Thursday, January 27 Another bitterly cold day in Ust-Kamenogorsk...so cold that they cancelled school today. It is about 35 below 0 celsius. We are really in need of the space heater in our room at this point! Typical day at the orphanage, more girls in the room than usual because of school being closed.  We evidently entered at the beginning of an hour long episode of Rebelde Way--so all rocking had to take place where Luda could see the television. The girls were enthralled with the episode.  Interestingly, following the teen show was an "Ernest" movie from the 80's, with Russian voice over. Several of the younger girls enjoyed his antics. We brought out some girly, peach lip balm that we purchased at the market the day before. She loved it and slathered the lips of her mom, Natasha, dad and even Anna the doll. (I had forgotten that dolls need lip stuff on occasion!)  The magnets made another appearance. Especially amusing was dad wearing them as earrings...a funny little giggle from Luda as she looked upon him all decked out with with earrings and peach lipstick. Mr. Playdoh also made an appearance and attracted many little hands. Amazing how it can be divided up so many ways... Some of the sculptures included snowmen, flowers, sharks, frogs, various faces and cell phones.  We also brought another puzzle, which featured three Yorkshire terrier puppies. A team of the older girls assisted with the puzzle to finish very quickly. The entire time, a rotating game of Concentration was happening in the center of the room. Lunch with the director included lightly fried meatball on shredded cabbage, served with mashed potatoes, broccoli slaw, homemade bread and borscht soup.  We gave Myra a book on the Smoky Mountain National Park. She says she intends to come visit us, but we have to find her a single, rich man first. We were told today that we go to court for the adoption on Tuesday morning at 9:00 am. So by Tuesday afternoon, we will have a better idea of our timetable for returning home.

Friday, January 28 Today we discovered that dad's are great fun. Children in orphanages generally have more exposure to women so are a bit unsure how to interact with men.  Although very affectionate, Luda hasn't always been quite sure when her dad is teasing or how to respond. Today she really seemed understand this and even teased Kevin in return--pretty funny to watch! The other girls giggled and enjoyed watching, as did mom. (see photo album page for more) School is still closed because of the weather, so the room was full of little girls. As typical of girls everywhere, a dance recital is always a great choice for entertainment when confined indoors. So we watched and videotaped about an hour and a half of dancing.  However, this dancing was leaps and bounds beyond the norm. These girls are truly gymnasts and are being trained in the manner of professional dancers. Kind of a mix of Paula Abdul, Nadia Comaneci and Baryshnikov. Amazing to watch. The older girls are the leaders and, of course, more proficient, but the younger ones have their age appropriate dances as well. They must have a fabulous instructor. After the conclusion of the dance recital, we brought out another jewelry making kit and they made bracelets, necklaces and other creations. One of the young girls made a bracelet for Luda with her name in English. They are such thoughtful young ladies. It is still bitterly cold outside between 35 and 40 below celcius at night. We didn't go to the market today because of the cold. Just came back to the Beibars after the orphanage visit...brrrr!

Saturday, January 29 Today Kevin awoke with a mild chest cold and thought it wasn't a good idea to visit the orphanage and risk infecting others. So he stayed at the Beibars and read a book instead. Upon arrival at the orphanage, Stacey greeted the girls who responded politely but had puzzled expressions. It was clear they wondered where the "Papa" portion of "Mama e Papa" was this morning. I did my best pantomine of having a cold and they nodded sympathetically. Luda was very concerned and asked if she could possibly call her Papa on the cell phone. Since this would have been a very complicated endeavor and not to mention $5.00 fee per minute, Mama indicated that it was not possible. She suggested that Luda color a picture for Papa and write him a note. This idea was received well by all the girls. So Luda very enthusiastically colored in a drawing that I had in my backpack and N'aisia asssisted in writing down the appropriate English for Luda to write on the card.  After finishing the artwork, Luda wrote on the back: To: Papa  From: Luda and "I Love You" in Russian. (N'aisia had written "I Love You" in English for her but the little girl got impatient...)  Na'aisia then told me that all the girls wanted me to tell Kevin that they wished for him to be well soon. After completing the "Get Well Card", we discovered the Polly Pocket dolls in Mom's backpack. This was a great find--the girls were so excited to see these. First the older girls played with the dolls, then the younger ones had their opportunity. (certainly a natural pecking order)  Thanks to David, Kris, Tess & Mac Wilner for sending these--they were a hit! Mr. Playdoh also made an appearance, along with another jigsaw puzzle. But the hit of the day happened to be my cell phone.  After pulling it out to show to one of the girls, they all had to see it, hold it and have their photo taken with it. L'ora, sister of N'asia, found photos and music on the phone that were new to me. Amazing how children have an innate understanding of electronics.  Interestingly, they could identify every composer and some of the titles of the classical phone ring tones. I was amazed.  They all knew the difference between Bach and Mozart, even the little bitty girls. Lunch today included Myra, the orphanage director, the assistant director, one of the group instructors, Super Cook and several of the kitchen staff. The food was, as always, incredible. Since it was just the ladies, wine and voda began to flow and we had a "hen session" in three languages, Kazak, Russian and English. I am not sure what we discussed, but there was lots of laughter and camraderie.  A good time easily crosses a language barrier.... Our wonderful driver, Azamat, and I drove to the nearest pharmacy for cold medicine and returned to the Beibars well equiped. No orphanage visit on Sunday. We will most likely shop with Natasha and Azamat.

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