Great Friends, Good Food!!!

So far in this journey I feel very blessed. I have many supportive family members and friends. Many of my good friends I have know since I was a young child.

I shared my awesome news of being accepted into the Russian program with my good friend "L." We met at 3 years old in our first tap dancing class =). When I told her, she said we have to go out and celebrate! I had this great idea--why not celebrate starting a Russian adoption by dining out at a Russian restaurant!! She was on board so the search began. I live in a pretty ethnic diverse area so it wasn't to hard to find one. To my surprise, she brought me a VERY nice card about following your dreams and started my little guy's Dr. Seuss collection with some board books--including one of my favorites.."Put Me In The Zoo!! I love the Dr. Seuss series! I am soooo appreciative that everyone is sharing in my excitement and being soooo supportive!! Thanks!!

Well, anyone who knows me knows I am an extremely, I repeat EXTREMELY, picky eater. I've always had it in the back of my head.."What am I going to eat in Russia--I'll starve!!" Well, good news!!! Turns out I won't!! I ordered pelmeni and it was good!! I eat pickles and turns out pickles are big there...I hate sweet pickles and the pickles served were like dill, but not quite. So if worse comes to worse, I'll live on Pelmeni and pickles...HA!!! O and don't forget...warm bread! =)

While waiting to start, I've learned quite a few phrases in Russian. I even taught my puppy how to "sit" in Russian. Before hand, I was all pumped and set on using my newly acquired language skills. Once I got there, I chickened out and didn't want to miss pronounce anything =). So I stuck to English.. until I worked up the courage to try it out. The Russian waiter came back and asked how everything was. I didn't want the experience of using the language to go by, so I told him I was going to test my Russian and proceeded to say "OH-chin F-KOOSS-na(delicious)." I guess I should have used it sooner because his response was very funny!! He was surprised and replied "spah-SEE-ba, spah-SEE-ba (thank you)!!" Meanwhile my friend "L" was cracking up. After that, their whole demeanor changed. Very friendly and attentive, lol. I guess it goes to show that in any culture, as long as you make the effort and try--even if in your attempt you completely butcher everything, it is appreciated. =)