CHAOS!!!
We decided to take some presents for all the children in Katya's group- given Monday is Christmas here. We bought some dolls, dinosaurs and matchbox cars at the Black Market yesterday- and then took them with us today. Katya's teacher (Mikalina) said we could given them out- and it created an absolute chaos. Katya helped us give them out- and before you knew it, the kids were ripping into the packages, throwing plastic and paper everywhere. Out of nowhere, Olga appeared- and was clearly dismayed that we had caused such chaos- and we were quickly escorted out of the room. It was pretty final- as Mikalina told the children to "thank Katya's mother and Father".
We played and goofed some more- and at the end of our time, we headed back to her room. When we opened the door, all the children were sitting quietly on the floor. The moment the children saw us- it absolutely erupted in the room. Children started shouting and jumping- running up to us- running around the room looking for their toys. Did I say LOTS of shouting!?! Mikalina (nor ANY adult) was anywhere to be found. One little boy bopped Katya right in the nose- and it started to bleed. She immediately ran right behind Paul, screaming at the little boy who had chased her there. Pam took a deep breath and separated the two- lifting the little boy back into the room with 13 other screaming, jumping, punching, CRAZY children. She shut the door behind her- locking her in with the other children. Paul blocked the other side of the door, helping Katya settle down. Luckily within about 5 minutes, Mikalina arrived with the lunch lady (and their lunch). She IMMEDIATELY regained order with about 3 words. Once the children were eating, she came outside- and busted up laughing with us. It was a new moment of appreciation for her job!! We decided to buy her a big box of chocolates to go with the necklace we bought... she deserves it!!
For those of you asking about the orphanage, we've included the nameplate and pictures. Don't ask me to pronounce it! The orphanage is comprised of 6 buildings that all look the same, surrounding a giant playground, and cares for about 200 children (aged 1-16). The bottom picture is Katya's building- and the lower floor windows closest to the camera is her group's room:
We played and goofed some more- and at the end of our time, we headed back to her room. When we opened the door, all the children were sitting quietly on the floor. The moment the children saw us- it absolutely erupted in the room. Children started shouting and jumping- running up to us- running around the room looking for their toys. Did I say LOTS of shouting!?! Mikalina (nor ANY adult) was anywhere to be found. One little boy bopped Katya right in the nose- and it started to bleed. She immediately ran right behind Paul, screaming at the little boy who had chased her there. Pam took a deep breath and separated the two- lifting the little boy back into the room with 13 other screaming, jumping, punching, CRAZY children. She shut the door behind her- locking her in with the other children. Paul blocked the other side of the door, helping Katya settle down. Luckily within about 5 minutes, Mikalina arrived with the lunch lady (and their lunch). She IMMEDIATELY regained order with about 3 words. Once the children were eating, she came outside- and busted up laughing with us. It was a new moment of appreciation for her job!! We decided to buy her a big box of chocolates to go with the necklace we bought... she deserves it!!
For those of you asking about the orphanage, we've included the nameplate and pictures. Don't ask me to pronounce it! The orphanage is comprised of 6 buildings that all look the same, surrounding a giant playground, and cares for about 200 children (aged 1-16). The bottom picture is Katya's building- and the lower floor windows closest to the camera is her group's room:
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