Day Eighteen

We both slept well last night and I woke up ready to embrace a new day. Our time in St. Petersburg is almost complete and it feels like we are actually getting closer to get getting our son. I read some in Luke and washed dishes before JJ woke up. I fixed omelets and toast for breakfast. Our Internet has been inconsistent today, but we were able to check the news, Facebook, and other sites this morning. We watched some funny videos on YouTube. We worked on music for a youth camp we are helping with this summer. I will be leading the music for the evening services and JJ helped me by putting the songs on his classroom website so everyone playing in our group can hear them. We won't have much time to practice after JJ and I get home. We went out shopping for a few souvenirs and some gifts for those that have helped us in Russia. Gift giving is a cultural tradition and I think it is nice. I wouldn't do it at home, but I understand that some things are involved when traveling in another culture. JJ probably loves it. He is a natural gift giver. We found some nice gifts at a huge bookstore. I have enjoyed the large bookstores near our apartment. I can spend hours in a bookstore at home. It is not as relaxing here because of the language barrier, but they are still nice places to browse. We tried a new restaurant for lunch.
I've seen these giant spoons each time we've walked on the Nevski Prospect and the restaurant opened this weeks. Turns out it is similar to a Chipotle or Qdoba restaurant except they fill blini with fillings of your choice.

It was tasty and a fun dining experience. The manager spoke some English and she helped us order. Speaking of tasty, JJ couldn't resist snapping a photo of this sign.

Once again, some things are confused in translation. I can actually say tasty in Russian. It is one of the few words in my vocabulary. We came back to the apartment and spent some time on Skype. Then we went back out to find one last gift we forgot on our earlier trip. We picked up some Carl's Jr for supper. I hardly ever eat Carl's Jr at home, but it has become a good fall back plan here. Now we are watching Factor A, a Russian show like American Idol. In fact, JJ looked it up and he said Simon Cowell had something to do with the creation of this show. They are singing in Russian, but at least we can discuss their singing ability and stage presence. Maybe you should check it out on the web. It is pretty funny. Tomorrow we will start our laundry and packing mode. Hoorah!