A Christmas Eve to Remember

Rocky...

We were feeling kinda' sorry for ourselves today because we could not be with our families for Christmas. Tonight the Director of the school (Alex) and his wife, Tanya, came to visit us for Christmas Eve. Now, you know everyday feels pretty much the same here (Groundhog Day), so this was a big deal for us to have visitors. We spent the day shopping for food and cleaning the apartment. We even put up out Charlie Brown Christmas tree that we bought at the hardware store.

Our tree for 2011

Alex and Tanya don't celebrate Christmas here until January 7th, but I think they knew we were away from our families and they wanted us to have someone to share it with. Alex is the same age as I am, and Tanya is one year younger. When  I was speaking with them, I couldn't help but think how their lives have changed over the years. Alex spoke about "Soviet Russia" and said "it was not good".  "Back then", he said, "he would not have been allowed to travel anywhere out of the country, and Don and I would never have been allowed in his country". It would have been impossible for us to ever become acquainted.  We shared a lot in common... Like Don, Alex makes wine, likes guns and motorcycles. Tanya has a very warm personality and is a nice person.  Alex and Tanya are super nice people. We really enjoyed their company. It was a very special Christmas Eve to remember.

Ales and Tanya

 We woke up to snow on the ground this morning. It made it feel a little bit more like Christmas back home.

1st snow on Christmas Eve