Last Day in Hunedoara

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Well, this is our last day here in Hunedoara. We leave pretty soon for Oradea to pick up Chris who left yesterday to visit some of his family. He was born here in Romania and was adopted at 14 mo. by an American family. After that we will be going to Budapest, where we will be doing a little more sightseeing and then we catch a flight the next morning at 6:30. We all have enjoyed it so much here and it will be sad to leave but we are looking forward to coming home and seeing our families and friends again.
Yesterday, we went and visited the second children's home. This home is located outside of Hunedoara in a tiny little village that I don't remember the name of. We went to church there first. It was just a tiny church with maybe a dozen people there. Mt. View, you know how much we enjoy praising God in song, the people in this church sing here with all their heart, mind, and soul. The numbers may be small but the worship is great! After the service we went to the home, which is right next to the church, where the house parents served us lunch. Wow, what a lunch! And for those of you who enjoy Starbucks, they have nothing on the espresso that we've been served here! Unfortunately, Ruth was not able to be there because of a couple of days of sickness. We missed her being with us. She missed some of the things we were able to do but next year (?) we'll go back to those places so she can see them.
This children's home have three boys of their own, all older and then they have 6 little ones there, all under the age of 6 yrs. We did not have very much time with them to be able to get know them. One of the little girls, when they first received her into the home, had not bonded with anyone. She just didn't associate with anyone. It's been about two years now and she is just starting to associate with the family. She doesn't smile a lot and has a tendency to just look and watch. We were able to get a hug from her but they told us that when she first got there she didn't do any of that. She is just starting to talk now, not because she wasn't able to but because of her dissassociation with people. There is also a little boy with similar problems. He hasn't started talking yet, although I did hear him making sounds. He seems to be more aware of what's going on and maybe a little quicker to smile. They're not sure if it's just the dissassociation problem or if there's more going on. There is obvious love in the family and they are now in a good home. With lots of love, hugs, and touches they may be able to be like normal children.

Yesterday, we went to what we called the ruins, another name I don't remember. It is the ruins of a fortress, dating back to the 1300's, on the very top of a hill. At the top you had a 360 degree view of the whole area. It was beautiful! They are still in the process of excavating the sight. Almost all of it is currently under construction and restricted to the public, but Liviu talked one of the workers into showing us around. We climbed ladders that I never would have dreamed I would climb and even went up on some scaffolding but it was worth it. This was one of the sights that Ruth was not able to see so I made sure I took lots of pictures for her, like I needed an excuse ;-)! We had our own personal guide with the guy that worked there, usually all you ever do is walk around on your own. Our guide explained so much to us and showed us some of the items that they found as they've been excavating. It was very interesting and one of the many highlights of our trip.

Well, we're about ready to leave so I better go now. I'm not sure if we will have a chance to get back on the computer so this may be our last entry.

Thanks again for all the prayers. We will see you all in a few days.

Ann

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