Let it Snow!

For the first time this week, the snow that has been falling actually started to stick! So, we have have snow and it will probably be this way until May.  I have my parka from LL Bean, my Carhartt gator and face mask, my Northface gloves, my BOGS boots and my STABILicers ice cleats... I hope I am prepared for the looooooonnnnng winter! The village people have been getting their snow mobiles out and making sure they work.  They also refer to snow mobiles as "Snow Go-s."  

The teachers have still been getting together for meals some nights and hanging out~ I ABSOLUTELY LOVE MY CO-WORKERS!!!!! We have become friends and family.  They have been such a blessing from God. We move into our new houses within the next two weeks! We are all very excited! While I was the one and only lucky teacher to have a microwave, the new houses will all be equipped with microwaves over the stoves.  Can you imagine living without a microwave??? We will still not have dishwashers though because no one knows how to fix them if they break or need maintenance.  Because we have to cook most everything from scratch, we usually have a lot of dishes.  I miss dishwashers. :( It is just weird not living with modern conveniences.

By the way, because the village people thought that Nichole's kids were demon possessed, they asked the Russian Orthodox priest to bless her classroom.  This happened a few weeks after they asked the Catholic priest to bless the room..... Never have I ever read anything about this in my college textbooks about teaching... I took pictures! 

 He had to face the east for the ceremony thing.

 Snow that sticks!

A pretty picture of the sky... it is so big and open here!

 The sky meets the river.... Lovely shades of stormy gray.

 By the time we had walked about 7 minutes to our houses, it was getting pretty clear outside. That is how fast the weather changes here! Also, these boys were getting their snow machines out to test drive them.

 Perfect snow to build a snowman!  So, Nichole and I decided to build a snowman right in front of the boy teachers' front door!

 Rolling the middle section up the ramp!

 It looked like a gangster.

 We eventually found a penny and a rock for the eyes, a baby carrot for the nose, and a slice of a red pepper for the mouth.

 We knocked on their door and ran.  Josh walked out, went back inside, and then came back out with his camera. Nichole snapped this picture from our "hiding" spot beside the house.

*In loving memory of Jack.  He was brutally massacred later that night... a real hit and run. Rest in pieces, Jack!