Thanksgiving...Improvised

Thanksgiving again in a foreign country. You just never know what you're going to get. Joe and I decided not to go to the school's potluck for Thanksgiving today. It's our anniversary so we wanted to spend a little time together. Plus, we wanted our Thanksgiving meal hot off the stove and out of the oven.

Of course, nothing is perfect, so I couldn't find the ingredients for stuffing and pumpkin pie. Okay, I could have made pumpkin pie fresh from a pumpkin, but I'm way too lazy for that. So, we didn't have my favorites, but we had Joe's. Well, that is, he had chicken instead of turkey and we had mashed potatoes. It was good, all in all.

We did a little shopping today at an Uzbek craft fair. It was kind of nice. There's not a lot of great stuff to buy over here, but we did find a handpainted Uzbek plate which is really pretty. A lot of the stuff here is made from felt. The yurts, or traditional round-shaped houses, are even made from felt, I believe. Joe and I ordered a rug of handmade felt from a woman who makes them in Kyrgystan. We are waiting for it to be delivered in December.

And I almost forgot! It snowed! And snowed and snowed and snowed. Ever since the first snow began to fall a couple of days ago it has definitely been winter. It's really beautiful. Everything is covered with it. The evergreens look very Christmasy. When you can see the mountains in the background it's really nice. Of course, neither Joe nor I are prepared for this weather. I have no gloves, no hat, no scarf, no boots. It's getting cold, so I'd better get around to getting them. Thankfully, the traffic slowed down with the snow, but that means it takes us forever to get back and forth to school. They don't really remove a lot of the snow. The sidewalks just get trampled down so that they're covered with compacted snow. They must clear the main roadways because driving hasn't been that bad. Our parking lot is pure ice, covered by the second layer of snow.

Joe keeps saying, I love the winter. I've decided I've had my fill. I have the feeling I'd better get used to it. Ah well, it is lovely to have such a change.