Carla's Dreams

     Another volunteer has come and gone. She was only here for a week and was a lot of fun. She had my same silly sense of humor. There is one other girl here with me. She will be here for a month. Tomorrow a male volunteer from Italy will be coming. We're very interested in finding out more information about him. 

      Last Sunday, there was an event in the park near our apartment for children from orphanages all over Chisinau. The volunteer who was with me and I did face painting. I can now say I am a professional butterfly and spiderman face painter. We painted faces for 3 hours straight. It went very fast and was actually a lot of fun. I think people were excited because they knew we were foreigners. We would ask what they wanted and gesture to our faces. I had painted half a butterfly on the other volunteer and she had painted spiderman on my face. Sometimes the people getting their faces painted spoke some English and could tell us other things they wanted. We attempted other paintings such as cats, tigers, bats, flowers and 'something scary'. For 'something scary' I painted their face white and then put black around their eyes and mouth with a trail of blood leading down from their lips. They loved it. A couple of people also wanted the Moldovan flag on their faces. I needed some help with that. I asked Vica if we made it on the news for this event but she said that the President of Moldova was there and they had more important people to film. 

      The orphanage has been great and I am going to miss it more than I can say. I found out that another of the children has gone home to his parents. I have mixed feelings about this because he is the one I think was being abused. He was really scared when I first got there. I watched as a kid hit him over the head and he didn't react at all. He would also move away from me whenever I came near. After a month, he was running to me, wanting hugs and kisses and crying whenever he wanted some attention. I really hope his parents treat him well. 

    Nicu and Denis are so fun. Every morning, when I come in, they run to me and want to be picked up and held. I really want to take Nicu home with me. He is whiny and spoiled but I love him so much. His smile is breathtaking. Denis also has been running to me and loves being cuddled. I'm so happy I get to spoil them. 

     I try to hold every baby at least once a day and usually suceed but some of the babies are in quarantine and I don't always get a chance to hold them. They are kept separate from the other kids and the caregivers have been having me take the healthy kids outside while they bring the sick ones into the main room. If the healthy ones are in bed by 3:30, I go into the sick room and hold the others. My little baby Vasili has been at the hospital because he was sick but now he's back and I'm so excited to spend time with him. I was worried he wouldn't be back by the time I left. He is so cute and loves being held. I talk to him and sing to him and his eyes get really big. He is the youngest of the bunch.

       On Friday, we went to Carla's Dreams' concert. I was so excited. Carla's Dreams is the singer who hasn't revealed his true identity. He is in the music video  link I sent last week. He is singing with Dara (another Moldovan singer) but the video features Roma's face as Carla's Dreams. We all thought Roma really was Carla's Dream. Vica kept telling us he wasn't but I said I wouldn't believe her until I saw them in the same room together. At the concert on Friday, I could see Roma standing across the room from the stage where Carla's Dreams was performing so I think I can safely say he isn't Carla's Dreams. 

     The concert started out with Dara singing some of her songs. Check out the link to her song 'Open you Eyes.' http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oFm0ApksBRw   Love this song!  

     After Dara performed for about half an hour, the annoucer told us Carla's Dreams was coming on stage. Vica had teased me that Carla's Dreams would reveal his true identity. I could hardly wait, but it never happened. At first, a bunch of people wearing different colored hoodies came out and performed a dance. It was interesting, especially with the whole hoodie thing going on in America. Then Carla's Dreams came out. He was wearing a black hoodie and had his face painted black. He sang a bunch of his songs and then Dara came out and they performed their duet. It was so great! Here is the promo for the club event http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cc04OP6sKtg   And check out this clip from the club http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kDcGlPVJoNs   The cameras never pan over to where we were at. 

     If any of you are interested in a gift from Moldova, just let me know what you want and I'll tell you the price. There are nesting dolls for around $15 . They also have some pretty boxes . And Soviet memorbilia. You can buy an old soviet pin for $5-10. . Or check out this link to see the actual craft market http://www.360cities.net/image/kishinev-sounenir-bazaar-chisinau-moldova#261.90,4.94,70.0

      I can't believe I only have one week left. It is going to be impossible to say goodbye. I will miss those kids so much.