Thursday, June 23, 2011

Thursday was an emotional day at the hospital. Not only was it the last day for Bob,Katie, and Brad (they were volunteering for 1 week) but it was also the day that Sebastian and Alex went to a foster home AND Georgi & Denisa went home with their mom... or so we were told... It turned out to be a topsy turvy day but let's start at the beginning...

That morning when we arrived at the hospital someone brought in a People magazine and the kids enjoyed "reading" it.

Mihaela reading People.

Krista taking a final picture with Denisa (who is one of the most loving, sweet, shy girls EVER! Keep this one especially in your prayers!!)

Katie and her brother Brad had become especially close to the family of 3.. Mina-Tonya, Emilian, and "Sunshine" Deon-Georiganna. Emily, Brad, and Kerry went to the high school to meet some of Mihaela's students and work with them on conversational English. They were coming to the hospital after lunch to work with the kids there. Katie decided not to go to the hospital because she really wanted to see the family of 3 one last time and say her good-byes. It was a good thing she made that choice because even though they weren't supposed to leave until Friday.. we found out that they were leaving before lunch.

Paula (above) and Mihi (below) dancing to Don't Stop Believing...

Gabi enjoying some floor time.

Alex playing with one of the kids' favorite toys..

an old broken tape player! They love it though..

Sami practicing walking with Jane. Bob in the background with his ninja headband ;-)

Ana-Maria playing with this week's favorite toy.. a baby wipe!

Jennae and Sebastian sharing a bed with Lori and Mihaela for snack time.

Sabi hanging out with his friend Jennea. :-)

In the mornings when we arrive at the hospital we help feed the younger kids a "breakfast" milk bottle (they eat at 6am also.. so maybe this is just a snack). Then wait for the doctor to finish medical exams on all the kids before we can take them outside. The pictures above are all from this morning playtime.

Then finally we get outside!! Mihaela got to go outside today for the first time (even though she still has her IV).

Look at that happy baby!!

We had a great time playing outside.. being 3 volunteers short it was hard to take pictures but I definitely wanted to get a few of Mihi since it was her first day out AND since Emily was missing Mihi's first day out since she was at the high school.

We took out some large blankets and were sitting in the shade enjoying bananas and yogurt for snack when suddenly several people came over to the blanket. They asked which kids were Sebastian and Alex.. then they proceeded to explain they were their new foster parents. They were both so nice!! They said hello to the boys and started talking to them. It was great to see. Then something happened and apparently one of the other adults said Georgi's name and I don't know what else but Georgi freaked out and tried to run inside calling for his mama. It was heartbreaking. We finally decided to take all the children upstairs so the foster parents could check in with the doctor and nurses. Alex and Sabi's foster parents had snack cakes for all the children. Here comes the confusing part.. instead of Georgi, Denisa, and their little sibling (the little sibling had been staying with the mom in a hospital room - not with us) going home with the mom - they were all split up and sent to foster homes. Mina-Tonya, Emilian, and Sunshine were also sent to foster homes. It was a sad, stressful event... very emotional.. but as one of the aides said.. no tears, it is "bine".. (bine means good)... the kids are going to be cared for in ways they have never experienced before... the families were so happy to meet the children... while it was sad for us to see them leaving it is a fabulous thing for all of them. Keep these children in your prayers as they begin new lives in their new homes.

After the kids ate lunch Coca came in and gave Ana-Maria a much needed manicure :-)

During the volunteers' lunch break (while the kiddos are napping) I took this picture of the empty playground.. kind of as a reminder to myself of how wonderful it is to see it full of happy playing children.

for my bird loving friends.. this is one of the birds that has made a nest in the corner of the hospital windows... I think it may be a finch.

After our break I went back inside to find the girlies still napping.. Mihaela (above)

Gabi

Ana-Maria

Then came the good news of the day!! The nurses on the first floor had talked with Dan and there are 2 newborn babies who are at the hospital without their parents and they need our help holding them!! YIPPEEEE!! Kerry and I immediately went downstairs to meet the new babies...

Kerry holding Robert... 6 days old!!

I am holding Isabella who is a little over 3 weeks old!

A great way to end the day!! Although when I picked little Robert up after his bottle he did projectile vomit all over me (much to the aide's delight I must add!). LOL It's all good!

After work we went to the travel agency to book our weekend trip to the Painted Monasteries.

travel agency (above)

Dan is pointing out where we are now (closest finger) and where Transylvania is (farthest finger)... Although Emily would love to visit Castle Bran (the castle everyone thinks of as "Dracula's Castle") I think we may pass on that trip this time. :-( It is tiring to travel 5+ hours one way during your only down time of the week. I'll let you know when we make up our minds for sure.

After a quick shower and change at the hotel we walked to dinner at the new Italian restaurant Trattoria Da Vinci. I am so glad Dan was leading us.. otherwise I would have NEVER believed there was a restaurant way back those streets. The restaurant was BEAUTIFUL!! We dined outside on the patio and Dr. Delia from Tutova Clinic joined us for dessert.

My delicious spinach and cheese tortellini

LOL Dan was teasing me about always taking pictures of the food.. so he said, take a picture of mind... and I did! Dan's lasagna (above)

Emily's 4 cheese penne

The crew picking out desserts from the carousel

my dessert: chocolate cake

Emily's dessert: strawberry cheesecake

Team 168 from front to back: Jane, Emily, Terri, Kerry, Dr. Delia, Bob, Brad, Dan, Krista, Katie, Jennea
Walking back to the hotel from the restaurant we passed this center for children with disabilities.. I was unable to ask Dan about it but I will find out more.. the thing I noticed was the sign below which says: Volunteer in My Community! YIPEE!!! Volunteering got a bad name during the Communist regime so I am so happy to see Romanians encouraging one another to volunteer within their own communities!!

We also walked over the first bridge built in Barlad.

Yep, there is a tiny bit of water in there.. I still haven't figured out why the water levels are so low.. but this is a common sight, to see big bridges with only tiny streams of water running underneath...