First day was a hit

Today was a wonderful day! I told Elena last night to sleep in not to worry about getting up early. Elena slept till a little after 10am. Elena ate breakfast with us. She seemed to enjoy her banana and "white" milk.
We decided to go see a movie since the weather was rainy. Elena,myself and Olivia went to see Monsters University and the boys went to see World War Z.
As many of u know I'm camera happy. I love having alot of pictures to look back at. Without missing a beat she was excited to take pictures with Olivia.
Elena got to meet one of our neighbors today. Dana came and took pictures for us. The kids all played basketball and monkey in the middle.
Tonight the while group of exchange students had a potluck. It was great watching Elena talk to her peers. We all ate together. She got to eat many new foods. Elena tried fried chicken, macaroni salad, mac and cheese, BBQ chips and salad. Elena's favorite thing she ate was the macaroni salad. She also had lots of different desserts and loved them all.
All the students had to give a short speech about where they are from,what they like to do, and introduce their host families. Elena did an amazing job.

What Elena liked best about her day: The best part was the movie today, it was very funny.

What Elena didn't like about today: She did not like speaking in front of all the host families.

Elena says that America is famous for there BBQ. She is looking forward to trying some.

I talk too fast

What a day yesterday was. Elena was due to arrive between 5-6 pm. Around 3pm I received and email that they would be arriving between 7-8 mostly likely closer to 8pm. Between texts and emails to make a long story short I picked Elena up at 11:15 pm.

As I sat in the car waiting for the white vans to pull in all I could think about was" What the hell was I thinking". This whole week I was so excited, now the time had come to meet her and I was so nervous. It was raining and dark out. I really thought we were going to have time to talk before she came into my home. Now we were going to meet and have to just go to bed.

The white vans pulled in. All the boys in one and all the girls in another. SO in the rain I go to stand and meet Rhonda. Rhonda is the coordinator for the students. We talk for a short time. As I look over at the van all the boys faces are pressed against the window. I tell Rhonda who I'm here for and she goes and gets her.

Elena comes walking over, dragging her suitcase along side her. Long blondish brown hair, white tank top, and short pink shorts and flip flops.

As we are driving home she is very quiet. First thing I ask her " Are you excited or nervous". Elena " Um,um, yeah, yeah." So I ask her again. " Yes very excited and so nervous". When I told her I was nervous too she took a deep breath and seemed a little better. As we drove home we were talking back and forth. Half way home she finally says" your English is so fast and different from what we study."

Oh boy I need to slow down. How am I going to do that? When I get excited, nervous or scared I talk even faster. Oh this should be fun.

Once home she was able to meet Jason and Kyle. Olivia feel asleep while I was picking her up. She loved her room. Showing her a few things in her room and bathroom. Elena asked" What time do I need to be up in the morning" I told her that we had nothing planned since she has done so much in Chicago the past 2 days. She was shocked " I can just sleep" yes.


Elena has been very busy since arriving in America:
Millennium Park ,Magnificent Mile, Water Tower Place, Navy Pier, Hard Rock Café, Sears Tower, Chicago Arquitectural Boat Tour, Shedd Aquarium, Movie at Movie Theater, Natural History Museum, Museum of Science and Industry, Lake Michigan, Shopping downtown.

Very excited to meet Elena.

A week ago I received an email from the Spanish teacher looking for host families. Jason and I talked about it. We both thought it would be great for our kids to learn about other cultures. So the paper work began. I received an email on June 25, from Elena:

Hello!

I'm Elena, thank you for welcoming me into your house, I have much desire to meet you and know your country and customs.

I'm sure that my stay with you will be a great experience.

Regards of my family

See you soon.

Elena

 

It was all coming together. I had went out and bought new sheets ,comforter, pillows, towels and a ceiling fan. Jason started to clean out the 4th bedroom of all his tools. 

 

As the days get closer to Elena getting here we are excited and also very nervous. The kids are unsure what to think. They seem to have really good questions for her. Trying to tell them to not rush at her at once is going to be hard.

 

I will be picking Elena up on Saturday June 29 between 5-8pm. Elena arrived in Chicago on Thursday June,27.

 

I will do my best at adding to the blog each day. I think we will have lots to share. Pics will come as we take them.