Snow Day

Dushanbe is not a very cold city.  Everyone here desperately hates winter, counting down the days until spring as soon as the temperatures start dipping below fifty degrees.  But it isn't because winter is particularly long, or even cold, it's because of bad housing and spotty electricity.  When your concrete block house with no insulation doesn't have power to run your few poor radiators, winter is a pretty rough time.

 We've had a nice fall, with the temperatures only dropping into the fifties in November.  Last week I shut off all of the radiators in the house because we were dying of heat - when it's 65 degrees and sunny, you only need a little heat, not ALL of it.

Then it got cold.  And then it started raining.  And then it got colder.  Weather.com told me that we would get some snow, about 1-3 inches on Thursday and 1-3 inches that night.  I shouldn't really be taking an American weather website as reliable anyway, and when the children and I went out Thursday afternoon in six inches of snow, I was reminded of that fact.

Luckily we have a park less than a quarter mile from our house, which makes for perfect snow playing when everyone else is huddling inside or hurrying home to huddle and get away from that nasty white stuff.

Most of the children had a great time making snow angels, sliding down hills, and making (and then breaking) several snowmen.  Eleanor was unimpressed, but most 19 month-olds are unimpressed with most new experiences.  We only bring her along because she can't be left alone in the house.

Dushanbe doesn't usually get snow until January, so it's started early this year.  Last year was pretty mild, so we'll have to see how this one goes.  But if it snows, we'll have a great time playing in it.