Thursday

Buna Seara (good evening),

I'll start with a quick update about the babies who are no longer at the clinic. So far I've learned that Teo, Maria, Andreea, (unsure of her last name -the one who was in our toddler group in '05 but didn't walk), Bianca, and Sabianca have all been placed in foster families and Viorel (Micheal) and Marian are back at home. As far as we know they are all doing well. If anyone has questions about any other child I have yet to mention please let me know and I'll see what I can find out.

We had a lovely day at the clinic today. Daniella (who, it turns out, is 22 months old -shock) was very vocal today, just babbling away all day long. We are working with her on learning to sit up, we'll see how she progresses. In the afternoon Mirella, Sylvia, and Mihaela entertained us shooting up and down the hallways in walkers. As all three know how to walk the walkers were not used to assist in walking but more as bumper cars. It was a delight to see them all enjoying themselves so much.

The aids joined us for some playtime this afternoon and we attempted some conversation. We have learned how old Lili is and that she has 3 daughters and a husband. One daughter's name is Nicoletta and one of them is 8 years old but I don't remember the rest. We in turn tried to communicate our marital status, age and number of children. Unfortunately I come up short in all of these areas so my part in this conversation was mostly listening and helping my fellow volunteers try to interpret her questions. I don't speak much Romanian, but I do understand a bit more than some of my teammates. Still, I am always surprised at how well we can communicate even without sharing the same language. It's like a real life game of charades.

Two members of our group are leaving tomorrows: Stephani, who was here for three weeks before the rest of us arrived, and Liz. We will miss them very much and I'm sure our days will change very much next week in their absence. I am amazed at how fast the time has gone by, already it is almost the end of our first week. I know all too soon it is going to be time for me to leave.

On a happier note, I finally received my luggage today! Yippee! I have my own clothes! Although really what I was most anxious to receive was all my vitamins and herbs. Gotta fend off those colds that the babies always have so that I won't miss a day with them.