Happy New Year

On December 31, Gail and I had our second Russian lesson. Gail did very well and I did OK. I claimed that it was due to the fact that I spent several hours helping Lisa move things to their new apartment, but that was only part of it. After the lesson and Igor's English lesson, We went to Kompot, one of our favorite places to eat. We had Olivier (Russian) salad and Napoleon cake. Julia said that they are traditional new year food. Both were very good. Yulia and Igor spent new year's eve with friends and Masha went to her Grandfather's. Lisa and Betsy came to the apartment in the evening. At about 8:00 pm we decided to go out to get something to eat before the fireworks display. After a few minutes of walking around it was evident that everything was closed for the evening, even McDonald's. Fortunately we had made a couple of grocery runs and were well stocked. We returned to the apartment and made vegetable beef soup. After a good supper and good conversation, at about 11:25 pm, we walked to the city hall. There was already a large crowd at the stage where singers were performing. At midnight, the fireworks display began. I think that in the US I have seen displays with as many fireworks, but they usually lasted 20 minutes or so. This went off in 10 minutes or less and was very intense, with a lot of fireworks simultaneously. We had to look straight up to see much of it as the air bursts were directly overhead. As we walked back to the apartment after the display, fireworks were going off everywhere. Even people in the crowd were shooting roman candle like fireworks everywhere. We continued to hear explosions and see fireworks from our window until at least 4:00 am. We had Lisa and Betsy spend the night. Their new apartment doesn't have furniture yet, so they were sleeping on the floor for now. Igor returned from visiting friends at about 2:00 am and slept in late, even missing breakfast. I spent quite a bit of time on Skype talking to my Mom and my sister Laura until about 4:00 am. When we got up this morning, we made omelets. Then we relaxed and visited until about 3:00 pm , when Lisa and Betsy returned to their apartment. We wish everyone a very happy and prosperous new year.