Everything you need for happiness!

Anna Maria Island is a fairy-tale paradise on the shores of the Gulf of Mexico in southern Florida!

Extraordinarily beautiful nature attracts people from all over the world! Tropical palms, bright exotic flowers, luxurious beaches with snow-white sand and clear water, eternal sun, and stunning sunsets!

My love for Florida began last year! When Ira returned from America and brought back gigabytes of photos from there!

After which I couldn't think of anything else, and I actually went and signed a contract to participate in the program!

Kind American Sandy, whom Ira worked with last summer, kindly invited us to stay for a week!

For some reason, we didn't even doubt that everything would work out!

And now we are standing at the exit of the terminal, looking for Sandy's car)

I was a little worried about my English; according to Ira's stories, Sandy loved to chat and wouldn't stop talking for a second!

But everything went wonderfully; Ira sat in the front seat and eagerly answered Sandy's endless questions, while I only occasionally supported the conversation with a smart look)

Sandy has a very cozy house: small bright rooms, two bathrooms, a balcony with a picturesque view of the bay!

There was nothing superfluous in the interior, everything for convenience and comfort, lots of cute decorative things!

Sandy also has a tiny, helpless dog named Mickey, whom she fussed over like a child!

Looking at what Mickey did with her toys, we doubted for a long time if she was a girl????

Every morning we woke up in a soft bed, ate breakfasts prepared for us, and then off to our favorite beach!

At night we sat on the internet, sent letters and photos to everyone, periodically checking the kitchen for something tasty)

A couple of days had to be spent shopping in the huge outlets of Bradenton!

Then, over a few days, I got to know all of Ira's American friends)

I was incredibly curious to meet and talk with each of them!

Of course, I can imagine what Ira felt returning here again!

I especially wanted to see the 90-year-old grandfather, thanks to whom we all saw Florida!

All our friends generously treated us) Super delicious shakes and ice cream in the WORLD at Joe and Juana's cafe, favorite chocolate cookies (Brownies) that Sandy constantly spoiled us with)

Grandpa Melvin and Barbara took us to a restaurant where we tried delicious crab for the first time)

We spent a wonderful evening at a beach table at the "Beachhouse" restaurant in the company of Sandy and her son with his girlfriend, watching the sunset with a cool Mojito)

We even once cooked Russian borscht in the "Ice Cream" cafe!

The owners were a bit shocked by how much time and dishes it takes to prepare soup! But everyone was happy with the result, even the cafe visitors couldn't resist the masterpiece of Russian cuisine!) Joe was so inspired that he asked us about the recipe in detail)

The only American who didn't leave the best impression was Sandy's husband! It annoyed us that he sat on the couch in front of his laptop all day or sneered at the debates when Obama was speaking! And one late evening I accidentally went to the kitchen and regretted it a hundred times!

One casual question to me about whether I was interested in politics, and it started... Ira immediately came to my rescue!

As a result, we had to spend 2 hours out of politeness answering his idiotic political questions, like "Who is worse - Stalin or Lenin?"

My brain had never been so strained during my entire time in America; good language practice)

And one time we were woken up at 7 AM for a walk against child suicide!

They brought us to some park where a bunch of idiots like us had already gathered; everyone was given a free yellow t-shirt with the inscription: "Walk for life".

We were sleepy and hungry and were indignant that they didn't feed us breakfast and dragged us here!

It's good that at least everyone was entitled to a light breakfast of bananas and coffee! And the worst thing was that we had to walk across a long bridge for 2 hours, right in the heat!

As a reward, all participants of the walk were treated to a lunch of sandwiches and hot dogs!

We still didn't understand how we were able to help the poor children!

That's how our carefree vacation for the soul and body flew by unnoticed!

It was very interesting for me to spend a whole week of ordinary American life!

Looking at simple, polite, cultured, and most importantly, kind Americans, you start to believe in a happy life!