June 18, 2010 --  by Donna

We went to bed early and woke up today just before 11am - over 12 hours of sleep!  We had told our guide to come at 11am so I had to rush down to tell him that we were delayed by an hour.  We're all still sick, but I think the full night's sleep helped as we are improved at least over yesterday.

Given our low energy, we decided to abandon plans for the rest of our touring, and instead just go to visit Marina's orphanage, which was one of the main purposes of our visit.  The people at their Hyatt were very accommodating and allowed us a late checkout so we could rest afterwards.

The visit to the orphanage went very well.  I remembered it, once we saw the main entrance and the office.  The director, Larissa, was new and not been here when we came 15 years ago.  But many of the original staff were still here.  I had brought photos of Marina and the staff from when we were here before, so they all loved pouring over the photos to see themselves younger.  A lot of the chatter was "that's so-and-so!", "she's not working today!", etc.

As we walked through the orphanage, more and more people joined us and eventually we had a whole train of people!  A surprising number remembered Marina.  "She was very active!".  "She was MY girl!".  Several had tears in their eyes as they looked at our lovely young lady.  I realized that originally I had planned this trip for Marina's sake, but in the end, it seemed like it was a gift to the staff.  They spend years with these children, but don't know what becomes of them.  Over and over they hugged Marina, asked her questions, and were very excited to see her.
  
I had sent letters with photos to the orphanage for the first few years that Marina was with me.  I never knew whether the letters arrived.  I was amazed, therefore, when we got to the office and there was a wall of photos, including one I had sent of me, Marina, and my mother. 

The orphanage was clean, had lots of staff, and a big yard full of trees, grass and play equipment.  The ladies there clearly care a great deal about their children.  We were happy to see that Marina started her life with such nice people.

 
This brings our blog to an end.  We head home for a long journey, with a layover night in Moscow.  We hope you will join us on our next trip!