Winter in Chisinau!

Today it is winter. It is the kind of damp cold that makes -4 C feel like the coldest weather ever. We have had a good stiff wind all day and now it has been snowing pretty well for about three hours. I am having to reorganize my Moldovan fashion statement and I am happy to see that knit caps are acceptable. I must learn the Russian and Romanian words for all the winter apparel. High heels are still on the streets but furs have come out of storage. When I arrived at the Academy of Music at 8:00 a.m. the woman at the door pinched my cheeks and laughed because they were so red. The big Christmas tree was erected in the main square today and I discovered the tree behind my TV set. It is already decorated so I only need to plug it in to make it light up. As I arrived at the apartment building this afternoon a person leaving instructed me to be sure to close the outer door. Tonight I went to Acasa la Mama and discovered an amazing Moldovan soup. I was looking through books for Moldovan Christmas songs to play (Colinde) and the waiter went through his list of 5000 tunes on his computer so he could play some for me. As I left the restaurant there were lots of people out enjoying the snow, walking dogs, pushing children down the street using cardboard boxes for sleds, and peering out from their giant furry hoods. Tomorrow I will go to an English language class at the State Pedagogical Institute to play some Christmas carols on my flutes and have them sing some Christmas carols. I will miss the daily skate skiing in Wyoming this winter, but Chisinau seems to be ready for the cold weather. I see on the BBC news that there is a big cold snap in northern Europe today and I think it might be headed our way.