Fiona and I went on a fantastic date to the movies this Saturday...

with a van full of 7 year olds.

As I said in a previous post, with the help of Fiona's school, we are trying to do special excursions with the kids from the state group homes around Targu Mures. We just want to help them do things that they would not normally be able to do. It is amazing that many things that we have done hundreds of times and don't think twice about are like a trip to the moon for these kids.

So this Saturday it was Open Season in the local cinema and was it ever an event for these guys. Just on the drive to town you would have thought that we were in a new country by the way they were gawking at and talking about everything that they passed, even though they probably pass the same things in the buss on the way to school every day.

And when we got to the cinema they wanted to know what all the lights were for, and what the big white thing at the front was for, and what everyone else was there for... were they all there to see the movie?! Do they really show the movie on that whole big white thing???!!!! Are those people eating popcorn? Can we have popcorn?? They said this soooo loud that the people a couple of rows behind us gave us their popcorn... which we filled each of their pockets with, or their cupped t-shirts with, or what ever they could use to hold the delicious treat.

And then when the movie started they were all awe struck by the size and sound of it. They were completely mesmorized... for about 20mins, until their attention spans were well and truly maxed out.

One of the kids actually found it more entertaining to bang his seat up and down, over and over and over agian, for about the last half hour of the film. (For those of you who were here this summer. This was the kid with the "Weebock" tracksuit)

But they did love it and it's always is amazing to be part of new and exciting experiences in these kids lives... to see the laughter, to see the joy, and to share just a bit in the wonder of a child again.