Jessica

     My three new volunteers have been here for a week and they are all wonderful. They're University students from England and we are having a lot of fun together.

     On Monday, I went to the orphanage as normal and they all went to do the medical stuff. Around noon a woman came into my room and asked if I wereJacy. This was strange for two reasons. One, why would someone be asking for me at the orphanage and, two, everybody at the orphanage calls me Jessica. All the caregivers call me Jessica and I'm not sure why, but I don't want to correct them because I think I would just confuse them. So now I answer to Jessica. The woman who came into my room and asked if I were Jacy handed me a phone when I told her I was. It was Vika and she was explaining to me where the new volunteers were at. We were hoping they'd go into Group 8 which is where the other volunteers worked and a group that needs a lot of help. However, the new volunteers wanted to be on the same schedule. So, two girls got put in group 6, another baby group. The other one was in group 1 for the morning and then spent the afternoon with me. Vika, however, just told me they would meet me at noon in the entrance area. When noon came around and they were not showing up, I went to the director to ask in broken Russian about the volunteers. She escorted me to their rooms.

     So now I have a friend with me in my class and it's a lot of fun. The first couple of days she kept picking up the same baby and I thought, she must really like Madelina. But she said she couldn't tell them apart and she thought she was holding different babies all day.

    The babies have been so much fun. We've been taking them outside a lot. They still need to be dressed in full winter gear despite it being in the 80s. At the least, they wear long sleeves and hats. On Friday, we got a new little baby, probably 3 months old, named Daniela. Eleana, one of the older ones, was moved into group 1 because she was getting too big. I'm going to miss her. She would run to me to be picked up and really liked being held.

     On Monday, in the afternoon, we were outside with the babies and a blonde woman walked up to us and asked something. The caregiver answered her and all we could understand was sleeping. The woman walked away, looking very sad. The next day, we were going to take some babies outside and we went to take Adolph but were told his mama was coming. Later, we saw the blonde woman, with a little girl, taking Adolph. I asked if Adolph was gone and the caregiver said yes. However, she must not of understood me, because he was back later, which means she was just visiting him. I felt so bad for the mom. I'm sure she had to choose between which kids to keep at home and which ones to give to the orphanage. Because Adolph is so little and harder to care for, he had to go to the orphanage. He is a  very happy baby and is learning to stand and walk, which his mom is missing. It must be so heartbreaking for her.

      Nicu has been so whiny lately, but it's really cute. His crying sounds like a kitten mewing and everyone makes fun of him. He just stands still and his shoulders start to shake and then you start to hear 'mew, mew, mew'. Then he'll throw himself on the ground. I think he's been tired lately because he's been doing it for no reason. One day, he just couldn't be happy so I picked him up and rocked him while singing. He feel asleep. I showed a caregiver and she woke him up because he needed to eat.

   Yesterday, everyone was really tired for some reason. Babies kept falling asleep while we were feeding them and Catalin fell asleep on the potty which was funny to see. His head kept slipping forward and then he'd wobble back awake.

     On Thursday, I didn't go to the orphanage because I had a sore throat and I didn't want to get everyone sick. Tuesday I noticed my throat was sore but on Wed after work I had completely lost my voice. I decided I should take a day off. I'm still fighting something but I wonder if it's some kind of allergy thing because there is so much pollen in the air and it's only my throat and a cough. There are some trees here that are shedding like crazy. It's like walking through a snowstorm. It gets everywhere and by the time I get home I feel like I'm covered in it.

    On Wed, Vika took the volunteers to the village to give groceries to the poor families. If you are interested in hosting a family from a village here go to http://themoldovaproject.com/. For about $45 a month you can feed a family. Many of these families have children in orphanages and want to get them back. The poverty is very startling. 

     Today, the other volunteers have gone to visit the caves monastary. I'm just doing errands and hanging out. Tonight, there will be another concert in the park that we will go to. I can't believe it's been 5 weeks. Three more to go. It's going to be so hard to say goodbye.