Tidbits from Moldova

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Hello, Friends and Family -- Wendy here.

Adrienne and I find that, since the majority of people here do not speak English at all, there is no censorship in verbalizing our thoughts. We had another microbus incident the other day when a man was getting off the ahead of me and slammed the door in my face as if he were the last person off. Out loud I told him exactly what I thought of that, and this became the subject of much laughter between Adrienne and me that afternoon. This new behavior of saying precisely what we think will have to change when we get to a different city where English is more commonly understood. It will cease completely when we hit U.S. soil again.

The other evening I answered the phone with the normal Romanian greeting, "Da!" Only trouble is, I hadn't planned what to say after that ... the caller hung up eventually.

We thinkone toddler in our group, Maria, was dropped off just last week at the orphanage. (We had noticed her walking the grounds with what must have been her mother.) She is having some adjustment issues, is very clingy, and cries. This morning when we arrived at the toddler room, we saw her sitting on her mother's lap; so, apparently her mother comes to visit her. Not surprisingly, she was clingy again during the morning play session. We don't think a toddler should have to deal with such serious issues of being separated from family, and don't worry about 'spoiling' her by holding her.

That's the report from Moldova. Take care, everyone. Wendy

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