It's cold!

Jan 8 Oh the weather outside is frightful! But that does not mean we get to stay home at all. It began to snow on Friday here and continues as I write- 3 days of snow, with a wicked NE wind and a windchill of -35 C. It sounds like a normal Alberta winter , but it is usually not quite as cold here. We expect this to continue for the week, warming towards the end. I have not missed my Chev 4x4 until today, when my Opel was getting high centered on small piles of snow. There are snowplows here, but the effect is minimal and rare, and sand is usually in piles along the roads, not on the roads, today we drove the car and should have taken the bus. Mind you, who drives a trolley bus and spins the tires and slips and slides? Our drivers who really seemed to enjoy the icy roads. They were like children with a new toy. Yesterday was the Orthodox Christmas, and the  city was quiet, but not as quiet as the first Christmas in December. It really is a mix here. There was a group of church goers walking down the snowy streets, with the caroling coming from a following car. Despite the music, none of the walkers were singing, just walking looking rather gloomy. Hard to keep the Spirit of Christmas with a brisk NE wind biting into your cheeks. The cold does keep the sellers of fruit off the streets, bananas really do not like -20 degrees. We still had a quiet week as all the classes were off this holiday week. We got some new missionaries, one , Elder Welling, is from Finland. He speaks perfect English, and could not tell me why he has such an English sounding name. A very fine young man. It has been a cold few days for the missionaries, about 12 dropped by tonight for hot chocolate, all unplanned. Can we say empty refrigerator and cupboards- they can eat - and eat- and eat. It is all good- we were glad to warm and feed them. When saw we Thee hungry and cold?- on a windy blustery Moldovan eve. So a few scattered pictures, we were able to go out and deliver some more food hampers this week, still had FHE for the young adults and managed to keep busier than we expected in holiday time.

The next 2 pictures show something we see daily- people begging at busy intersections in traffic. they are often old, crippled, in wheelchairs. This lady was out 2 days in the snow and cold, begging. It just rips our heart each time.

Shovelling snow at a bus stop

Sister Lee leaving on a train for Bucharest. A great sister who we grew to love.

This game at FHE was called the animal game. Each chair was named for some animal, then they would clap their hands, call out an animal and try to get someone to move down. You had to remember the chairs animal as you moved.

Called signs, this game has people decide n a sign , then try to give that sign without the person in the middle seeing them.

Coming out of my parking garage, I got high centered this morning on the drift- much higher for the first car

Snow around our apartment bloc

Trolley buses we take often, this is 24, and the new version. The old ones are a bit scary and noisy.

Outside our front door. When were those trees planted, you may ask? Beginning of December- rather interesting to see if they survive.
So we are warm inside, but have lots of travel this week. Could those at home send me a chinook, and not the Manyberries kind.