Today I toured a new sports facility in town. They have built an astroturf soccer field with a basketball court at one end, a volleyball court at the other end and a running track around the perimeter. It is covered by a heavy tent like dome and lighted. It is still cold in there, but protected from weather and open until 9 at night. Really, I just took a picture of it because I was fascinated by the hat our tour guide was wearing. It just cracked me up. The coat was quite a statement as well. My only entertainment today since the internet was down and the cable TV as well. Now I just wish we had a supermarket. Life would be complete.

This is my new friend Elena. She lived in the US for five years and speaks great English. She is my main link to the orphanages. I think she is a reincarnated angel. We are going to visit a family on Saturday that is fostering eleven children. This is their third set of children that they have fostered. They did not receive any funds from the state this month to assist them because of the financial crisis and are looking for help to get through the month. Elena introduced me to some of her friends at her birthday party. (One of her friends just recieved a 30 percent cut in his wages because of the financial crisis. That drops his wages to about 700 dollars a month, and we thought we had it bad) It is the tradition here for the birthday person to bring a cake to work and to sponsor and do all the cooking and preparations for their own party if they have one at home. Elena had to have been cooking for three days for this party. She made several very good russian salads. Very different from anything I have tasted before, but delicious. One ws a pickled carrot salad with mushrooms in it, the other was a potato salad with pickles and apples in it. She also made something that looked like an empanada but is stuffed with either cabbage or fish. We also had some pink caviar on toast. Gary very politely took the caviar and after I had finished eating mine he slipped his on my plate. What a guy. We also had homemade chocolate chip cookies. Wow. and I thought I was the only one here that knew how to make them. We also had a delicious desert that tasted a bit like Mom's grasshopper pie. I am back on my diet now for a few hours until the next party. We are having a superbowl party here tonight. They are showing it delayed by 14 hours so I am not allowed to turn on CNN until after we have watched it. Ra Ra Arizona.

Death of a housemate

Hi, So it has been -27F this week so we haven't been out and about much. The air is so cold that it actually takes your breath away when you step out from the shock of it and makes you realize just how many nose hairs you have because you can feel them freezing from the air. We finally caught the mouse. We had to fatten him up a bit before he would spring the trap. We would put peanut butter on the trap and he would just lick it off without actually getting caught. This week though I put some russian 70 proof vinegar behind the fridge where he hangs out. That stuff is so powerful it nearly knocks me flat when I open the lid. It must have disoriented him enough that he stumbled into the trap. Either that or the smell of it just made him want to commit suicide. I am enclosing a picture Gary took. He put a blindfold on him to protect his identity. Don't ask me why?