Today...

Somedays are harder than others. Today, with the kids, I feel like it was harder to stay motivated. I found myself constantly looking at my watch to see how much time had passed. This morning, I had two workers instead of just one. Although I like having two workers, sometimes they will come in the room with me almost as if they are observing. I always feel self-conscious when speaking to the kids, because I don’t know if I am saying things correctly. And, because in the one room that they have me in, it is not so kid-proof. i.e. they can’t sit on the ground, so I have to constantly make sure they are sitting on a chair or standing up, the little balls that they give the kids to play with are small enough that they go behind the cupboard all the time, and the kids aren’t allowed to go behind there, so I am always trying to get balls out of there, and there are only two cupboards in the room low enough for the kids to get in – they definitely get in there all the time and are not allowed to. Basically, I am on watchguard half of the time.

 It is frustrating because I want to spend more time with the kids one on one and not worry about playing with one and trying to make sure the other ones stay out of trouble. Although today, I really tried to focus on V. I spend a lot of time with G because he is constantly playing and running and into things and does require a lot of attention. I really tried to keep him busy so that I could work with V. I was able to get him to laugh again today, and he would just come right up to me to sit on my lap. We are still working on eye contact – he wouldn’t even look in the mirror at himself, so I’m realizing it is harder than I thought. He also started muttering “da, da, da, da” which is the first thing even close to a word that I have heard while I have been here. I could tell he was much happier after I had taken the time to just sit with him and play with toys with him. I feel like autism is one thing that I really don’t understand, and it is one of my biggest challenges in working with these kids. I have worked with several different types of special needs children before, but autism is one I really struggle to understand and to know how to best help them.

We also spent the day in the hospital with the same little girl we were with yesterday. Today was much more difficult though. I sat in the blazing hot room that smelled like a mixture of BO, sweat and dirty diapers in the crib, holding Camilla up against my chest. This is no small child either, she is a big girl. She sat there and would shake and grind her teeth so loudly that I could feel it just from having her head on my chest. I knew she wasn’t feeling good because she had a terrible, croopy cough.  It was killing my back to sit there forever, and I almost got physically ill because it was so hot. I literally sat there sweating for 2 hours. I just had to keep reminding myself that I was doing it for her.

I have to tell another funny story – yesterday Lena came home with  fresh fish in a bag, I’m guessing to cook for lunch or dinner. She had them in the sink and brought G over to look at them. He was so fascinated by the fish because they must have just been caught and were still flipping around in the sink while she was trying to gut them, wash them, cut them, etc. I definitely am not a fish fan, so I was getting a bit grossed out, but G was loving it, so he kept telling me to hold him up so that he could see them.  Then, Lena tells me to bring V over. I took his hand and had him walk over. I thought she was going to have him look at the fish. Instead, she grabbed one of the fish, held the tail over his mouth and let it swish its tail back and forth over his mouth. Immediately, I started hoping that she wasn't planning to do the same to me. There is no way I’m getting fish tail on my mouth! The other worker who speaks a bit of English told me that it is tradition that when a child does not speak, it is a Romanian tradition to rub fish over his mouth. Very interesting.  Definitely haven’t heard that one yet!

Well, here are some pics I got from Ashley's camera:

This was taken in RS on Sunday. I love the older women in the branch. I love them for their patience with us, their kindness, their knowledge, their ability to teach, and their desire to share their testimony.

So our weather hasn't been so great lately. It's been a bit windy and rainy. This was us on our way to church on Sunday. I didn't realize how much I'm sporting the sister missionary look here in Romania with my long skirts, flat shoes, nylons, and scarves. Gotta love it!