2010 Day 2

Slept relatively well last night, thanks to a nice sleeping tablet from Mam (Mam’s always have sleeping tablets) and was up bright and early at 8am. Breakfast was the same as home apart from my usual latte. Instant just isn’t the same!

Romanian and Math class

We began the morning in school, at Romanian and Math class with group 4B. This group has two of the cutest kids in the whole place – I think Nina and Irina are favourites with everyone! During class we learned the days of the week, counting from one to ten and the names of some animals. The girls were all great. We probably didn’t help the lesson much though as we were distracting them a lot.

Next we went to art class with group 10. That was a lot of fun! Some of the girls are so creative. Their paintings were beautiful.

Nina and I

Our last class of the day was English, again with group 10. Now this class was a whole other story! The teacher, Orla, is Irish too and is fantastic. You can tell that the kids really love coming to English class. During class the girls learned the words: bed, bedroom, wardrobe, mirror, duvet, eyes, ears, nose, neck, necklace and hair. I quizzed some of them later and they all remembered. The best part of the class was the finale where all of the girls jumped up and sang Barney’s “I love you…” and “If you’re happy and you know it…”. If it wasn’t so damn cute I’d have been cringing! I was treated to several renditions of the song throughout the day. It seems to be a firm favourite.

Art class with Christina

After school we had a short coffee break and then we took group 12 out for walks. All of these girls are in wheelchairs and they love bring brought around the complex. I got a bit over enthusiastic running down a hill with Zina and ended up kicking her chair. I have a lovely cut on my baby toe now as a memento. Some of the girls in this group are really quiet and it’s hard to get a reaction out of them. I had a great time with Zina though. She even started copying the things I was saying. She’s now well able to wave and say “Hi girls!” every time I say it. She doesn’t say much in Romanian so I was really surprised when I heard her joining in whenever we walked past a group.

Next on the timetable was feeding time. I ended up feeding Irina in group 2, which I was delighted about. I fed Irina last year so I know all the tricks to get the grub into her. Some of the girls are really hard to feed so I was relieved. She gobbled up all her food and I got a few laughs out of her too, so lunch time was definitely a success.

Next was our own lunch. We had stuffed peppers and chicken & pineapple salad. It was yummy.

Unloading the aid truck

After lunch we unloaded the aid from the truck that arrived yesterday. A lot of the aid was for the local hospital in Hincesti and the men unloaded all of that in the morning. We unloaded some of the lighter stuff (nappies, wheelchairs, clothes, shoes, books, toys, etc.). There was huge excitement in the orphanage. Lots of the older girls rallied round to help as well. They loved helping out and were in great form. You could see some of them eyeing up the goods in the hope that they’d get their hands on them!

By the time everything in the truck was unloaded we were pretty filthy and tired. We had time for a quick rest and wash up before feeding again. I hung out with some of the girls for a while after dinner. Didn’t really do a whole lot other than tickle them and talk rubbish! They don’t understand me at all but they understand tickles and smiles. Almost got my ear pulled off by one girl but other than that, there were no further casualties during the day.

Daisy chain with all the girls

The funniest episode of the day happened just a few minutes ago… I was on wash up after our own dinner and one of the girls, Masa, came into the kitchen to say good night. She gave me a big hug and a kiss and then demanded to know if I loved her more than Felica, one of the other girls. I of course said that I loved them both equally! What a cop out right?! Honestly though, they’re both lovely girls. Masa then told me that she loved me and went to kiss me on the cheek – or so I thought. Instead she grabbed my face and planted one right on the lips. I’ll have to watch out for her tomorrow!

And that brings the day to a close. Pretty full on for the first day but it was great. Don’t think I’ll need a sleeping tablet tonight. Night night.

Me, Tamara & Ana on the trampolene