauty parlor with the girls and they all looked so Frumosa after our session! So much so that even Amy Stretch wanted to get in on the action! Lunch today was goulash. Like our hamburger hot dish except it had one special ingredient in it- I know I no longer need to tell you what it was!

When we went back to the clinic two of the volunteer teachers joined us (Trent and Trevor.) Their help is always greatly appreciated. Trent learned how to hold and feed Maria-Cleopatra and burp her as well. We stayed inside for the afternoon in the cool air.

Trent and Maria-Cleopatra

We did not have an evening session because we were going into town for dinner. We had the wonderful marmaligua and sour cream, chicken, and mushroom sauce.- After eating that wonderful sauce you will never guess what I found hidden in there! We were at Alona again but this time we sat outside. During dinner Mihaela talked about what it was like living during communism (food rations [2 frozen chickens a month for a family of 4] and dinners of potatoes and beans) and how she knew when the revolution started (there was a delivery truck of frozen chickens and no lines waiting for them.) She also talked about how every college student had to join the Romanian Army. It consisted of class trianing 4 hours a week and practicing with real guns but no real bullets. She decided not to continue going to the class after a fall on the ice in all of her gear. Her dean of students was told to expel her but he wouldn't, instead she had to donate blood. We enjoyed great company and good wine. We stopped at the grocery store so people could shop- apparently peanut butter was on just about every one's list- we have a lot of picky eaters on this trip LOL. We had been looking for canned crap (aka Carp) and found a container of it- fresh and not canned so it was bought and pictures were taken!

Mihaela and Ionella enjoying the freedom of the long hallways

Ion(or Bob as we decided to call him because we a still not sure of the correct way to pronounce his name) And little Andreea getting friendly

Amy Stretch and Alina waving for the camera

Alina looking out the window

Monday August 3 2009

Today we were all tired and dragging it didn't help that today was a much hotter day. That does not seem to matter when it comes to lunch because we got hot soup again. It looked like it had the meat left over from last night's dinner in it. Can you say "Mommy Dearest?" And of course what would a day be without cooked carrots. We were all so tired at lunch time Mihaela suggested we skip the evening sessions, we quickly vetoed that. I think we want to spend as much time with the little ones as we possibly can.
This week I inherited Petre from one of the one weekers. He is such a cutie. He is so good. He only cries when he is hungry or tired. Last week he was having problems with spitting up almost his entire bottle but he kept all three bottles down today. Yeah!
I was inside for part of the morning because Ion and Andrei were still on antibiotics so they could not go outside. After the 10:30 snack came I went out to help feed the other kids and Lila and Alex stayed in with the 3 boys and big Andreea. I went back in the evening to help feed the bottles to the babies. 9 bottles to feed with 3 sets of hands to do it with. HOLY CHAOS! Even little Petre, who is usually so laid bask got upset when he saw the bigger kids with their bottles and he didn't have one yet (he gets a special bottle) And then some of the kids would only eat while we were holding them. We have learned to feed the fastest eaters first and then go to the slower ones.
Dinner tonight was Polenta, cow's cheese, and an egg. We had seen Mihaela eat it for lunch and we figured it would be a good dinner. Dessert was ice cream and baked apples (or pears, I couldn't quite tell)
After washing a couple of pairs of shorts in the sink and hanging them to dry, I was ready for bed.

Petre (I think he's getting plumper by the day!)

and they have finally started dressing him in boy clothes!

Andrei

Andreea exercising on the ball

Ion practicing walking

Alina laughing with Susan

Sunday Aug 2 Sinai

Today we started the day with a very confusing breakfast. The bills were all mixed up and then we had a separate bill for the jelly we got at the table. We checked out of the villa and were on our way to Sinai to see Pele's Castle. It is a beautiful castle complete with centralized heat, electricity and central vacuuming. It is decorated up very nicely. Amy, Susan, and I did not go in because we had been in before. While we waited for rest of the group we explored the grounds. We walked down to see the other side of the castle. We then met up with the group and some of the group went up the cable car 2000 M above sea level. The rest of us shopped and people watched. While we were walking we met the bus driver Alin, who "escorted" us around. We then met up with the group and ate lunch at the Sun restaurant, where they have the best "snow" pancakes. Like a crepe made out of eggs and stuffed with mushrooms, cheese and chicken. After lunch we started back home to Tutova. We had to make one more stop at a roadside Kurtos stand. We stopped once again at Onesti and then drove on. I was looking for good shot of sunflowers- they were very unimpressive this year. I had seen a field of them and did not have my camera out in time so I must have made a loud sigh. All of a sudden at the next sunflower field the bus driver pulled over. He did not need to do anything but he was putzing around in the front, long enough for me to get a decent shot of the flowers. We made it back, just barely, the bus driver was a crazy driver LOL. We all sat down to dinner outside the hotel. A dinner of a bowl of peas with a chunk of meat in it- Finally I went a whole day without cooked carrots in my meal! We then all retired to bed to get ready for the babies in the morning.

Pele's castle

Amy and me on the other side of Pele's Castle

Statue at Pele's Castle

Lila and Amy "stretch" sleeping on the bus in the way back to Tutova

Sunflower field on the way back to Tutova

Sunset in Tutova

Saturday August 1 Brasov and Bran

Today we started the day by eating breakfast in the restaurant at the villa. We then got on the bus to Brasov. While in Brasov some of us went in the Black Church, named that when the Turks tried to destroy it by fire. It was not ruined but there was black soot on the walls. It is the biggest church between Istanbul and Venice. There is a very impressive Oriental rug collection brought back by merchants who donated their best rugs as a thanks for a safe journey. One of the pillars has bullet holes from the Revolution of 1989. We then spent some time in the City square to shop or people watch. Amy, Trent, and I got a pre-lunch ice cream cone. We then went to lunch. After lunch we drove to Bran to visit "Dracula's" castle. Since Amy, Susan, and I had already been inside we decided to explore the city and get some Kurtos. Trent decided to join us. We bought our Kurtos and then we walked around to the side of the castle we had never seen. We found a "park" and took some photos. We ended up finding a memorial that turned out to be a resting place for Queen Maria's heart, placed there in 1940. We met up with the rest of the group and stopped at the Kurtos stand again so everyone else could enjoy them. And then we were on our way back to Club Villa Bran.
We had been told the night before there was a zip line on the property. Many of us wanted to try it, so we all lined up to give it a go. As I was climbing the ladder it was starting to rain. The worker just pushed me off the stand and I was off. It was a short line but a lot of fun. It really started to rain and the Amys did not get to go. We all went to wait for dinner and a group of us played card games while we waited. At dinner we were able to have our Sarmale we were promised last night. After dinner we were treated to tradtional Romanian Folk dancers. A few also took part in mulled wine at a bonfire while others got on their computers to catch up on email, and blogs.

Storks in their nest on an electric pole

Both the Amys trying to unlock our door while Alex supervises

View from our villa balcony

Massive giant bug hiding behind our curtains

Black Church

A little girl playing with the pigeons in Brasov

Amy, Me, Susan, and Trent with a view from the other side of the Bran Castle

Kurtos being made- on our second stop there of the day

Me on the zip line (notice how fast I am going LOL)

friday July 31

One week done! I cannot believe it! It has been going so fast. We had a short day today because some of the group were leaving for the weekend to Transylvania. The best part of today was that we got to take of the blasted masks! It made it so much cooler. The kids are growing and getting lots of love. Gabi has been crawling more and more but only likes to do it outside. She almost pulled herself into a sit. I think she can do all of it but is just too stubborn to do it!!! Ionella's mom came and visited her all morning. It was so good to see them bonding. We said goodbye to 5 of the group before we left after lunch because they were one-weekers and then we were on our way. It was a 5 hour bus ride to our hotel Club Villa Bran. It is a cute resort nestled in the mountains. As we were driving into it I was immediately reminded of the resort from Dirty Dancing. Along the way we stopped for 15 minutes in Onesti (the birthplace of Nadia Commanici.) It also houses the world's largest Sanatorium. When we got to the resort we went to the restaurant and ordered off the menu. We were excited to see Sarmale on the menu because it is so good and it takes a whole day to prepare, so we usually need to request it ahead of time. But no luck they has run out. Our waiter promised us he would save some for us the next night. We ate dinner and after listening to some Karaoke we all hiked up the hill to our villa.

Ionella with her mom

Eve playing eensy weensy spider with Maiestra

Me and Alexandra

Gabi almost pulling up into a sit

Scutec scimba (diaper change) time!

the one weekers all together

Shirley, Colleen, Cassie, Erin, and Nicole