I’m so excited, Sochi here we come!

For many of you, Sochi means nothing more than the place that will host the next winter Olympic games but for me it’s something else entirely.
http://sochi2014.ru/eng.html

Most of you know, I was born in Kiev and lived most of my early years in Baku before immigrating to the US with my parents in 1980. I was 9 that year and Moscow was host to the Games of the XXII Olympiad.  Some of you may remember the mascot, Mishka?
But until we came to America, we spent most summers vacationing in Sochi on the Black Sea! I can’t remember much and what I do remember is probably due to all the stories my parents have told me over the years like; How I knew everyone on the beach and everyone on the beach knew me because I would walk over and introduce myself. Everyone knew my parents too but only as “Alyona’s (Алёна) parents.” How in the middle of a concert one night, I stood up and started dancing and singing and, if any of you have ever heard me sing, was probably quite a spectacle. It’s funny how when I hear these stories, I think of Jacob and how similar we are. And so when I heard that the next Olympics were being held in Sochi, I suddenly felt like I had a responsibility to take Jacob and expose him… and Phil to my past. And so it has been decided, we’re going to Sochi for the 2014 winter Olympics and nothing is going to stop us. The research will now begin and I’ll keep you posted but I have to admit that I’m not sure if I’m excited because deep inside I’ve always been on the fence of, do I root for the Russians or the Americans or, because I’ll discover something new about myself and learn firsthand what it was like to experience Sochi…only now as an adult, a wife but most importantly, a mother!