Day 7 in Romania/Friday morning at the clinic/ Big Andreea

Evan, look at your little girl!! A sweet volunteer named Winnie is working with Andreea next week. I showed her the exercises that Evan did with Andreea on my last trip. At first I was a little scared because Andreea didn't seem to be able to hold her head up when she was doing "tummy time". If she wasn't able to do this then she had truly "backslid". After much perseverance Winnie and I were able to entice her to hold her head up for quite a while! Bravo Andreea!

Day 6 in Romania/Thursday Afternoon at the Clinic

Ema has been smiling and giggling so much more than she ever did in December. Of course it is so hard to actually catch it on film! Look at those 2 front teeth -- when I was here in December I took a picture of her brand new front tooth that had just broken through the gum... they grow up so fast!

Sweet Gabriela... she has come such a long way since December! She is actually getting around on the floor a little.. working toward crawling... when she smiles it is the most precious thing you have ever seen!

Gabi going after a ball...

Sweet baby Andre... he will be a year old in 2 weeks but looks and behaves like a 5 or 6 month old. The positive side is that he looks like a very healthy 5 or 6 month old and is progressing nicely. Hiss one-on-one volunteer Judy has taught him how to play patty cake in less than a week! He was trying to "roll" his hands while she was singing!

Day 6 in Romania/ Thursday Morning at the Clinic Cont'd

Andreea

When we arrived back at the clinic we had a great surprise waiting for us -- "Big" Andreea and Maiastra were back from the hospital! Andreea was so happy to be home... Maiastra had a little more difficulty adjusting to life back at the clinic.

Andreea with the monkey Evan sent her for a head prop

Maiastra taking some time alone to read a book

Day 6 in Romania/ Thursday Morning at the Clinic

Thursday morning after bottles Ema-Elena and I took a walk with our friends Becky & Petre and Leigh and Ion. We explored the clinic grounds and found wonderful "secret gardens" that I didn't see in December. Eventually we met up with some of our buddies under the pavilion and had a short rest!

Ion

The tiniest sweetest flowers I have ever seen.. they actually remind me of Alina!

Alexandra exploring around the pavilion

Sami and Mariah taking a break under the pavilion

Trip to Transylvania Friday, July 10, 2009

On the way to Transylvania

Becky, Leigh, and I left for our trip to the region of Transylvania around 3pm Friday. Radu, the ultimate tour guide, picked us up at the hotel in Tutova in a white station wagon. I was so excited to have Radu as a tour guide again! When I was here in December/January, Radu was the guide who led us through the Painted Monasteries – he did a fabulous job there and if Friday’s drive was any indication he will do a wonderful job this weekend as well.

As we left Tutova we traveled the same road on which we came into town from Bucharest last weekend. The land is flat and green. Interspersed along the way are beautiful fields of sunflowers. I’m not sure I have ever seen this abundance of sunflowers! Radu explained that they are used to make sunflower oil. I was able to take a few pictures from the moving car but hope to get a few better ones at some point!

Eventually we turned onto a different road and almost immediately the scenery was different. The hills were more evident and the land seemed even more beautiful. We passed many villages along the way and enjoyed people watching!

Finally it was time to enter the mountains! The Oituz Pass and Oituz River reminded me so much of home! It felt like driving into the Great Smoky Mountains. The road consisted of a number of hairpin turns and there were people scattered here and there along the way selling mushrooms. We reached the top of the mountain rather quickly and began our descent down. Radu then explained to us the history of the area.

Romanian land has fallen into the hands of various countries over the years. The region of Transylvania was once controlled by the Hungarians. So in this region there are still many Hungarian influences. One of the most obvious differences is the way the villages are constructed. In Tutova (and the villages toward the Republic of Moldova which I visited last time) the houses are built near the road with waist or chest level fences across the front. In the villages we passed on the way to Brasov the houses are constructed with one wall of the house against the street in place of a fence – making it more like a fortress. There is then an extremely tall gate/fence between each house.

We also stopped for a traditional Hungarian treat purchased from a roadside stand. Oh my goodness – talk about good! I cannot remember the name but it is a cylinder-shaped bread which is cooked over open fire and then sprinkled with a sugar and cinnamon mix – delicious! It was 7 lei for a huge roll! (7 lei is a little over $2 US.)

I left Radu, Becky, and Leigh to pay for the treats and snuck back near the car to take pictures!

Since this area of Romania has fallen into many different hands the Romanians try to be respectful of other cultures by using the 3 most common languages (Romanian, Hungarian, German) of the area on street signs indicating big cities:

The mountain vistas between Brasov and Bran

We arrived at the Vila Bran (www.vilabran.ro) for our 2 night stay. The Vila Bran is a HUGE mountain resort – used in the winter as a central location for skiing and in the summer for a nice cool retreat. Radu and I registered and discovered our rooms were in villa number 11! We drove up a steep mountainside at the very top villa 11 was located near the restaurant.

Becky, Leigh, and I are sharing a triple room.

View from front balcony

View from back balcony

Radu and I feverishly at “work” on our computers in the restaurant. There is no internet access in the rooms but there is wi-fi in the restaurant.

Becky and Leigh as we wait for dinner. For dinner I ordered a yummy fried cheese with tomatoes appetizer, bean soup, and a summer salad (consisting of tomatoes, cucumbers, and cow cheese). Delicious! Near the end of our meal a singer for the resort came on the stage and started singing Macy Gray to get everyone in the mood for karaoke... ahh, you gotta love Karaoke in Europe!

Our first view of Bran Castle from the terrace of the restaurant! Blurry but the first view! LOL We cannot wait to explore Bran Castle and the city of Brasov!

Happy Birthday Becky! July 9, 2009

My new friend Becky decided to come to Romania for her 30th birthday! Her mom brought balloons -- Mariah, Paige, Paula and I wrote funny sayings on them and placed them around the table before breakfast. We had a delicious Romanian summer cake as our dessert after lunch and Dan & Mihaela brought champagne. At the end of the toast Becky thanked us all for flying to Romania for her birthday! LOL

Pictures of Marius Just for Emily

Emily fell in love with Marius when I sent pictures of him via the blog in December. She begged me to bring him home! LOL This week he hasn't been the happiest camper! I had Dan check to see if maybe he was teething today but he didn't think so. :-( Which means he has just be an unhappy baby! Hopefully he will feel better tomorrow!! Today was better than Monday or Tuesday so I'd say things are looking up!

I love you Emily -- thanks for agreeing to let me come back and visit these sweet babies for such a long time this summer!