August 1, 2008 (Friday)
The Lord’s Hand in my Life: A roommate that made Brownie Sundays!

This morning I woke up and my mouth felt really hot – random I know, but I felt like I had a temperature. My head felt a little better since yesterday, but it still ached. That’s normal though – whenever I get a migraine my head aches for days after. They are the worst. I’m just glad I wasn’t throwing up all day. For a minute I debated about staying home, but I only have a few days left with my kids. Not gonna happen.

I was supposed to make chocolate gogosi with Whitney S. last night, but I didn’t because I didn’t feel well so she made them on her own. When we went to give them to our workers today to our dismay we found out they couldn’t eat them. Apparently because it was Friday they weren’t allowed to eat any animal products because of the Greek Orthodox faith. There were eggs in the ingredients of the gogosi. It’s okay though because they are going to eat them tomorrow…Whit S. and I laughed at the irony of the situation. Of course the one day we bring them treats they can’t eat them. Just our luck.

On the way to the orphanage we were walking down the sidewalk, and there was a man hole without a lid in the middle of the sidewalk. If you weren’t paying attention a person could easily plummet 30 feet, and boy would it hurt when you got to the bottom. I couldn’t believe they didn’t have signs, tape or any type of warning around the hole. That is a classic example of the character of Romania…

At the orphanage we got two new older girls. They are crazy…and a little scary at times. They are both about seven or eight, and they are mean. The workers were telling us how they will hit and beat up the little kids. Whit and I experienced it first hand today. One of the little girls named Ana would hit, pinch or kick Whitney S. and I then run off. I was starting to get quite irritated with them. I guess they are in our room now. That makes me nervous, because they will do mean things to the younger kids so fast that it’s impossible for the workers to catch them all. Not cool…I will get very cranky if they hurt my kiddos. What’s even creepier is that Ana will hit you, and then give you this creepy look and laugh. Today she threw a ball that hit me smack dab in the face…patience…I’m trying to learn patience… I’m also trying to keep in mind that these little girls are mean for a reason. Kids don’t just automatically exhibit cruel behavior – someone else must have treated them very badly in order for them to act the way they do.

Andrei was sick today. When I got to the orphanage the workers said that Andrei had thrown up. There was evidence of that just under the swing he was swinging in all over the ground. They put him in his bed after that, and he slept for a while. Then we got him up and he seemed like he wanted to play, but the poor kid still had a fever. He’s so funny. Even though he wasn’t feeling well he was still pretty much as active as he normally is. Lately I’ve noticed that Andrei will scream and cry if I leave him for more than a few seconds…I don’t know what he’s going to do when I leave him for good. I just hope he doesn’t think I simply abandoned him.

At the hospital Annie and I went and saw the two sister babies. When we walked into their room they were in the same crib crawling on top of each other. It was adorable. I guess they were twin sisters, and we didn’t know it. Annie took one and I took the other. Sadly Ilena wasn’t her usual smiley self today – poor thing – I think she felt really bad. As we were playing with the kids there was a room full of Gypsy moms that were talking to us. They seemed nice enough so right before I was about to leave I pulled out a package of stickers so their child could each have one. (I was trying to be nice.) As all Gypsy women they took advantage of the situation. I was furious. I handed one of the moms the package of stickers so she could pick one for her baby, and I told her she could have only one. Then she ended up taking an entire sheet of Spider Man stickers and placing them around her openly exposed nipple. Then another mom took the entire set of stickers and wouldn’t give them back. Then another mom tried taking the stickers as well, but I ended up ripping them out of her hands before she could get them all. They were complete jerks. I sat and stood over one mom for five minutes and asked her to give them back as sternly and meanly as I could muster. Even Annie was like “Whitney be strong don’t give in!” We couldn’t believe the way they were acting. She ended up giving me back a couple more sheets of stickers, but she still kept several of them. I told them “shame on you” and “not nice” and that “they were for the kids without moms,” etc. – but they didn’t care. They only cared about themselves. By the time I left I was so mad I was shaking, and their laughter had quickly turned to solemn faces. The room was silent at our exit.

Later I had to go back down the hall to find Annie and one of the moms was out in the hall and was talking to the nurse. When she saw me she looked like a dog with its tail in between its legs. I looked at her and gave her the dirtiest look and in front of the nurse I bluntly pointed at the mom, looked her in the eye and said “nu frumos” and kept walking. The nurse who was white instantly looked at her and asked her what she did. I’m sure she ended up lying about what had happened, but I didn’t care…that’s what Gypsies do - lie. I’m sure she knew that. No wonder Romanians detest them so much. I don’t blame them.

By the time we got home from the hospital I was exhausted – plus I hadn’t felt well all day. I felt like I had a fever, but when I took my temperature it contradicted what I felt. Regardless I went to take a nap when Annie came in and said that the girls were leaving their apartment so if we wanted to use the internet we needed to go right away. So we were immediately off once again. I swear getting a break is impossible.

Kenz and I used the internet for a while in order to get caught up on everything we needed to do. It’s so frustrating that we don’t have internet access easily available to us in our apartment. Oh well, we only have a week and a half left in Romania – I can handle it for that much longer.

When we got back to our apartment Annie made Brownie Sundays for all of us. A few days ago when I found out that I should have a job in the fall that I will love she told me that in order to celebrate she would make my favorite treat over the weekend. My request was Brownie Sundays. They were absolutely amazing. Whit S., Annie, Mary and I ate each bite with gratitude. I love chocolate – oh yes I do!

After that we did face masks and turned on the movie Center Stage. Some of the girls hadn’t ever seen that movie. I couldn’t believe it! It’s one of my all time favorite movies because it is about dance, and I love dancing! At the end they said they really enjoyed it.

A couple minutes after the movie started my Aunt Ariane called. It was great to hear from her! I gave her a quick synopsis of what had been going on in my life. So many things happen each day so it’s hard to summarize everything, but I told her the most important things. I’m really getting excited to see my family when I get home. I miss them so much! Ironically Ariane ran into Mike’s (her husband) cousin Scott, and he is friends with Whitney S. and the guy she is dating. She told him I was in Romania, and he said he knew someone in Romania. She informed him that we are living in Romania together. It’s such a small world.

After I finally got to sit down and watch a couple minutes of the movie I got another phone call. Kenz was on the phone. She had a panicked voice and exclaimed “Whitney the creepiest thing just happened I need to talk to you!” Apparently some young guy called the apartment and said to her “you look really beautiful when you work out in the morning” then hung up. She said it took her a second to figure out what he was talking about, but then she realized he was talking about me. (Don't worry parents I found out later the girls were playing a prank on me...)