Rasco

Day 1 of my last "work week" down.  Today has gone by really fast.  I am at the end of my day and I still don't know what I think about it.  Weird.  I mean it had major highs and then major lows.  So would it be considered an average day?  I don't think so because alot actually happened.  Where to begin?  At the beginning of my day of course.

To start out with I talked with my parents this morning!  Monday morning my time, Sunday night their time.  It was actually really good to talk to them.  I never get to talk to them for very long but any time is better than none.  I learned about some great things that have happened so I am excited!  But, it has also made me really excited to go home.  A good and bad thing for me.  Because at this point I have been praying for strength to just get through the next 10 days!  Silly me.  But, I did talk to them till I left for the orphanage which is the start of my "work" day.  The orphanage was actually really tiring.  It was probably just me because I could not sleep at all last night!  Not going to lie, I am going to be excited to sleep on an actual bed when I get home:)  Anyways...the orphanage was wearing today because my worker was not in a good mood today.  Poor her, I could tell she was kind of grumpy and stressed.  I tried to be helpful but with her I actually have to watch my actions because she doesn't like it when I initiate caring for the kids all the time.  It was great because I realize I just love my kids.  I am really, really going to miss them.  Though feeding them is another story.  When you have a half an hour to seat 7 kids, keep them in their seats, feed two of them, make sure they are not turning away or getting out of chairs, don't have a melt down, and feed them both a main course and soup.  It is kind of alot of work for me. The kids have a time limit to eat so meanless to say it is not always enjoyable.  Still love "my kiddos".

It is funny I keep calling them "my kiddos" because I am starting to realize they aren't really mine!  I say this because we met with a couple who visited us today.  She is an American who actually came on this internship back in Winter 2008.  She ended up marrying the guy who is the brother of the little boy who was burned and is now in the process of getting adopted.  But it was really great talking to them!  It is always great learning about girls' past experiences and how they think.  Everyone will forever refer to things in the orphanage as "their room" or "their kids".  Which I can understand, because it will always hold a special place in our hearts.  So after they left (with their adorable son!) some of us went to the hospital.

I decided to go to the hospital today for at least a little bit since I haven't been in a while.  It is my first time in almost 2 weeks and I am so glad I did.  I originally went with the intention of finding one of "my boys" who had moved to the apartments a few weeks ago.  Elizabeth, whose apartment he is now in, went with me.  We checked and he wasn't there.  He probably went back during the afternoon sometime.  So instead we went up to the 5th floor to see if there were any motherless children.  It is after all, "my floor" at the hospital.  Turns out their was!  There was a baby girl and then a boy.  I took on the boy while Elizabeth took the baby girl.  This little boy was so cute.  I am going to call him Rasco.  He looks to be about 3 and when we first went in their he was completely none responsive.  Like at all.  I thought he couldn't walk or anything because he was at first just lying in this crib.  Elizabeth initially had started to change his diaper and needed my help because it was a mess.  But I noticed as I was finishing he was lifting his legs when I was putting his pants on.  His face was expressionless but he was moving.  So I decided to see if I could see if I could get him to smile.  While Liz was with the baby I took on what I thought was an impossible feat.  The mom in the room got him to sit.  Obviously I saw he could at least do that.  He was beginning to seem actually normal.  I got a balloon, the kind you could punch back and forth cause it has a band attached.  He actually grabbed a hold of it.  First response, but no smile.  What finally got him going was a bunch of those foam letter and number things where you place the letter or number within the empty foam space it belongs.  I was just talking to him and what little Romanian I know we were able to play with it.  He loved it!  After that he was very responsive.  He even loved the song I sang to him, the one Romanian song I know.  He really was just the cutest thing ever.  But the low came as I was about to leave.  So I was saying goodbye and telling him I would see him tomorrow when he just broke down.  It broke my heart to suddenly see him start balling and lean into me so I would hold him.  I couldn't leave him like that.  I was letting him lean into me and I kept telling him it was ok and I was going to see him tomorrow but he kept crying.  A nurse finally came in and saw and just told him to come walk with her.  He was still sad and crying but at least this allowed me to go without feeling overly bad. Rasco would be in good hands because she is a good nurse.  After only a little bit this guy was already sad I was leaving.  I don't know what to think about this experience but I do know I hope to see him tomorrow!

After that I went home and got ready for FHE.  It was supposed to be better than it turned out to be.  One of the guy's birthday was today so we decided to have a BIG party for him, those birthdays in December, and as our "going" away party since we are leaving next week.  But he couldn't make it because he was with his family.  Which is fine!  But still kind of sad.  Because....we bought a really good ice cream cake from Betty Ice, such a good ice cream place!  And some chips, pretzels, fanta, and popcorn.  It was still fun though!  I was just kind of having a rough day.  People in Europe are just a little more blunt about pointing things out to you.  I am sure they don't mean to offend, they usually are probably just trying to be helpful, but today was just not a good day for them to be blunt.  I can't wait to be with Andrew who loves me no matter what! 

But sorry it has taken so long for me to update!  Just needed to get back into the swing of things.  I still can't believe next week is the day when I leave after living her for 3 months.  So crazy.

Cu mult drag,

Dani