International Women's Day

What a full day! First of all I was invited to visit a family that has created an organization to help families. The families participate in many ways but an important event is the family concert. Each family is involved in the artistic performance of some sorts, whether it be a puppet play, singing or a dramatic performance. I was treated to a slideshow that captured that event, a piano performance by the mother and guitar and singing by the whole family. The youngest daughter had spent four months in the United States. She worked in Burger King and talked about how nice her boss was. She said she spilled and made a mess and he told her not to worry as she was just learning. She flew to New York without a place to stay,met another Russian girl in the same predicament and spent the most wonderful month, cleaning houses for money and going to the Metropolitan Museum every day.
The rest of the day was spent touring Nihzny Norgovrod - Dimitri was our guide - a college student studying to be a history teacher who also writes short stories and paints. Here is one of Dimitri's paintings.

I was telling him the students the day before wanted to know how old I was - I asked them how old they thought I was and they said 38. I told them I was really 58 and Dimitri said "Really good teachers never age" - now is he a keeper or what.
Men cook and cleanup on International Women's day so Nina's husband and her brother in law had fixed this amazing dinner - when I get a chance I will post a picture. Unfortunately, I have caught the flu bug so it was a little hard to appreciate the food. The evening was filled with laughter, food, toasts and presents for the women.
This being Sunday has been a tough day as my fever has been up and down all day. They have taken such good care of me - a doctor even came to the house to see me. She says it is a virus and it should clear up in three days - I'm determined to make it quicker.
I know this has rambled but as I said I'm not feeling well. My Internet connections are a little iffy so I can't promise anything.
This has been an amazing trip so far - you cannot ask for nicer people than the people I have met here. Hopefully, I am well tomorrow.