Work Week

This week has been pretty good. I saw the orphan this past week and it rocked. I played and played with them. They so badly wanted somebody to give them the attention that they don't ever get. Just playing soccer with them made their day. The big orphanage, Zau, is so depressing and dark. Their living space is minimal and their beds are lumpy and old while their playground is full of rusty hazards. Th most memorable thing though was their shoes. None of them had a decent pair of shoes. Two of them had worn out old man slippers. Half of them didn't have shoe laces. One girl's toes were busting out of the front of her worn 1992 Reebok sneakers which were too small.
The baby hospital was a life changing experience. Romanian law is such that no children under are allowed to be in orphanages, so the hospitals become large orphanages for the unwanted or the sick babies. I played with one boy and threw him up and down which made him laugh. After that I stood with this blind 4 year old girl who couldn't move her broken back. She laid in bed all day with her arms stiff and tucked in and no stimulation. I moved her arms and tickled her which made her smile. That is a moment I'll never forget. The babies rooms were all white with a single window and lots of used and dirty toys. It's a shame that Romania has a moritorium on adoptions outside the country.
The last three days I have spent using my body until it is sore and useless. Weve put up 18 huge tents, move giant wooden platforms, moved dumptruck loads of rock, strung wiring, cleaned kitchens, gotten sunburned, seen Romanian mice, gotten bit by horse flies, etc. It's been great to do manual labor. It's so freeing and rewarding. Then we (the 6 guys) come home and do a deck of cards push up game where you do the number of push ups that are on the card. It's pretty intense and I always lose the game. This usually leaves me pretty sore for the next day, like right now.
I live in a room with 6 guys: me, Jeremy, Jules (Brian Briley, camp leader, eldest son), Jake, Darem, and Brian Schlarb. These guys are down to earth and smart and funny and dedicated and fun and know the Bible and God. It's so good. We have lots of man time together in our room and talk about girls, farting, and faith. It's more rewarding than being lame with my fraternity brothers. We've told scary stroies and all of that junk. It's so good to meet nice godly guys. It kinda makes me understand when girls complain that there aren't enough good guys out there.