Girls Day Out

Yesterday was such a fun day!

I (Cali) had a girls day out.

Joy (missionary), Ceclia (Joy's friend who ended up translating a lot for us), Aliz (girl from the orphanage who has become their good friend) and I all took a 1.5 hour drive to Salucea (no idea if that is spelled correctly).  This is a village where Aliz' sister, Leah, lives.

 Leah is 22 years old and she just had her 6th child three days ago.  She and her husband are very very poor.  They are gypsy, but are good parents. Joy said this is one family you do not have to be sad when you leave. You don't have to worry that they are beating their children.  They do the best they can and the husband tries to work when he can.

We went to the hospital to see Leah and the baby. Aliz brought boxes and bags of gifts for all of her neices and nephews (they were lots of them!).  Here are some pics from our fun day.

Leah (left) and sister Aliz

Leah is so tiny you wouldn't have known she just had a baby

Baby Ramas (i think)

Why do babies make you think such irrational thoughts??  

One look at this little cutie and I was ready to have another...

and then I came to my senses. 

One thing about visiting the hospital...it made me realize how special it is to have a baby in the U.S.  It brought back recent memories of having my own. I loved that Steve could be in the room with me and even though the nurses would take the baby so we could sleep we didn't want them to.  We just kept our babies right there with us and cuddled and stared at them the whole time. 

Well, it was so different here.  Leah wasn't even with her baby.  We went up to see him and they just held him up through the window. She did open the little door for me to get this picture. But momma didn't get to steal a kiss or hold him.  I realized how different it was for this family.  They do not have a horse and wagon, much less a car, so Leah's husband was not there with her when she had the baby.  I just thanked God for the blessings in my life, like Steve & I being able to experience the birth of our babies together.  

Joy & "the nikki" stuck in mud!  At least she still has a smile on her face!

The picture doesn't do it justice, but the front tire was in a very deep hole. 

Us ladies tried to push it out with our brute strength, 

but it wasn't happenin'.  

Thankfully Leah's husband and a friend came and got us out....

and got a mud bath...literally.

We had to park and walk the rest of the way.  Once you get to the gypsy part the road is so terrible.  

Yep....we had to stop for a "sheep crossing."  Hilarious!

Cecilia and one of Leah's boys

Pretty girl!  

We went to Leah's house so Aliz could see all her neices and nephews.

She brought lots of toys and shoes to them. It was like Christmas for them.  Because they live so far away Aliz doesn't get to see them very much.  We took Leah some diapers and formula.

armful of baby dolls

I want to try to paint a picture of what their homes looks like.  

One tiny room that is smaller than the bedrooms in most of our homes. 

Small single wood burning stove to heat the house and cook on that leaves a terribly strong burning aroma in the "house."  

One light bulb dangling from the ceiling. 

 Three couches line the walls and are covered in dirty blankets....these are where all eight of them will sleep.  

Large muddy rugs covering up the dirt floor.

No refrigerator because they have no meat or milk or cheese or anything that needs to be refrigerated.

No bathroom.  No sink! No running water.  

Smiling faces!

So humbling.  

Thank God for all your blessings, for meeting all your needs and wants, for your comforts and luxuries in this life!  I know we are!

Thanks Joy, for taking me on this adventure with you.