"Eagles Nest" Orphanage

The Eagles Nest Orphanage was originally built as a retreat for the wealthy and later was used by high ranking members of the Communist party.  It was turned into an orphanage in 1991.  It is a beautiful setting in the midst of the "taiga" forest.  The snow is several feet deep and the temperature the day we were there was -38C.

Morgan and Cassie.

It was a two-scarf day!

The orphanage dogs were there to greet us.

One of the cottages.

Morgan and Chris with his puppets.

The entrance to the main building.

Food City - January 2, 2010

We slept till about 8:00, then had a lovely breakfast of juice, tea, bread and cheese, Kiwi yogurt and baked egg whites.  After piling on as many clothes as possible we climbed on the bus with all the presents we had left and headed out in the cold, cold Siberian day.  Because we didn't bring as many gifts with us this year, we stopped at a large K-mart type store and most of the crew went in with Tom to buy more toys and gifts.  One of the signs on the outside of the building read "Food City" in Cyrillic letters.

Michelle Clark and I stayed on the bus with our driver Sergei.

Even though it was cold waiting on the bus, we had a good time watching people negotiate the snowy streets and sidewalks.

Year of the Pretty Pictures

Russians celebrate the Oriental Calendar with its different animal for each year.  This year is the year of the Tiger.  Someone at Orphanage #15 is a very talented artist and has drawn holiday pictures of each of the animals and other holiday scenes.  The pictures are displayed on the walls in the dining room and hallways.

Year of the Tiger

Year of the Ox

Year of the Rat (or is that Grace Churchmouse?)

Snow Maiden and Clown

Snow People

Is Grandfather Frost morphing into Santa Claus?

Pink Floyd Pajamas

This could be blackmail material!

Rev. Tom Clark

Back Home to #15

We headed back to Orphanage #15 for a little rest before dinner at 7:00 followed by devotions from Katy.  A wonderful evening followed!  Katy and some of the guys found the ping pong equipment and the competition was on.  Katy whipped them all to win the title of "Ping Pong Champion of Tomsk."  The Gina and Zhenya brought out a Matchbox car racetrack they had bought for the orphanage and set it up in the first floor hallway.  The boys in the orphanage we enthralled - cars and boys know no language barrier!  They played for hours while the rest of us looked on.  What a great day!

Tomsk Cathedral

We stopped at the Cathedral shop where I bought an icon of the Archangel Michael for 50 rubles.

I was there!

Archangel Michael

Around Town on the Bus

We left Orphanage #1 and drove around town to see the sights in daylight.

John and Josh

Construction in the snow

Through the snow to our little bus

Lenin Square (he's pointing toward Moscow)

Leaving Orphanage #1

We hated to say goodbye, but it was time to get back on the bus and head out.  These are some pictures taken outside the orphanage.

Our tour bus - unheated except for the driver's compartment!

Cassie Hill

Main entrance to Orphanage #1

Snowy back yard

Dogs checking out the lunch menu out back

Pretty Faces

Party Games

We played some fun games (like musical chairs) with the kids before we were served a great lunch starting with borscht and blini.