Ilya and I had a good talk about “the dom” today. Dom is Russian for home and it’s what he calls the orphanage where he lived. We had been talking about our family, and he really enjoyed hearing how we were all related– son, daughter, husband, wife and how we loved him. Then he told me how he used to be little and I asked him where he lived when he was little like that and this conversation started.

Here is what I remember of the conversation. I tried to let him lead it for the most part, but there were a few things that I wanted to know.

I like living in the dom. There’s peoples. Lots of peoples. There’s food. There’s babies. Water. Juice. Coffee.
Did you drink coffee?
No. It’s hot. Coffee for grown-ups.
Did you wear a diaper or underwear?
Underwear.
What happened if you went pee in your pants?
No pee in the pants.
What happened if your bed was wet?
I wake up, I look (acting it out). It’s not wet.
Oh, did you drink a lot of water or just a little bit of water?
Just little bit water.
What kind of food did you have at the dom?
I have potatoes. Burgers. (what we had for dinner last night). No cry at the home… dom.
They have beds.
How many?
Lots of beds. I have pillow and blanket. One blanket.
They have chairs.
How many?
Um, let’s see… eight chairs.
I go in a red car.
Where did you go?
There’s people up high. I have to stand like this (puts arms out). They go like this (pretends to cut hair). Like scissors on the leg.
Did they cut your hair?
Yes, um, it’s kind like a shower. I go in a bus.
Where did you go?
Dasha, Liva (which can either mean Olivia or Alina),… Lena.
Where did you go?
The grocery store. We buy apples, bananas, cheese, grapes, pineapple, peaches.

I don’t remember too much of more of the conversation. He just loved telling me about it.