Tutova

Today was our first day in the clinic. It was a real eye opener. There are approximately 24 children that are currently in the long-term failure to thrive clinic. These children are either too unwell to be with their families or they have been abandoned due to medical conditions. These children will never be adopted and most will never go back to their parents or into foster care.
Tutova is the poorest area in the country...as a matter of fact, it is the poorest area in the entire European Union. The Tutova hospital is one of two hospitals left with a long term care facility for malnourished and disabled children. There use to be 48 but the government shut them all down due to costs.
These children are happy and, thanks to this organization, are clothed and well fed. They are very active and totally wore me out! This is a nice bit of birth control;-) So far I am having a great experience.

Welcome to Romania!

Here I am in Romania. Jenni and I arrived safe and sound. There was very little excitement to our travel.....other than the entire plane full of beautiful Romanians.

Sadly, internet connection and pay phones are few and far between so up dates may be minimal. Sorry for that. The only thing that I can really say so far is that it isn't like any thing I have ever experienced. This country is so tired. It has been through a lot and it shows.

I am a Tourist!

My newest adventure! I recently went to Seattle Washington to visit a friend. I am not sure how it happened, but the entire week was sunny with a blue sky. I some how managed to leave the clouds and rain behind in SLC.

Snoqualmie Falls

The first day I was there we decided to take advantage of the beautiful weather and visit Snoqualmi Falls. Gorgeous! Everything was so green...and covered in moss.

Seattle

The next day was all about Seattle! We went on a tour called Ride the Ducks. It is a land and water tour in, well in ducks. DUCKS were originaly made during WWII to help transport supplies directly from land to water crafts. Now days they transport crazy tourists all around.

We then went to the Spaceneedle and had lunch. The view was spectacular and, not to mention, the dessert exciting.

Later in the day we went to the water front. There you will find all sorts of touristy attractions. My favorite part of this trip occured at the Ye Old Curriosity Shop. This little store had everything you could imagin. It had shrunken heads, mummies in displays, mexican jumping beans and much, much more! As a matter of fact, I found some very 'authentic' viking hats. I just couldn't pass up the opportunity to show my true colors so I put it on and wore it around the store. I also found this vintage carnival love meter. You hold onto the metal handle and it rates your love level.....I rated at the top; uncontrollable. It was the best 25 cents ever spent. I haven't laughed that hard in a long time.

Sunnyside...not so Sunny

Finally I had the opportunity to see where I came from. As an adopted person I have always been a bit curious at to where I was from and whether or not that has had any impact on who I am. Well, Let me tell you...it most certainly does not!

My first view of Sunnyside was coming off the freeway. In front of me were hundreds of cows. Its true. Just hundreds of them. Then we saw the welcome to Sunnyside sign and naturally I needed a picture. As we stepped out of the car the overwhelming aroma of country gold swarmed over us. It was so pungent that shallow fast breaths were required in order to survive. We then decided to drive through this thriving metropolis of a country town and take advantage of a restroom. Interestingly enough....Sunnyside is not very friendly to travelers. We stopped at three different popular gas stations and none of them had public restrooms. I know shocking....We decided to follow the big blue "H" signs to the hospital. Shocking as it was that this place even had a hospital we figured it had to have bathrooms. So we pull up to what must have been my place of birth. I am pretty sure this hospital only had five beds! Maybe one nurse! It was a miracle that I survived. Ah just kidding. But really, I am so very blessed to have been adopted and given this wonderful life and upbringing. Because when you think about it, the suburbs of Utah are ten million times better than Sunnyside, cow town, Washington.