WendyAdrienneMoldova

Hello, Friends and Family -- Wendy and Adrienne here. We thought we would take advantage of our last evening here in Istanbul to upload a few photos of the orphans -- despite the very slow wireless network. Hope you enjoy the pics. The only thing we miss about Moldova are these children.... read more

Hello Again, Friends and Family -- Adrienne and Wendy here. It's our last day, and time to describe all the tidbits of cultural differences we have experienced here. We hope you will be amused by them. Walking in Chisenau Sidewalks as we know them in the U.S. do not exist in Chisenau. At best they are blobs of pavement, but never are they without cracks, holes, and ever-present mud and dirt. Often there are deep holes that have no cover or warning. How people keep from falling into them is a mystery to us. And, how women can walk on them at all in their spike heels is also a mystery. The downtown streets are crowded like Times Square on New Year's Eve -- every day. Walkers crash into one another regularly, and we've become experts ... read more

Hey y'all, it's an entry from both Adrienne and Wendy together! We just left the orphanage for the last time. As you can imagine, we are both very sad, but we had a wonderful sendoff. The director allowed us to visit each of the groups we worked with over the past 3 weeks. We were able to get lots of hugs and cuddles, see some silly dances, and feel like a rock star each time we entered a room. Who could ask for more? We ended the day with Group 5, the group we started with (this is the group with Down's Syndrome), which seemed an appropriate way to close this part of our adventure. It was hardest to walk away from this bunch, and they probably got more hugs from us than they thought was ... read more

Hi everyone. It's Adrienne, and I just wanted to piggyback on Wendy's comments about what happened at the orphanage this morning. The morning had actually started out very good. Because of the weather we were inside, and three of the older kids were getting "new" clothes because they will be starting school next week. It was really cool to see how proud they were in these clothes, which are a bit nicer than what they usually wear on the playground. Then our "guide" Igor showed up, and we used his translation skills to get the kids to sit in a circle while we passed out more pictures. He would explain what was in them as the pictures went around. My mom's friend sent a picture of a boy standing in a huge tractor wheel, and the ... read more

Hello, All -- Wendy here. Today brings some rainy weather in Moldova, and the temperature has got to be in the 60's because even I feel like I need a sweater. This is a huge improvement over the extraordinarily hot weather we experienced last week. In spite of the clouds and threatening rain, our group's caretaker wanted them to go outside for a little while, and we soon saw why. About twenty volunteers descended on the group as soon as we stepped outside ... with candy, bubble blowers, balloons (which will be popped and ingested, as we have observed) and cameras. It was a 1:1 ratio as each child got hugged and held, and pictures taken. We learned from a woman in the group that this was a group of Irish volunteers who work at an ... read more

Adrienne here. At the orphanage this morning, we checked in with the director to find out which group we would be assigned to this week. We were given Group 8, which is the group of 6 and 7 year olds that we were unofficially playing with last week, when we were assigned the 2 year olds that play next to them. So there was no need to learn new names or try to break the ice, which was nice. When we went to their classroom, we noticed that each child had a framed photo of him- or herself above the locker. We started pointing at the pictures, and they all started talking at once, making sure we noticed THEIR picture and commented on it. They had to finish changing to go outside, so Wendy and I ... read more

Hello readers, from Adrienne. As you know we have been working with 2 year olds for the past few days. For some reason, however, they play with the 6 and 7 year olds, which has created some difficulties because the older kids want to be picked up and held, just like we do with the little ones. Their neediness is heartbreaking--they are like 3 year olds in 6 year old bodies. For some reason, today was extra chaotic. The older kids were REALLY wanting us to hold them, and were pulling on our arms and calling to us in Romanian. By 10:30, everyone was extra tired and cranky--we're not sure why today was different than the rest. The little ones were crying and saying "mama" over and over, and the older ones were throwing things and ... read more

Hello, Everyone -- Wendy here. Our day was made yesterday by an incident at the orphange that melted not just our hearts, but all of the caretakers in our vicinity ... We were doing our thing with the toddlers when suddenly around the corner popped two of our ambulatory Downs kids at high speed, running directly for us. Andre, with his huge smile and distinctive gait, led the way with Nicolietta close behind. All caretakers were in hysterics as Andre made a beeline for Adrienne, and Nicolietta positioned herself above my lap and plopped down. It took at least five minutes for their own caretaker to realize they were missing, and she knew exactly where to find them ... we were all still laughing when she appeared at the corner and came to retrieve them. Nicolietta ... read more