Fireworks

Saturday, 26 May

Everything was totally back to normal today…Sveta and a new diver picked us up about noon, and on the way to the orphanage, Sveta shared with us that she had overheard Masha making a not-so-nice comment to a younger boy. We agreed that we needed to talk with her about this and let her know that this is NOT OK.

When we arrived at the orphanage, we gave her big hugs and worked out the plan for the day, then we pulled her aside with Sveta and explained that we knew what she had said, and that we love her very much but that this was not acceptable behavior. It’s really difficult to parent in this type of situation, because we have such little access or control over the environment, she still has the orphanage workers as her primary caregivers and authorities, but we still need to clearly set expectations of what’s acceptable and what’s not. She got the message, but still felt loved.

Once that was taken care of, we took off to the cafeteria for lunch…Fred and Lisa have decided to adopt a second child, so we had all three girls. We are quite the crowd!

After lunch, we headed to the park by the sea, now known as “Crocodile Park.” This park is full of rides and attractions, and the vendors were ready for a busy Saturday at the park! Because it was Saturday, we decided to let them loose a little. First, they went through the Hall of Mirrors. It was actually a little more like a Room of Mirrors, but the girls had fun posing and making funny faces. While Mark and the kids were there, Sveta bought a puff of cotton candy much bigger than her head, and then the girls shared one when they came out.

They also found a very scary swinging ride; Mark and Fred took them over to this with Lisa, Sveta, and I sat on a bench in the shade…I am very glad I didn’t see this before it happened. I wonder how these kids live into adulthood with rides like this! It was a large, boat-shaped swing. The kids stood one on each end and one in the center, and then the operator pushed it by hand until they were swinging nearly 20 feet in the air. No seat belts or other safety straps of any sort. The woman pushing the thing had to push it nd then get out of the way as it swung back, and if she tripped, the thing would be sure to take her head off. And to slow it down and stop it, there was this giant lever that raised up a piece of wood on the platform underneath that grazed the bottom of the swing. Crazy!

After that, they repeated the Witch’s Wheel-Like Ride (we’ve discovered this is called “Surprise”…like you should be surprised when lunch comes back after riding it!), and then, of course, the Crocodile! What trip to Crocodile Park would be complete without bouncing in the Crocodile??

With their allotment of rides complete, we moved to the playground, where the girls played with some other kids until it was time to go. The drivers picked us up, and took us to the ice cream shop, where we cooled off and went through some English flashcards with the girls. After some more very very yummy ice cream, we took the girls back to the orphanage, and then ran back to the apartment to grab the laptop and head to Papa Karlos for a bite, a drink, and an email update, and then we were done for the night.

Just before heading to bed, though, I heard some noise in the distance, and stepped out onto the porch to find a pretty big fireworks display a few miles away. My view was partially blocked by another apartment building, but it was neat to watch. For a few seconds, watching fireworks with a cool breeze on my face, I almost forgot we were halfway around the world.