Yet another fun-packed week! I had the week off cooking so there were no disasters too!

Heidi came home on Wednesday because her grandad was better (yay!) So I had Monday and Tuesday playing the with boys myself. The EUROs ended which freed up our evenings a bit more!

Wednesday was a day of treats. We got the bus to the girls orphanage 2 hours away. It's sponsored by a charity and run by a lovely Irish doctor. The girls are so happy and clean and stimulated there, it was quite depressing to compare. They had a school, dentist, hairdresser, craft room, sewing room, gyms, all the girls looked tanned and nourished- complete opposites! But we had a lovely morning meeting them.

That evening we went to Chateux Martely- a winery in Orhei (yes there is something to do there!) It's a fancy 'resort' and we got a tour of the factory and a brilliant wine tasting, followed by a meal (yet more disappointing vegi options!) When we got back to the 'hotel' we had a 'tiger who came to tea moment' where there was no water in the taps. So Moldova!

Thursday was fab because we had a lovely carer with our boys (makes such a difference!) and we went to the gym with the older boys (the more capable boys) we taught them the hoky coky.

I think the orphanage is creeping into all of our dreams. Paul spoke in his sleep 'don't do that' in Romanian. I sat up and said 'how are the matts going? photo?' So weird!

Yesterday was the worst day at the orphanage. The carer was grumpy, neglectful and even abusive to the boys. The boys were wet and smelly all day (thats the norm, but it was particularly noticeable). They weren't sitting outside in the morning so spent all day indoors (well we took some for walks). 3 boys were left on the toilet for 2 hours. She fed them like she was torturing them, pinching their noses and shovelling it in as they choked. And at the end of the day we heard her hit Catalin. I've lost any appreciation I had for her.

On Thursday (last minute) the group decided to go to the Ukraine for the weekend. I'd already told Rachel F we would be in Chisinau, so I got the bus to Chisinau in after the orphanage. It rained for the first time yesterday! But it's been mostly 36oC all week. So I met Rach at the hostel last night and we had a lovely dinner in Mall Dova. I'm glad I'm here and not on a 6 hour overnight mini-bus ride into Ukraine to be honest!