Easter in Romania!

I made it to Romania!  We arrived on Thursday and have been kept pretty busy with the happenings of H2H, teams, and life in Romania.  Life in Romania includes Easter this time.  As this is a major holiday here (stores close, people have work off for the next week, etc, etc) we had major plans.

Our first Easter activity was to visit the orphanage on Saturday.  There were only a handful of kids- those who didn't have extended family or godparents to take them for the holiday... So we brought the party to them!

We had Easter crafts, Jen used Resurrection Eggs to quiz the kids on the true meaning of Easter, and then played games and gave out candy.  Check out our egg relay and 'bunny hop!'

Then on Easter Sunday, after church we invited our Transition House graduates over for a party.   Again, lots of food and fun conversation... and then the first annual H2H Easter Egg hunt!  As this is NOT a tradition in Romania, the kids were very enthusiastic to participate (even though they're all in the 20s!).  In addition to finding eggs and candy, they had tasks to complete for points.  For each point, they could redeem special prizes from our 'store' (deodorant and other toiletries, candy, school supplies, new sheets and towels, soccer balls, etc).  Our biggest 'sellers' were deodorant and sheets!

Today we started our 'field trips' with some of the kids from the orphanage.  We brought a handful of kids that are involved in H2H Music Classes for a morning lesson on Program Music.  The kids watched 'The Sorcerer's Apprentice,' listened to 'Dance Macabre,' and then had the chance to perform their own version of 'Dance' with piles of untuned percussion and recorders!

After music lessons we had a few minutes to hang out with the kids in the backyard.  They loved exploring our house and getting one on one attention from our team and staff.  It was a good reminder of how much a little thing- like sitting next to a kid while they are coloring or goofing off in front of the camera- can make a huge impact on someone's life.  When it was time to go, they all pleaded to stay- or for us to come with them.  While we will see many of them again soon (tomorrow even!) it still is heart breaking to walk arm in arm with a kid to the gate and wave as they drive away. 

On another note, let's see if I can get ONE normal' photo of myself while on this trip.... my bet is probably not ;)

-CtF (with no eyes)