Waiting: Day Nine

We were picked up at the usual time of noon today for our trip to the orphanage. It was noticeably colder today (-20s) but the car is warm inside. We've come to know the route pretty well. Most of the traffic we come across is on the famous bridge over the Yenisey River. The city of Krasnoyarsk sits on both sides of the river. We are staying in the "downtown" are on the north side of the river and the orphanage is on the south side of the river and further east.

The music room where we play with dude was being used for meetings today so we met in the other playroom down the hall. There was an unusual delay for her to come out but once she came one of us was invited to see where she sleeps and has lived most of her life. It was quite the sight to see and puts our American lifestyle in perspective. The sleeping room had about fifteen cribs lined up in four rows. She has never slept alone. The play room was being renovated so it was empty except for two small tables where some children were finishing lunch. I was shown the bathroom which consisted of a simple tub. They had two small plastic child bathtubs which they used for bathing. In the bathroom sat five children on plastic potty chairs. That's how they do it, they just make them sit. Keep in mind these children are no more than two years old, most are much younger than that. There was another room for storage where dude had a locker for belongings. They said it was empty due to renovations but I'm not sure if she had any possessions anyways.

We had another great time playing with her. The S family came a little later and another Russian family shared the room with us before we left. It was a good time of play and we will make one last visit tomorrow. Nine down, one to go.