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Saturday, May 19, 2012

Becoming Famous


Once again, the other volunteers have left me. They were so much fun and I'm really going to miss them. Another volunteer comes tonight and then another tomorrow so I won't be alone for long but it is hard saying goodbye. 
     Last Saturday night, the four of us went to a concert in the park. It was Europe Day, a day celebrating Europe. Roma said, "Don't you have this day in America?" The concert was a bit of a let down. The security wasn't the same as the Moldcell concert and they didn't close down the street. The stage was in the same place as before, in the middle of Stefan cel Mare, which is the biggest street in Chisinau. At the Moldcell concert they shut down the entire street and it was crowded with people. At this one, they didn't shut down the street so the stage was four lanes of traffic away from us. The military was out guarding us from running into the street. It really didn't make much sense. We hung out at the concert for a moment and then went to get some drinks thinking they would shut down the street later, when it got busier. We went to a place near our house called Cocktail. We had a couple of drinks and, after an hour or so, headed back to the concert. We stood by the side of the road (it still had not been shut down) and started to get into the music. After a song ended, an annoucer came out and said something. We assumed he was introducing the next act. Then everyone in the audience turned to leave and we realized he had said Good Night. The concert was over. 
      On Monday, we went back to the orphanage to play with the babies. Another of my babies, Caitalin, has gone up to group 1. And we gained another baby, Maksim, or so we think. The first day he showed up he didn't look too good. He is probably 6 months old, has a very large head, very pale skin (through which you can see all his veins) and cries a lot. He also spits up a lot and I've been covered in it more than once. I say he is probably 6 months because they are feeding him solid food, although he is pretty small and can barely move. The other volunteer in my class said she noticed all the careworkers looking worried about him and reading over some papers. He wasn't there thursday or friday so we're not actually sure what is going on with him. 
        We've found out some more information about the babies. I asked the psychologist who speaks English about why the babies are here. She said that Daniela's mother was only 16 when she had her. She said, for most of the babies they are left by their mothers and will never see them again. Some of them, like Adolph, is left by his mom until she can get back on her feet again. And she told us that the twins are going to be adopted. Both of them to the same family. I asked her when and she said she didn't know. I was very happy to hear that. I also got a more accurate idea of their ages. The name cards on their cribs have changed and now contains their date of birth. I only got a look at a couple of them but I'll check them all out later. Now I know, Nicu and Denis are both a year and a month old. They are 8 days apart but are very different developmentally. Nicu is walking very confidently and seems bigger and more physically developed than Denis. Denis is still crawling and has a baby body. His legs curl up when I pick him up. I've been helping him to walk a lot lately and he's been getting better.
    We've been taking the babies outside (still dressed in 3-4 layers). The other volunteers brought bubbles and the babies love them. Valeru is very wary of strangers and is very aware when he is outside. I was walking with him and I think we got a little too close to some people because he started to cry and I had to pick him up. He's been giving me kisses lately but sometimes they turn into bites and I have a bruise on my arm from him. At first, he didn't like being held and would move away from me. Now he is running to me, sitting on my lap, and giving me kisses! Denis is also running (crawling) to me to be picked up. It is so nice to see them want some affection. It's also good to see them cry because it means they know their needs will be met. I'm sure the caregivers don't appreciate it though.
     Potty time is very dramatic, with everybody crying and whining. I've downloaded some children's songs on my phone and play that for them during potty time. That seems to help quite a bit and the caregivers have been requesting it. They'll clap along or hum to the music. It would be a good idea to get some kind of program for potty time. They are all sitting around in a circle, so it would be easy to do some kind of songs or activities with them. Julia has now joined potty time and she is often the loudest crier (as she always is). She is definitely Princess Julia and must always have her way. Luckily, we  can usually distract her during potty time.
      On Tuesday, we went to the orphanage in the morning and then left at noon. We went home for lunch quick and then Vica called and said she was sending a taxi to take us to the hospital where she was putting on an event for sick children. I wrote down the address to tell the taxi driver and when he arrived I showed him the note. He dropped us off and pointed to where we needed to go. We headed toward a gate that led into a big park. The address I wrote down was 93 Strada... but the building we were looking at was 82. I asked someone and they pointed to the building. Vica had told me that she would be outside the building and that we would hear music. She wasn't and it didn't look like any festival was going on. There was a map of the different buildings in the park area but they were labeled 1, 2, and 3. We headed to the one on the map that was called Pediatric, thinking that was probably were the festival was. When we got to it, nothing was going on. I asked a nurse sitting outside about the address but she said she didn't know. We headed back to the map and were considering our options when a woman on a bike, who had heard us speaking English, stopped and asked us if we needed help. She was a English translator who lived in St Petersburg but was home for the week to visit her family. We explained our problem and she went inside the building to ask. She was inside for at least 15 minutes and when she came out she said she knew the answer. She had spoken to the director of the hospital and they had told her where the festival was. She took us all the way around the building, a 5 minute walk, to an area being set up for a festival. We were so appreciative of her help. I'm not sure how we would've found it if it weren't for her. 
   Vica was there setting up and asked us if it was easy to find. We said No. She then asked us to ask some other volunteers what we could do to help. The other volunteers (Moldovans) told us to blow up balloons. 200 balloons and some very raw fingers later, we were finished. At that time the festival had begun and we found different areas to sit to play with the children. At first I played bean bag toss with some boys and then I found my way to a huge mat piled with legos. Parents and children would come over and the children would build things or (as was the case with many of them) throw things. They were very cute. All of the children were sick and most came from very poor families. You could see the relief on the parents' faces whenever their child laughed or smiled. They were so happy to see their babies having fun. This touched a cord with me because I was once a sick child and I'm sure that same relief could have been seen on my parents' faces. One little boy was really cute. At one point he grabbed a jump rope and started singing into the end of it while his mom strummed an air guitar. We all cheered for him when he had finished which only made him do it more and louder. Another little girl was picking up blocks and putting them back in their container. When a little boy came over to help him she screamed at him and her mom and I made eye contact and laughed about it. 
     There were a lot of news shows there and I made it onto three different channels. Two of them are posted to my facebook page and one we watched on tv. Check out these links http://tv7.md/ro/news/voluntarii-au-organizat-jocuri-pentru-copiii-bolnavi-de-la-centrul-mamei-si-copilului-12198.html      and http://www.publika.md/zambete-pe-fetele-copiilor-spitalizati--zeci-de-voluntari-i-au-amuzat-pe-micuti_846451.html . The girls sitting next to me are the British volunteers. And the girl with the big eyes and blue headband being interviewed is Vica. 
     After the festival, Valeru drove us to Malldova where we had dinner and fruit and chocolate. 
    On Wed, after the orphanage we came back home and got ready to go to the Primer of a music video. On monday evening, we were all hanging out in the girls' room when Vica came running in with the phone in her hand. She ran to the window and started waving. We looked out the window and on the rooftop across the street Roma, Vica's boyfriend, was waving back at us. He was shooting a music video. He is involved in filmaking and had been telling us about different projects he was working on. One was this video. It stars two singers, Carla's Dreams and Dara. Carla's Dreams is a russian singer who keeps his identity unknown. The public doesn't know what he looks like. Dara is a Moldovan singer. She was at the hospital event, singing to some of the kids. Wed night was the release of the video they were filming.
     The premier was at a restaurant and Dara sang a bunch of songs. Who knows is Carla's Dreams was there. In the video, Carla's Dreams starts singing. All you can see is his mouth and right away we recognized it as Roma's. Roma was in the video as Carla's Dreams, lip syncing the words. The song is about love and the different ways people treat it. It's really good. Check it out at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LrzwXHggSMg . We all have the song stuck in our heads constantly. 
    On Thursday, we did half a day again. This time we went to Vicotria's to teach. The other volunteers are studying to be teachers so they wanted to see an English class. Also, Victoria's son was in the hospital and she had to cancel some classes. She called me to take over her classes. The girls really enjoyed the class and the students were a lot of fun.
      Friday night (last night) was a big night for us. When the girls first arrived here they were very excited by all the David Guetta posters all over town annoucing his upcoming concert. I had heard of him but didn't know a lot about him. The girls were desperate to go and the tickets were only $20 so I decided to join them. Andre (Vica and Roma's friend) came with us, as our bodyguard. The doors opened at 6 but we got there around 7. We didn't have seats so we found a place to stand. Soon, more and more people were crowding in on us. David Guetta didn't come on until 10 and by that point we were being crushed by the crowd. People had weaseled their way in between us and for the most part we were separated. People kept pushing their way and I was literally jammed against people. I couldn't move my arms. Some people pushed past us to get to the guard. They bribed him to get into the 'Fun Zone' which was much less crowded. 
    At 11, my feet were killing me and I had to use the toilet, so I left everybody and told them I'd see them at the enterance. The concert ended at 1 and we were all exhausted. It was very cool but he kept saying "Moldovia" instead of Moldova. On the way out, a man overheard us speaking English and started following us. He was very drunk and wouldn't leave us alone. At one point, he stepped on my shoe and it ripped off. I had to shuffle it back to the car. Luckily, it was easy to fix. 
    I have two weeks left. It is going by so quickly. 

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