June 5, 2008 (Thursday)

I had breakfast several times this morning, and I didn’t want it…The day started off with language lessons with Mario. Then when we were done Mario surprised us with a cheese cake she made. Romanian women are so crafty. Mario even made the cheese that went inside the cake. I was flabbergasted. Mario thought it was funny how shocked I was. I didn’t know a person could make cheese at their house…it was really good, but I was extremely full. I had already eaten an apple and piece of toast for breakfast earlier. Then we went and took the kids outside to play and the workers gave me a huge piece of cognac bread. I was so full, but I didn’t want to be rude and not eat it so I stuck it in my scrub pocket when they weren’t looking. I was glad I didn’t get caught.

Andrei was a little doll today. He behaved really well. It was the cutest thing. I was playing with Andrei and Alex at the same time, and I thought Andrei would get mad because he usually gets jealous if I play with other kids…but it was so cute because Andrei absolutely loved Alex. I was sitting there with Andrei on my lap and Andrei bent over and grabbed the wheelchair closer so Alex could play with us. I started playing the game “I got your nose” with Alex, and then Andrei started copying me and doing it to Alex. Then Andrei started doing it to me. We were all cracking up. In between the nose game Alex and I had a staring contest. He loved it! He would crack up if I blinked, and then he would raise his hands in triumph if he won…lets just say that staring contests aren’t my area of expertise.

I’m so in love with my little Andrei it’s ridiculous. It’s going to be so hard to leave him. I get so frustrated sometimes with his situation when I think about it. The workers will sit there and scold him and he can’t hear anything. He will just stare blankly at them. The only thing I think he really understands is “no.” Besides that he has no idea what they are saying. Today he was sitting in the swing and one of the workers got in his face. He just looked at her clueless. It’s really hard for me to see. However, not all the workers are harsh. It probably sounds that way from some of the experiences I have relayed, but there are many workers who are very loving to the kids. Doamna David has been working at the orphanage for 30 years, and she is gentle and loving with all the children. Like anywhere there are nice and mean people.

I ran into Sera outside today. Luckily he was civil. He waved at me from across the playground and started kicking the ball he had been playing with my way. Then he came over and said hi and asked how I was doing. He looked a little sad, but I was glad he was still nice and decent to me. I despise awkwardness.

In between the orphanage and hospital we ran to the other girls’ apartment and sent Dr. Magarrell an email asking her to do away with a paper due on Monday that we all feel is unnecessary. She told one of the girls that she was thinking about taking it out next semester anyways. None of us feel like it is a paper that is worth our time and energy. We are already so busy it’s ridiculous! I hope she will say we don’t have to write it. If not I’m going to be writing it all day Saturday.

Visiting the kids at the hospital went by really fast today. On the 7th floor we found this poor little boy who was probably a little under 1 year old who was in the last room of the hall in a room all by himself. He looked scared to death, and he had poop all over his pants. I felt so bad for him. He had the biggest brown eyes that matched his hair color. I had a hard time leaving him. We held him and played peek-a-boo, and he was quite content. I’m going to visit him tomorrow. Poor thing.

Then we headed to the sixth floor. I told Annie and Mindy I would go with them to the sixth floor because of the events that happened yesterday with the moms. I can’t believe they had the nerve to act the way they did. Like I said yesterday – I’m not as nice as they are. We got up to the sixth floor and the second we walked into the room kids from all the other rooms came flooding in – along with the moms who had been stealing toys from Annie and Mindy. They showed me which moms had been stealing so I kept my eye open for them. The two moms that had been stealing were sitting next to each other. They started playing with a ball I pulled out and she motioned to me that she wanted it for her child. Then she pointed to my ring and said that she wanted my ring. I put together the sternest look I could manage, made eye contact with her and said “nu,” and then I said “nu frumos, nu frumos” (not nice in English) and shook my head. Then while I said “nu frumos” I acted out taking the toys so she would understand that is not okay to steal them. She left us alone for the rest of the time, and then when the girls asked her for their stuff back she gave it back to them. Being able to give bad looks has finally come in handy. Before I left the mom came up to me and started speaking to me in Romanian really fast. Valentine, an older boy in the hospital who could speak English translated what she said. She wanted to tell me that she gave the toys back to the girls so we could take them home with us. I told her “multumesc” (thank you) and left. Valentine is a little boy who is there taking care of his brother at the hospital. He is a sweet boy. His mom works in Italy and his dad takes care of them. The classic story of Romania.

Then while we were in the room another mom came up to me and asked for pampers. I firmly told her “nu” (no) and said “pentru copii fara mama” (for kids without moms). Then she looked at me and touched her cheek (that is a symbol for shame on you). I looked at her, said “nu,” and pointed back at her and emphasized touching my cheek twice. She didn’t bother us after that. I can’t believe some of those moms. It’s ridiculous.

Outreach was an okay time as usual. The missionaries and a few branch members were there. Kenz and I played ping pong for a while. Neither of us are very good. While we were playing the elders were talking to us, and I told Elder Barclay who has only been out a month that he reminded me of my little brother. He was not happy about that. I was like “what? I’m like 3 years older than you.” He was like “you are 2 years and 2 months older.” Us girls were cracking up.

On the way home from Outreach some street boys in a group between the age of five and 16 years old came up to us. There was one little boy in particular who was “cute” (or that’s what we thought). I saw him go behind Kenz to see if she had anything in her pocket and I quickly warned her. Then all of a sudden the 5 year old grabbed her crotch. We quickly left. However, one of the sets of missionaries was following closely behind us and saw what had happened. When us girls turned around we saw the missionaries and street boys were yelling at one another. When the elders caught up with us we asked what happened. Elder Melke said that he told them “we treat woman with respect.” Then he said that they were all laughing and cursing and saying that “it wasn’t a big deal.” Elder Melke said if they did it again he would punch them in the face. Let’s just say it was an awkward situation. I don’t understand what’s up with guys trying to grab girls. When we were walking to go eat for Melissa’s birthday a few days ago an old man in a wheel chair tried grabbing me as I was walking past him. Luckily he missed. I don’t what the deal is with guys and grabbing girls. I think they do it to show dominance. Disrespectful is all I have to say.