Orphanage and McDonalds on Liz's Birthday!

In an attempt to get something nice for Liz on her birthday, JJ Lisby and I were sent to the store this morning to buy one of her favorite snacks. Unfortunately, none of the three of us had ever eaten or seen the snack before and so we wound up getting something much different. It tasted good though and she liked them so... all's well that ends well.
Today it rained, spoiling our plans of cleaning up Elektrostal. We were all ready with garbage bags in hand, standing in the deluge of rain when someone said ... "This is crazy." Those of us who did not bring jackets were relieved when the decision was made to postpone picking up garbage in Elektrostal until after the rainfall.
Instead, we stayed in Liz's apartment for a few hours and watched a film about the Boris Yeltsin's '96 election. (It was fun to see shots of Moscow and be able to say that we had been there.)
When the sun finally came out, we walked the tenth of a tenth of a mile (across the street) from Liz's apartment, to McDonalds. It was interesting because most Russian people assume that every American person eats at McDonalds almost every day... or that they at least love it... but for most us, it was the first McDonalds stop in a long time!
After lunch we loaded up our toys and headed over to the orphanage. Much to our disappointment, the children weren't there. During the summer, the kids in the orphanage go to camps in the countryside that are government subsidized, which give them the oppurtunity to "grow and be healthy."
We did, however, get a tour from the orphanage director. She is a very enthusiatic and warm lady who gladly opened up the doors and made us feel very comfortable. We have many pictures and stories to share!

POKA!
Della