Snow, snow, and, yes, more snow.

We were surprised last weekend when we returned from Chişinau to discover a foot+ of snow lying gracefully across Briceni. The rutiera (small bus) even had trouble on the roads because of the abundance of this fluffy white substance and under-coat of ice. Luckily we haven't had any real problems with traveling in the weather. As we settled back into our apartment, the snow fell..and it fell...and it fell. School continued as normal throughout the week, but the students took every opportunity to play outside during the breaks, and we might have thrown a snowball or two.

 

Many people told us that when we moved to the new apartment it would be very nice to live in the "center," (Briceni is a small town and a five-minute walk would bring you from one side to the other), which we smiled at and secretly wondered why they talked so much about the differences in locations of this seemingly small town. We have the answer in the form of a few feet of snow. Briceni grew much larger once the snow fell. It now takes us about 12 minutes to get to school, not counting the time used clothing and unclothing, booting and de-booting ourselves anytime we want to go anywhere.

 

We looked through old pictures this week and chanced upon some of a surprise blizzard we experienced driving through Flagstaff. The snow was definitely deep, but mostly in the drifts. Moreover, we didn't live in Flagstaff; it was a small adventure that occupied less than a day of our year.

 

In Briceni we have already experienced many different kinds of snow. School was canceled today because of more snow last night, and we've had a light dusting of snow all throughout the day. It looks like it will let up and we'll return to school tomorrow.

 

We have one week left of this semester and are sure the students will be as energetic as ever. This Saturday we plan to go to Romania (if the buses are running) and stay for a week to enjoy the foothills of the Carpathian Mountains. The town is called Gura Humorului, and we'll be staying in a hostel, the hosts of which speak English and hosted a PC volunteer a few years ago. We look forward to celebrating Christmas there and experiencing the village's traditions. We'll be sure to take many pictures.

 

We are adjusting well to our new home. Here are some pictures of where we live. You can see we are quite comfortable as our Moldovan counterparts set us up with a very nice place.

Borscht!!!