Wednesday afternoon

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Ahhhh! We are at an Internet place downtown where everything works, and the speed is better than home! I'm not kidding! Wendy here. Adrienne is over there typing away so I think you will see that she is feeling better after her episode. She took one day to rebuild her strength, and is back to normal today.

Yesterday I went to the orphanage for the afternoon session. The kids were in the playpen again, so I played and held them for awhile. Then, one of the caretakers brought out shoes for three of them. With one extra pair of hands, she and I took three kids for a 'walk' around the orphanage grounds, and visited some other groups of children. Let me tell you, one of these three, Nikolietta, is fine with whatever you want to do. But Andre and Yorgi are rocking and rolling to their own beats, and it's tough to keep up with them. The good news is that these Down's kids are accepted in the other groups of kids with no issues. Many of the other kids managed to glom onto me, want to be held, want candy, say stuff I don't understand -- and are they ever CUTE!

Yes, I have measured my suitcase for one boy in particular -- Sasha is his name. He has blond hair and blue eyes and a perpetual smile.

Back to yesterday afternoon, when I had to leave, three of them wouldn't let me go, and the caretaker had to reassure them I would be back the next morning.

Imagine their surprise when they got not just me, but Adrienne as well this morning! When we walked in, all six of them were sitting on potties -- little plastic buckets all in a row. It was the cutest thing you've ever seen. After potty, Adrienne and I took the same three children for a walk, and sure enough, Yorgi and Andre had to be watched carefully. Those two got in a sandbox and started throwing sand at each other, which did not make the caretaker very happy when we got back and they had sand in their hair.

I got some translation assistance from my little friend Sasha. The caretaker was making a motion at us, but it didn't really look like "come back" at all. It just looked like "stay there" to me. But Sasha took my hand and Nicolietta's and walked us back to the area where our kids play.

Back in the big playpen, we entertained with train rides and Itsy Bitsy Spider, which went over really huge.

There are three other little girls who don't walk. Angelina is constantly chewing on the painted playpen, and we wonder if the paint contains lead. Madelena has a huge smile and is easily entertained. Costia likes to hear singing, and is precious to hold.

So, I know Adrienne has news to share as well ... sorry if I'm doubling up on the news, but we can't resist these computers that work so well!

We have asked to fold clothes when the kids are eating (they don't want us to feed them, for some reason), but so far, all they'll let us do is play with them.

The orphanage potties aren't terrible, so we should be okay in that department.

Cheers and love to all, Wendy

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