I’ve been asked by several people to do a blog on life in an orphanage. Well where do I begin. So one day my neighbor invited me to come over and eat dinner with them. They notice that i wasn’t eating well and wanted to help out. We had so much fun at dinner. Later that day my brothers and I went to another friends house and we played tag. By the time we got home that night there were cop cars outside of house. My brothers and I were worried. I was probably only 5 years old at this time. My brothers went up to the cops and asked what is going on. They told them that we were under arrest, because we stole from our neighbors. We had to explain that they invited us but they didnt believe us. Since my mom wasnt anywhere around, we couldnt get out of it.
My brothers and I were driven to a holding cell. In Russia it is not the same as the once here. But I just couldn’t stop crying because i was missing my house and blankets. The cops told us we better be quiet or else. They are not the nicest. They have a policy there where they have to make sure that you arent bringing anything in from lice to food. We had to get our heads shaved. We stayed a night in the holding cell till they were able to take us to the the orphanage.
First day in the orphanage we got to learn where we will be staying and the rules. We had to learn everything from how to properly make a bed to when we can and cant talk. The staff there loved quiet time which was always. Maybe that is why I’m not very quiet myself… We had so many rules we had to follow and if we didnt do it right we would get whacked. I was really worried, because my brothers couldnt stay in the same area as me. They have different places based on the age. Since they were older then 8 years old they had to go to the old housing. We didnt get really anything but a bed and food that day.
They have different activities so that people dont get bored and staff can have a break. My favorite activities were being outside and building a snowman; playing on the playground, or just being inside and watching an old show and playing with wooden blocks. I didnt make a friend but i was still worried, because I was in a new area and didnt know who I can trust. While on the second day i heard a very familiar voice. My dad arrived to see what was going on. He got us out.
With my dad we got to spend time on a farm and get things done. We also got to be as a family. We had so much fun; until my brother clipped my nails and made it bleed. We had to go to the doctors. Well there we found out that we hand to stay longer do to us having eczema and some other health problems. We had a lot of tests done on us. The hospital we got lots of cream of wheat. My favorite!!! and still to this day its my favorite. My dad again arrived after a week and just took us. That is again how we all ended back in the orphanage.
Back in the orphanage we again got separated from each other. I went back to doing that activities that i liked to do. Once again a few weeks later my dad arrived again. He was able to only get my brothers out. There were rules where i wasnt allowed to leave with them, because i was still young and needed better taken care of. My dad promised that he would come back and get me but he never did. He then disowned me and that was the last time l heard about my brothers and dad. My mom also couldnt get me per her rights were taken away when they found her drunk and she told how she throw a table at me.
Once I hit the school age i was able to go. But I had to walk to school in the snow and in a dress. I only really had 2 outfits and washing day was once a week. If i was late to school or coming home to do chores I would get in trouble. If I go in trouble at school I would get in trouble at home also. It was a common thing for me to get in trouble. Well in Russia I was in first is first and second grade. Then because I learned fast and was doing good they moved me to 3rd grade. That grade everyone had to learn cursive. I didnt like it much, because i was not good at it and would get in trouble all the time.
I slept in the same room as like 15 other kids. We had a certain time we went to bed. I learned that if I agree to give the older girls {who were there to make sure that everyone was in bed and asleep} a massage they always let me stay up later and get an extra snack. I just was not good at sleeping by 8pm everyday. Food there was hard to get we would get a soup and bread or cereal and milk only.
Anderson family 