Day 6 – Friday, 11 August, 2006

Friday morning, Mark and I both needed to catch up on a little bit of work, so we explained via the online translator. Masha gobbled up a bowl of Raisin Bran (her request!) and then played for about an hour on her own while we both made phone calls and replied to emails.

Today’s schedule called for us to all meet up at Science Central at 10:00. Although we were there for only 2 hours, the kids really packed a lot in. They crawled through a “dark” room where it was pitch black—dark enough that Mark used the camera flash to find his way through! Centrifugal force came to life on a spinning wheel, and the Moon Walk allowed them to feel nearly weightless, like they were on the moon.

That afternoon, camp was visited by the Vice-Consul from the Ukranian Embassy, who checked in on the kids and the program. The kids played games, participated in an ESL class, and assembled jungle picture frames.

Immediately following camp, Masha, Mark, and I picked up Natalia and Maxim for dinner at our house. Natalia is the Assistant Director and Child Psychologist at the orphanage where Masha lives. Maxim is the son of the Director, and is serving as the Offical Translator for the group. We got to know them, had a wonderful time, and gained a little more insight into Masha’s background and life at the orphanage. Natalia is a wonderful, warm, and caring woman, and these kids are so important to her. She and her staff are doing GREAT work in Ukraine!!

After we dropped Natalia and Maxim off, we took Masha out for ice cream! The kind folks at The Scoop on Dupont allowed her to try several different choices of ice cream. She started with Strawberry Cheesecake, and each new flavor tried became the new favorite. She finally settled on Cotton Candy! And when offered a choice of cake, sugar, or waffle cone, which do you think she chose??