Hello hello again!

Hello my US world I am sorry that this is late, but I have just had a hard time thinking of what exactly I want to say and exactly how I want to say it. I thought that with time both of these would come but I fear they have not so please do bear with me as I try my best to make this email worth your while.

First I would like to thank all of you that read my last email. It meant the world to me. I loved all of the sweet replies I got from so many of you. I must say this experience means so much more knowing that so many people who I admire and love are a part of what I am experiencing. Keeping that in mind I hope you enjoy this past weeks adventures.

Because getting into the orphanage was not in our seeable future, on Monday of last week, we decided to go to Brasov (Transylvania) to see Dracula and the beautiful countryside there for a few days while we waited. I fear I had forgotten just how long the (9 hour) train ride was which meant I also forgot to tell the girls to bring treats because they do not sell them on the train. In the end it turned out for the best because we made friends with a lot of old Romanians by sharing the treats we bought during a quick 2 min stop in some unknown town between Iasi and Brasov. The old lady in our compartment (who we name Bunica Tamera or Grandma Tamera) was very hesitant about talking to us at first but we used our poor Romanian skills anyways and found out a lot about here. She told use about her daughter Juliana who was living in Australia, in order to make money for her family (which is a very common thing in Romanian culture). She expressed how much she missed her and how sad she was that she could not talk to her grand children because they could not speak Romanian. It was enlightening to see first hand how the poor economic situation in Romania truly affects the people. When she left Bunica Tamera kissed us all on the cheek as she called us by her daughters name.

The rest of Brasov was a blast but I have bigger and better things to tell you about. While we were waiting for a tour of a local castle I got a call from Mario (our in country caretaker) saying that she got us into the orphanage and hospital starting Friday morning. After a dreadful over night train ride where the conductor made us pay an extra $140 dollars because we could not understand we got back to Iasi just in time to go to the orphanage and meet the kids. It was amazing to see them again! I could not believe how much and how little some of them had grown. One child that really surprised me was Cosmina who we had called our little doughnut because she never moved and was rather chubby. It was crazy to see her walking and interacting with the world around her. Another highlight was seeing my little Alex who had become a very dear friend the last time I was here. When I walked in Alex went berserk and started smiling like crazy, he remembered me! Alex is 11 and has a severe case of cerebral palsy but has a more then perfect mind making it possible for him to remember unlike the majority of the other children who do not have this capacity. Alex like all boys loves to tease. Just today when he was teasing me by pretending like he was going to bit me he lost control of his head, which swung and hit me giving me a nice bruise across my face. He felt so bad that he almost started to cry. Although I did not like to see him sad it was nice to have one of kids care in return. Seeing him and all of my other kids, even though they had not idea who I was, was amazing! I feel bad that I cannot express what I am feel but I think that some things are not meant to be expressed in words. I feel blessed that I have been able to experience some of these things. Well I have reached my page limit which means I must go but I hope that this email reaches you all in safety!