Monday, January 24 Today we were treated to a viewing of the younger students practicing for a program they will be putting on in a week.  It involved traditional dances, singing and recitation. They ran it three times--we applauded very enthusiastically, like new parents should. After the rehearsal, we went to the group room where we played with the magnets again before breaking out the "Rebelde Way" stickers. These were met with "oo's and ah's", quite the child's gold.  When they tired of those, it was time for the jigsaw puzzle that we bought on Sunday. Again, great concentration and they completed in thirty minutes. In addition, we pulled out two children's books that involved Russian/English terminology. These were of great interest to all the girls. It is apparent that the older girls have been coaching Luda on her English. In English she said "Mother, Father, Grandmother, Grandfather and Dog."  Again, we were very impressed. The girls then launched into a game of charades in which they each acted out different animals, vocations and we were to guess the English names.  For example, Luda came out clucking and flapping her arms, she was demonstrating a hen.  We all had lots of fun with this game. We also played the traditional dance games, which involved a lot of running! whew...

Tuesday, January 25 The days are falling into a pleasant routine. We eat a big breakfast at the Hotel Beibar (Beybar? they spell it both ways) around 8:00 a.m., then our driver picks us up at 9:45 and we are at the orphanage by 10:00. Today, during rocking time, dad put mom's scarf around her neck and she loved it. She gently rubbed the fabric, fluffed it up around her face, braided the ends and overall enjoyed the experience. Once that wore off, Mr. Playdoh made an appearance and was a sensation. They apparently don't have much of an opportunity to experience it. And like children everywhere, they love the smell.  We also had molds for making animal impressions. While making the playdoh creatures was fun, smashing them was even more enjoyable. After the playdoh made it rounds through all the little fingers present, we decided to give Luda the photos we had developed from the previous week. She was the queen of photography for about 30 minutes while they all previewed, and oo'd and ah'd over each photo.  From somewhere a photo album appeared and all the photos found a new home. Her dad's photo was the front cover...mom came in on the second page and Natasha, our translator, on the third.  Interestingly, the girls began to show us personal photo albums of family members.  L'ora & N'asia who are sisters, showed us many photos of them with their parents and other relatives. We did not ask...but sadly wondered what must have happened for them to end up in the orphanage. We will ask when we can. Finally, we brought out the deck of Go Fish cards. Rather than to try to explain the rules, we improvised and showed them how to play Concentration instead. They loved this--and played for an hour and a half. By then it was 1:00 pm and it was time for our daily lunch with the director. It was a huge lunch as usual, and this time Myra stuffed Kevin's pocket's with chocolate candies before leaving. (she is always trying to get him to eat more food!) Then it was off to the Supermarket (mall) for shopping. We bought Ludmila a coat, some boots and socks. Stacey got a fancy smancy pair of Kazak boots (so now I won't stand out so dramatically) and Kevin got the bill.  :) (Kevin speaking) "Some things never change..."

Wednesday, January 26 We got a late start today and didn't get to the orphanage until about 10:45. It was obvious that a little girl was a bit worried. We were greeted very enthusiastically and rocking time lasted about an hour. Lots of kisses and heavy sighs, on both parts. Once we brought out the new coat, she perked up and gave us a little fashion show--which also included a new scarf, hat, gloves and boots. A game of Concentration was happening at our feet during rocking time and after the fasion show, Luda joined in still wearing the coat.  After playing cards for an hour, we moved to the table to work a new jigsaw puzzle. It didn't take them long to put it together and she asked for the camera and disappeared four about 10 minutes. When she reappeared, we had no pictures left on the film. Near the end of our time, she sat in her dad's lap and did some more rocking. Dad teased her and she was delighted. Many kisses when we left today. We had our usual lunch with the director, with one exception. Today she surprised with a bottle of wine and a bottle of vodka!  We did the traditional toasting and shot drinking and four of us finished off both bottles. The main chef and her assistant joined us in fun. They toasted us saying "We love you!" and of course we reciprocated.  Quite a wonderful end to our time at the orphanage today.

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