Sara Smiles :-)

Saturday, October 9 - We had our laziest morning yet - and it was glorious! I actually woke up at 7:45 am - a rarity for me. We met Sergei for breakfast in the hotel restaurant at 10:00 am. I then returned to our room to heat up some water for my Cafe Francais, a supply of which I brought from America because it is my coffee of choice and because I am a Type A and that's what we do - tee hee! I opened up the sugar I bought the night before at a local store where I had asked a clerk where the sugar was located. She didn't speak English so I said the Russian word for sugar I had learned a few days ago. She walked me to where it was and I then purchased the sugar. This morning, following my usual routine, I added the usual amount of sugar to my usual amount of coffee and then took a most UNUSUAL sip. What in the world?!!? With a mouthful of coffee, I ran to the bathroom and spit it out realizing that apparently I did NOT ask the store clerk where the sugar was. Teaser alert: And this is why you don't pronounce Russian words you don't know how to pronounce because you too may end up with salt in your coffee!!!!

We then met our fellow adoptive couple, the Antenuccis, in the hotel lobby and Sergei drove us to Brava, the local pizza place, where we were going to host 20 or so kids from Sara's and Julia's (Antenucci's daughter-to-be) classes at the orphanage. Instead, we ended up with 34 kids plus 8 adults so we had quite the pizza party - a roomful of teenagers, lots of Russian and only a little English. It was awesome! (See photo of Steve, Summer and I with Sara followed by a photo of the chaperones, Larisa, Sara's teacher, and Irina on left, another teacher with Sara.) I did have a very sweet moment with my sweet Sara. After I put my things down at a table, I noticed her standing nearby but not with any of her many friends who came. I walked over to her and asked if she was OK and she said yes. I then asked if she wanted to sit with her friends and she said no. Not sure what to say, I asked if she wanted to sit with us and she smiled and said yes. My heart swelled - and she sat with us - awww! (See photo of Sara, Summer and me at table.)

Sergei also sat with us so we got him to translate as we asked Sara some questions about coming to America. She told him she was very happy to be joining our family but admitted she is nervous about American high school especially going to such a large high school with the language barrier. She also expressed her sadness about leaving her grandmother who is the only relative with whom she has maintained a relationship and to whom she is very close. We discussed the possibility of taking Sara to visit her grandmother the next day. After eating, I gave Tatyana (old habits die hard), I mean Sara, my camera and she took SO many pictures of her many friends and we just wallowed in watching her joy as she snapped away. (See four photos of friends and classmates. 1st photo - Sara with Christina & Alainia who are roommates & close friends; 2nd - Sara with other close friends; 3rd - Boys' table, boys sat together & girls sat together - too cute!; 4th - Girls' table).

When the party was over, we walked outside and all posed for a huge group photo. (See group photo - the four S's are on the right.) We all walked back to the orphanage in a huge group that ended up breaking into smaller groups as we walked. (See photo of Sara, Steve, me and boys Sara knows.) It was SO much fun as we got to meet and laugh with some of the other kids as we walked. At one point, Sara and I were walking alone arm in arm. It was heartwarming! We had a great talk and the absolute best part of the talk was when she told me she was talking to her friends the other day about her family (us :-) and that, when she said something about me, she called me "Mom." :-), :-), :-)!!! It just doesn't get much better than that!!! Speaking of "moms", we also took a great picture of Sara's two Moms - me and Larisa. (See photo of me, Sara and Larisa.)

When we got back to the orphanage, we determined that we would try to visit Sara's grandmother tomorrow. Sergei said he would drive us and Sara said she would call her grandmother to confirm. Another goodbye hug-fest ensued but I especially enjoyed the extra long hug she gave Steve - and I could see he did too!!

And the teaser for the next blog is...drum roll, please...why should you never eat a big breakfast before going to grandma's house??? Tune in tomorrow...for the rest of the story...............

Sunny