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 [View Full Entry]

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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 [View Full Entry]

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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. [View Full Entry]

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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 [View Full Entry]

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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. [View Full Entry]

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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 [View Full Entry]

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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. [View Full Entry]

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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. [View Full Entry]

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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 [View Full Entry]

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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 [View Full Entry]

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