The morning visit with Cici was pretty standard fare. I got in trouble last night by giving her piggy-back rides and carrying her on my shoulders. Now, that's all she wants me to do. I spent a good deal of the morning walking around with her on my shoulders and bouncing up and down as everybody else sang songs with her. We also tried the elephant swing, which was probably also a mistake, but she loved it. At least she will have big brothers to swing her and carry her. It's wearing me out. Daren was giving me a hard time this evening about the shoulder thing. She wants him to carry her around like that all the time too, and his shoulders were getting sore.
After lunch, we went gift shopping. We ended up getting what we needed, but we walked and walked and walked. By the time we got back to the hotel, we were all pretty well spent.
The highlight of the day was dinner. Daren and Yordanka invited us to join them for dinner, and it was a wonderful experience and a great time of bonding. We are finding that in a foster situation, forming a relationship and a bond with the foster family is not only rewarding in its own right, but it is important in easing the transition of the child from the foster family to the adoptive family. From the perspective of the foster family, they are placing a child they have loved, nurtured, and invested their lives in for a significant period of time into the hands of strangers. The transition cannot be easy on them, but the better they know the adoptive family and the more they can bond with them on an emotional level, the easier that transition will be. For the adoptive parents, making the connection helps sensitize them to the emotions the foster parents are experiencing and it helps them understand when the foster parents want to remain involved in some way in the lives of the children. We have really enjoyed getting to know Daren and Yordanka, and the friendship developed while sharing a meal together in wonderful.
Speaking of wonderful, the meal tonight was outstanding. I have really enjoyed the Bulgarian cuisine, and I have eaten and enjoyed a lot of foods I don't usually eat. I think I have had more mushrooms this trip than I have had in my entire life. Yordanka laid out a first course of tomato and cucumber salad, shredded cabbage, pickled vegetables, pickled red peppers, and Bulgarian white cheese. I went back for seconds on all of it! Everything was delicious. The meat course was even better. Baba Irina (Yordanka's mother) made moussaka , a traditional Bulgarian casserole dish of mincemeat, potatoes, and tomatoes topped with a crust of eggs, yogurt, and flour. It was terrific. Yordanka also took some of the meat we had left over from lunch yesterday and dressed it up with a cream and white cheese sauce and some mushrooms. Again it was excellent. Carolyn and I are both bread lovers, and the highlight of the meal for us was when Baba Irina pulled out a traditional Bulgarian loaf of bread she had made. It was beautiful. It was an egg bread similar to challah, and meant to be pulled apart and eaten in the same way. Unlike challah, however, this loaf was rolled rather than braided. The overall effect was similar to a bunch of cinnamon rolls laid on their sides and pressed together to cover a round platter, then baked into a single loaf. This particular loaf was at least 14" in diameter, about 4" thick, and sprinkled with sesame seeds. It rated every one of the oohs and ahhs it received. Dinner was topped off by a tray of cold meats and cheese, but by that time we were all hurting. It was a great meal.
Tomorrow involves some paperwork, a morning visit with Cici, and then a quick 6 hour or so drive back to Sofia. At least the weather should be better and the roads in pretty good shape. We'll see.
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