Party time!

Today was a restful day, even though it was pretty much one giant party. I was very appreciative of the rest though. Yesterday afternoon I started falling asleep as we were sitting downstairs listening to the staff explain the sewing project. Florina sent me upstairs to take a nap... which ended up lasting almost 2 hours. I felt bad, I didn't come to Romania to sleep, but I have been so drained by the jet lag and the heat that I felt a huge deal better today. To be fair, that may be because we didn't use the public transportation today. In the morning children from at risk families came and we performed our skit for them then we had a great time eating rice pudding and ice cream and playing in the pool.
The kids loved playing in the pool and I was reminded about how different Romania is from America. The kids didn't bring swimsuits so the children, some as old as 8, were playing in the pool in just their underwear. We were taking pictures with them and filming, just as if they had swimsuits. It sounds SO creepy, but no one thinks twice about it in Romania. There is a certain amount of freedom and lack of political correctness here that is quiet liberating for me.
I have more praise for the staff. Gabriela, a new staff member, jumped right into the pool with the little kids, splashing and playing around with them. She is a beautiful woman. Dark wavy hair, high cheek bones, big eyes. And she is obviously a gypsy. She even taught me a few words in the gypsy language! But she is so energetic and friendly, and willing to jump in to whatever we are doing. She leads the children's games and songs and is always loving and hugging and laughing. She doesn't speak very good English, so it is actually easier for us to speak Romanian, so I have gotten to know her pretty quickly in just a few days. I think it is wonderful that she has joined the staff here. Having someone, a gypsy, who is so beautiful and loving and successful to be a role model for the kids is a great opportunity since most of the kids in the system are gypsy and no on on the Inimi Deschise staff is quiet as dark as they are. After just a week, I kind of want to take her home as a second sister.
Back to my day, the boys who have been having computer camp every afternoon this week came to the office. We had a little bit of a party for them where we watched the videos the the boys made music for and and took the pictures for. They really enjoyed getting awards that we gave them. I have really noticed a change in the ministry to boys. They are connecting with the CTL men and there are some great things happening. One of the boys, Daniel, has been making great strides towards becoming a real man of God. You can see it in how he acts and what he says. He is the one who was so affected by a trip to Rehab last week. I was listening to Bogdan, the Romanian director of Inimi Deschise and he said that Daniel is different, Daniel is really thinking about God and how His existence and love affects him. It is a really cool thing to see.
Tomorrow we are doing some more touristy type things, going to Transylvania and seeing a castle and the beautiful mountainside.
Next week, I am planning on following Lili around. She is a nurse who has been working for Inimi Deschise as their special needs leader for 10 years. I can't wait to see what her day looks like, but more than that, I can't wait to see the kids at Marin Pazon!!!
Speaking of that, I have been having a hard time with David being in the hospital and not being able to go to him, so please continue to pray for him and for me as well.