Second Saturday in Moldova

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Hello Friends and Familiy --

Wendy here. Yep, you guessed it, we're back at our Internet place. Today we tried a different cafe and I ordered a dish that showed up as veal cutlet covered in onion and mushrooms. Pretty tasty. Adrienne's was a chicken skewer with vegetables that was wrapped in an egg omelette-y looking thing. Unusual to see, but tasty.

We now feel qualified to write a book called "Moldova on $5 a Day" but feel no one would really want to buy it. After one week here, we counted our money and have spent a whopping $50 each.

By now we've had three days with our new group of orphans, and we've observed a few things going on with them. There are four orphans in this group who are singled out each day to go play with a woman who we think is an occupational therapist, or something. The four that she takes away in pairs are the ones we consider to be 'high potential" -- the ones who appear to be the brightest, most socialized, and the most adoptable.

We also seem to have won over their Russian caretaker, Maria. Yesterday, in her ever-present babushka, we asked if we could take a photo. Instead of just nodding 'yes' or 'no,' Maria raised her hand to smooth out her hair and smiled as her response, then gathered the children around her. We didn't mention that this wasn't the photo we had planned, but we took it nevertheless.

What we wanted to photograph was the children ... Adrienne had brought many photographs from many of you readers -- photos of children, flowers, Disney World, etc. -- and after having distributed them, the children were studying them closely and using them as trading cards. Adrienne took some prize-winning photos. I hope we can get these up soon so you can see them; they are amazing.

Today there was a different caretaker with the group -- Mama Elena. Not only did she support our being there, but she actually got up off her feet, organized the children in a circle, and played with us and them. It is clear that the children love her as they kept throwing the ball to her, even more than they threw the ball to us.

Other winning games today were "Ring Around the Rosey" and "London Bridge."

Yesterday was a bonus, as our group was positioned close to the Down's kids, so we mixed things up a bit -- with great success. I'm sure Adrienne will blog about this.

Keep your messages coming. We enjoy them, and it brings us closer to home while we sit pondering our next bath, or dreading our next pit stop.

Cheers,
W.

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