Azerbaijian Hospitality

Rostov, Russian Federation, 2008

During our tour of the Golden Ring of Russia, after we had toured Rostov the Great, Olga, Pavel, and I were guests at her uncle’s home in Rostov. In this parting photograph is Pavel, Olga’s uncle Nabi, her aunt Elya, Kamila, who is married to one of Olga’s cousins, and Olga. Olga, our first exchange daughter, is half-Azerbaijan from her father’s side of the family and her father is Muslim. Her mother is Russian and Russian-Orthodox. Olga was raised in the Russian-Orthodox church.

Tatiana

Tatiana, Republic of China, 2008

Only by fortunate chance did I meet Tatiana. I was on my way home from Moscow and she was on her way to Washington D.C. to visit her sister. We drew airplane seats next to each other on the plane to Chicago’s O’Hare Airport, then together we managed to get through customs, successfully find our way from the international terminal to terminal 3, and have a dinner while we waited for our connecting flights.

Tatiana is a very smart young lady who had just aced her exams when I met her in the summer of 2008. After she returned to Russia, she and her mother took a trip to China where this picture was taken.  She is now completing her final year of school participating in an internship in international relations.

Katya

Katya's graduation, Blagoveshchensk, Russian Federation, June 2008

It was difficult to decide where I would place Katya in my log. Technically, she did not live with us and was not one of our exchange daughters; I worked as her supervisor while she was on exchange in the United States. Still, to me she is much more than just another exchange student, so although I am placing her in “Friends”, I am tagging her as “Exchange Daughter.”