Day 16

A Snowy Day

A relaxing morning hanging around the ol’ ‘Hotel Europe’, working and reading and doing a little crochet.

Tanya sounded reluctant to join us today but came to the hotel when Rolan went to get the girls at 1 this afternoon.

He entered the cafeteria at the orphanage were there were some 40 kids eating soup with potatoes and dipping bread into it. For some unknown reason, Rolan’s presence emits peals of laughter from the kids. When I’m there, I just notice laughter from the adolescent boys. Fedya was the chosen diplomat instructed to step up and approach Rolan with a question but Rolan didn’t understand.

We played at the hotel all afternoon. I got out the viewfinder so Tanya could see America, then Rolan put on some music for the girls to dance to. It snowed. The girls laughed. Nastia wanted a shower then lounged in a sweater and towel skirt. We snacked on Quaker instant oatmeal, braided and smoked mozarella, tea, and chocolate covered peanuts. The girls begged for a stuffed animal out of the sack Adie and Catherine gave (Thanks girls!). Tanya chose a stuffed bear wearing a ‘Steamboat’ sweater. Nastia fell in love with a sleeping lion cub. I can’t recall what Sasha ended up with. She changes her mind. We played with some puzzles that were quite difficult. I was impressed with Nastia’s persistence. They love playing with the nesting dolls I bought in Kiev. One large one holds wooden Christmas ornaments. “Krasivi!” (beautiful) Tanya said. “Vow!” Nastia said. Another nesting doll has 4 sisters inside, each getting smaller. The best one is a chicken that opens to even smaller chickens. We didn’t bring any computer games but there is an artists pad (paint) already in the computer. They were good about taking turns, but Tanya pounds the keys pretty hard.

We took the two younger ones back home at about 5pm. We had invited English teacher and local gal, Anya, to come for a little dinner at the restaurant here so we could talk to Tanya and find out how she is doing.

The restaurant was dark but they assured us they were open for business. Lights came on. Ro and I ordered the Beef Stroganoff with Cesar salad. Let me just say that the salad was not green.