Graduation

Today, May 25th, is Graduation Day for all Russian children... whether they are graduating from 4th grade or 9th grade or 11th grade... all heard the "final bell" today and celebrated. In first week of June, they will have their "examen" which are short answer tests (includng essay) for all subjects... very grueling and required for final graduation. It was bittersweet today, to watch Lily and her class (about 11 boys and 2 additional girls) graduated. They produced and performed a show that included a TV talk show, commercial and "game show" in which the Director and other administrators had to answer questions about their childhoods.

The children who watched the show were wild and quite "intrigued" by the odd American couple in the back of the auditorium... one with a video camera who moved all over the room "shooting."

Afterward, Lily was able to go with us to the Notary (more of a "paralegal") who registers our documents. Julia, our rep, is planning on submitting our formal request to Moscow on Monday ... very best timetable would be 4 weeks from then.

Then we went shopping for Lily ... jeans, a new purse, a top... she had a blast, we were pooped! We finally ended up at McDonald's for her and then off to the Metro. We walked back to the hotel (got lost on the way) and then relaxed at an Azerbajanian restaurant - great food.

Tomorrow, once again, Lily is prevented from coming to visit us until 3:30 ... so sorry for that, but then, we plan to have dinner with her and her old English teacher.

What a day!