Russian New Year's

Before I post my Nigeria impressions, here are a few more tidbits about my time at home. Beside the fact that it was REALLY cold (around -5F for a few days before I left), I had a great time, and the reason for it is that I really love celebrating New Year's in Russia. It is the biggest holiday there, and there are certain common tradition in addition to family-specific ones. My family usually cooks and cleans during the day, then takes it easy in the late afternoon, and then sits down to eat around 10, watching various holiday programs on TV. The celebration culminates at 11:55 when everyone watches the President's Speech, and the Kremlin clock chimes midnight--at this point, you raise a Champagne toast and then continue eating and watching TV until you fall asleep sometime between 2-5am. The meal includes very typical dishes, which I truly miss, so it is always fun. This year, it was just my parents and myself (since my brother was vacationing in the Philippines), so we followed the usual routine, except that we ate so much that I was feeling unwell, so my Mom and I decided to talk a walk around the neighborhood. Even though it was relatively cold, the streets were jampacked with people. We went to bed around 5am. The only negative part about New Year's celebration in recent years is the ridiculous amount of fireworks that people shoot all through the evening---it really sounds like a war zone. The "battle" intensifies around midnight and then dies down slowly.