Life with Elena

A Report From Elena's Host Mom

September 21, 2004

Life gets busier and busier, especially when you have a teenager!  Elena is a wonderful addition to our family.  We continually want to thank Rotary for this opportunity.

Since we last wrote Elena has been busy.  Cardinal Gibbons had a Welcome Week with plenty of activities.  She went roller skating and to a 70’s dress up dance party.  Yes, we went to Goodwill and found the perfect 70’s outfit!    She went to her first high school football game and thought it was fun.  This week is Homecoming week and there have been many activities.  Monday the entire junior class dressed up as nerds!  Yes, she was one of them!  She has been practicing for the annual “powder puff” game Wednesday afternoon.  Sunday night is the big homecoming dance and she is looking forward to a fun time with new friends. 

She is running everyday on the cross country team and looking forward to beginning soccer next week.    Academics are tough but we hope they will get easier as the language becomes more familiar.   For her American Literature class she had to write her autobiography.  It was a great tool for us to get to know her better.

Elena spent Saturday, August 28^th  with Mike Grimme and his family.  He is our current Rotary president.  Mike took her to play squash and then back home for skiing and tubing with his family.   In squash Elena is ranked #4 in Finland .  Mike beat her, but we hear the court was bigger than the Finnish squash courts!

She has been riding horses and surfing.  What a combination!  The day she went surfing it was a beautiful South Florida day and there were NO waves.  It was a fun experience that she hopes to try again! 

Elena has been great.  Surviving the hurricanes was a new experience.  During Frances and before our power went out she made us all pizza.  For Hurricane Ivan we decided to get out of town and took off for Boston .  Yes, Boston .  The weather was beautiful and full of history and fun.  Elena had her first taste of lobster!

Elena went with her “host grandparents” to see “Mama Mia” the Broadway play at the Broward Performing Arts.  She has been to our church and participated in Youth Group.

Oh, and before I forget, she has been shopping!  Just what every teenager loves to do.  It is so much fun for us to see her eyes open to all the choices and opportunities we have her in Florida and the United States .