Day 34 ~ Orphanage

5. August

Today was my first full day at work. There are about 10 children in the orphanage. They are ages 4-8, although most are 4 and 5. They include, Alla, Veka, Alexi (whose nickname is Allosha), Denis, Daniel, Daniel, Anna, Dasha, Valera (Lera for short), and Andrei.

These are the main children, some days there are others and other days not all of them are there. There is another boy who is usually here but hasn’t been for the past couple days, I asked why and I was told he was ill and was under analysis .
The schedule for working is to arrive at 10 and work until about 12:30. By this time the workers tell me to leave because the children have to eat and then take an afternoon nap. I come back at 4 and play for two hours like I have been doing.

So far working at the orphanage was alright, I honestly cant say it was my favorite thing to do or that I highly enjoyed it. Don’t get me wrong, the kids are cute, but it was a bit boring for the first two weeks because all I would do was color or sit around watching the kids for most of the time. They were not overly interested in my being there which is understandable considering I am new there.

Just recently they seem to be warming up and now when I arrive they say hello and run up to me and show me this or that, give me hugs, fight over who will hold my hand when we go outside. It’s getting better and the children are all slowly growing on me.

I was never one of those people who loved being around kids unless they were kids of people that I knew really well. So, this is certainly a new experience in teaching me patience and a variety of other new things.

Usually when I arrive the children are just getting up from there afternoon nap, they have tea, and then usually watch a cartoon on television right before they go outside. This morning I arrived and they were watching television. I concluded that they most likely are indoors until around 10 and then go outside until lunch.
When I arrived Alla ran over to me and was eager to show me a picture of her grandmother holding her when she was a baby. She was so excited and proud of it, it was cute. The other children wanted to see it and she was closely guarding it. If you remember, Alla is 8 and is the oldest of everyone. She’s very smart and was eager to learn the English alphabet when I first met her. She also is the boss of the television and from what I’ve seen decides what to watch and when to watch it. Today Snow White was on again, and we did watch it till the end, so that solved the question from before.

Outside there are swings, a play set, sandbox, two small covered buildings or
verandas as they’re called, a teeter totter and two tables with benches. Today I spent time playing in the sandbox and Francesca and I even played hopscotch with Alla. I had never actually known that it involved throwing a stone and then hopping to and from the point where the stone landed. Interesting, I wasn’t very good at hopping!

Other activities today included pushing kids on the swings and collecting snails and then watching them. There are snails all over the place and the kids ended up collecting around 40 of them. Usually they are all put on one of the tables with some leaves as the kids all watch them move. They really are interesting creatures, I had never really watched them up close or soo many at a time.

The kids were kind of naughty today, at one point I had to mediate a session of stick and stone throwing. Seriously, at times these children just do not behave. I am not used to being around kids a lot, so I forget all the trouble they can get into.

Besides work when I was walking around today, and basically immediately when I woke up Russia just felt so different that yesterday now that I know most of the group is gone. It’s was a strange feeling, I kind of felt more alone and independent, knowing that I can’t depend on those who aren’t here. I spend 5 weeks with everyone and all of a sudden they’re gone and I am still here for 2 more. In some ways I wished that I was going back because I miss a lot of people at home. Although, I know that in a few days I will be readjusted and I shouldn’t worry too much because I too will soon be coming home.

Overall I found the day tiring when I got home! For dessert Olga bought me ice cream! It was just vanilla with fudge on the outside but still exciting. So, I think I am going to go to bed early. I am really tired!
Love,
Sasha