Katyusha Part Dva

Just to clarify . . . Katyusha is not a reference to rocket artillery.

Russian has many names for one person. Ekaterina is a formal name. Katya is the short version--like Benjamin and Ben. Katyusha is the diminutive--like saying 'sweet little Katya.'

Katyusha is also a traditional Russian song. When I worked at KidsFirst Adoption, I learned this song to perform at the Foundation's annual fundraising dinner. It is patriotic, from The Great Patriotic War (also known as World War II), about a girl waiting for her love to return from battle. This is the only Russian folk song I know, and it came in handy at Sovietsk.

We visited Dolbiylova, a beautiful, remote village home to Galina & Vladimir, two supporters of Sovietsk orphanage. (More to come on this later--we could never explain our day at Dolbiylova in one sitting.) After our second feast that day, Ben was whisked off for some Russian diplomacy with Vladimir, and I remained with the women. "Let's sing!" said Natasha, one of our hosts, and I was glad to know one song--Katyusha. We sang loud and laughed and enjoyed each other. Little moments like these gave us a chance to show the people that we are truly invested in their culture, their lives, and the children. As the feast ended, Natasha declared that American people are really no different than Russian people. She wished the governments and diplomats could join us for dinner and see how we get along. I couldn't agree more.

Here we are after our first feast at the river in Dolbiylova: Ben, Me, Galina, & Vladimir.