Vodka 101

If this post contains more typos than most, understand that it has a lot to do with the Russian dinner and corresponding traditions we took part in last night. In a word, Vodka.

Around 6 p.m. local time we joined our Frank Foundation agency leader, Alla, and her colleagues Lara and Sergei for dinner at a local place that translates into "Cherry Orchard" in English. We had lots of great food that was spread out over a large table in front of us. Russian salads, Greek salads, Armenian appetizers, Georgian entrees, etc. It was all so good.

As we ate as much food as possible, our hosts poured vodka for the group and provided several very heartfelt toasts. Then, following Russian tradition, we were all encouraged to provide toasts to the group as well. These toasts were interspersed throughout the dinner and Michelle's was particularly good. We also toasted with champagne. It was fun, but this morning came too early. It's a good thing we only celebrate like this once during the week.

Today will be more of a relaxed day as our coordinators finish our paperwork in the various government offices here in Rostov. We will shop and tour the city some, and then we'll get back to Bo and Ellie's orphanages tomorrow and bring them with us to Moscow to finish up our proceedings later this week. So long for now. I'm off to breakfast with a printout of the NCAA brackets in hand. Hopefully we'll be able to get some of the games on TV in Moscow.