June 11

Happy Anniversary, Patrick & Christy! We woke to the sounds & smells of children clanking around in the kitchen--making chocolate chip pancakes for the affair. Well . . . the pancakes stuck furiously to the pan so the pancakes became pancake balls & they had to start over & make a whole new batch of the batter. But by 11:30 they had 1 pancake per person & gave us another Breakfast Band ditty to get us to the table. Christy dubbed this meal Brezzert--breakfast, lunch, & dessert all rolled into one. Then we immediately snuck around & started lunch since we only got 1 pancake each to start our day. While we were starting lunch, the doorbuzzer rang & a new neighbor of theirs was here to meet them--husband, wife, 11-year-old & young toddler girls. They will not officially move in 'til Fall hopefully, but took us on a tour of their apartment right next door & showed us the work they were doing. The husband was doing all the work himself. It's a whole different living arrangement here in Russia--way smaller than any of us spoiled Americans are used to. Their apartment has some really cool features with some cool dropped ceiling designs that also have conceled lighting enclosed in them. You'd have to see it to get it.

A boy the kids befriended a few days earlier on the way to the chocolate store--Leo was outside along with a couple of other girls more Madeleine's age. Earlier the 3 had started a small "free" business outside where they had kids write down their names on a paper while Megan ran the paper up to Madeleine who artsied up their names & that was their little gift to the children of the area. This is how Leo & the girls came up to them. Leo invited them to his house for him to eat lunch. They went & played outside while he ate his lunch, then he came back & waited for them to eat lunch & then they all played together again. He's turning into a fine prospect for a friendship here & because he's such a social kid he will introduce them to many others, I'm sure.

While the kids were playing at Leo's house, we finished up our main meal of Indonesian chicken stir-fry over rice, so we ate a peaceful meal & the kids ate when they returned 30 minutes later. They were full of fun stories--I think any kid who is nice & showing them around is a welcome change from the first experience of friendship here in Elektrostal.

I spent much of this day reading a book from the Neifert bookshelf--The Poisonwood Bible. Very interesting & I really am enjoying it about a Baptist minister's family experience in the Congo in the 60's. It's fiction, of course, & if very colorful character-wise. I will read it a lot so I can finish it before heading home this weekend.

After a full day of no Wii & playing outside all day long, the kids did not enjoy the prospect of going out for errands toward the evening of our day. So we adults ventured out into town to buy groceries, etc. & in the process ate out at a chicken place before heading home. We also brought the coveted McDonald's cherry pies home for the kids to enjoy before bed. The kids stayed home while we went & ate popcorn while watching the first Pirates of the Carribbean movie. We came home, started the process of pulling the new computer out & unloading all the necessary programs & info from their old computer for the changing over tomorrow.

All in all, we had a good day & have plans to stay home much of tomorrow, too. Our stay is quickly coming to a close. I am eternally grateful for this experience of a new world & would love to be able to come back again some day. Time will tell.