May 28th – Gill’s birthday.
This was celebrated both at school and at home. Gill’s school-children made a fuss of her, giving her cards and flowers.

This is Gill with Marina, one of her counter-parts,
and the fifth form.

The teachers had a mini-supra her honor in the staff room.
They ate, drank - only a little, of course
(well, that’s what they said) - and danced!

When Gill got home there was another celebration. Somehow we managed to accumulate an orgy of birthday cakes: the square white one was a left-over from Gill’s school, the horns of plenty and the USA cake were made by host-mother, Marina, one of the other two other was ordered by the family and given its final touch, the strawberries, by host-father, Valeri and I cannot remember the source of the other mushroom cake.

Yes, it’s a cake with mushroom meringues on top.