Christmas in Central Asia

A few months ago, I was trying to decide where to go for Christmas. I don't have much vacation time left for the year, and having just gone to the states, I didn't have a lot of money left either. And more than anything, I wanted to go where there would be snow. Last winter in Besancon ruined me, in that I just want SNOW all winter long...and I live on the Mediterranean coast. As I was thinking about it one day, I felt like the Lord whispered in my heart, "Why not look at going to see the Suits?" I looked at ticket prices and was pleased to see how low they were....and they were booked within days. I haven't seen the Suits since they moved to Central Asia, and I've always wanted to spend a holiday with them, since they are practically family in my heart.

I left my house at 5:30am to walk to the metro, catch it to the train station, where I caught a shuttle bus to the airport, and promptly checked in 2 hours early for my flight. As usual, my passport caused some confusion (so many visas, many of which are expired), but they agreed that as long as I try to enter the Central Asian country as an American and purchase the visa at immigration, I would be fine. Why in the world would I want to try to confuse the Central Asian immigration by trying to enter as an American resident in France?! I like to keep things simple. I'm an American. I'll buy the American visa, please. Thank you.

We flew over the Alps, and oh my. It was lovely. I would have stared at it the whole way if the sunlight wasn't bothering my still-slightly-sick eye. But I did snap a shot so that I could look back and remember the majesty of the Lord's creation. If this is what they look like from above the clouds, imagine from the ground looking up!

About a week before I left France, the Suits asked me if I would feel unloved if they didn't pick me up at the airport, but had someone meet me who could get me to the bus station. I told them that was fine, so a very sweet young lady and her friend met me at the airport. We rode a shuttle bus from the airport to the bus station, where we went from one booth to the next looking for a bus going to the Suits' town. One of the busses was leaving at 11pm...no thank you! I did not want to wait up that late nor ride that late by myself through Central Asia. We found one that was leaving at 5:30. Perfect! As I was paying, we realized it was 5:26! The man who sold us the ticket guided us quickly to the bus and I said a speedy, "Nice to meet you! Thanks for helping me!" to my new friend and climbed on board.
Each seat had it's own TV that was programed to local channels...none of which I could understand, obviously. I pulled out my Kindle to read, and they promptly turned all the lights off. Well. First time ever that I regretted not having a light for my Kindle. I pulled out my iphone and began to watch the movie that The Jeremy gifted me for Christmas. About 10 minutes into it, I'd attracted the attention of several little boys who climbed into the seat beside me and wanted to see the phone. They didn't understand that I didn't understand them, that they wouldn't understand my movie if I let them listen, or why none of my apps were working. I decided turning the movie off would be the best way to get them to let go of my phone. So...I slept the entire 3 hour ride and am happy to say that for once in my life...nothing crazy happened on my bus ride. Shocking, I know! After 15 hours of travel, I was greeted by wonderful squeezes from those kiddos I love so much.

The next day was Christmas Eve. After a lazy morning, we got dressed, and ready for friends to come over. One of the neat things about spending Christmas with the Suits was that Gran Suit had come too, and some other friends from their home fellowship had just moved there as well...so with so many familiar faces there, it felt...normal. Not like we were in Central Asia. We sang Christmas songs, read the Christmas story from Luke 2, and spent time worshiping that God became flesh to live among us. We ate a great Christmas meal, and watched the Nativity Story. Then...games! The kids got Twister for Christmas, and just loved it.
I think we killed some bunnies, had a dance revolution on the wii, played some backgammon and chess, and all around participated in gaming merriment. As the friends bundled up to head towards home, we noticed that it had begun snowing and the snow was sticking to the cars. It was a wonderful day, and we all went to sleep dreaming of waking up to a white Christmas.

The Suits' kids are not yet quite old enough to wake up the world at 5am on Christmas morning (thankfully), and so we had another slight sleep-in that morning, and kept them locked in the kitchen until we had everything ready (ie, a train track set up in front of the tree).
We slowly opened presents all day...opening for a while, and then playing with new games for a bit, eating a bit, and returning again to the gifts. One particular favorite moment was when the kids received a beautifully illustrated children's book with the lyrics of "A Few of My Favorite Things." As Mrs. Suit was reading it, Gran, Mr. Suit and I began quoting along with it, which turned into singing along with it, which turned into a melodramatic rendition of the song. The kids seemed shocked that in this first time reading of the book, that we would all know the words, and have made up a song to go with it already!

Schlomo and Sputnik gave me a pair of turquoise striped socks with money from their piggy banks. They wanted to get me something with that color, and when Sputnik saw the socks, he knew they'd be perfect. The best part of that story is that when they went to wrap them, Gran Suiter almost wrote, "From Schlomo, Sputnik and Dayspring." The boys interrupted her and exclaimed that she could not write Dayspring's name on the tag, because she did not give any money to help pay! (Dayspring is two and just beginning her piggy bank.) Well. So my socks are from the boys. :)

Mr. and Mrs. Suit gave me an antique coffee grinder from their country. It's really cool, and still has some grounds in it. I love how the brass and coffee smells. Isn't it beautiful!?
We stayed in our pjs all day. We played Sequence for kids, which I lost about 20 times in a row. Schlomo came over to sit in my lap and help me, but I still continued to lose...so he went back to playing by himself so that he might stand a chance at winning. Mr. Suit taught me how to play chess later, and I decided...I don't like it. You have to think way too much without having any fun. No thanks.
On Monday, we decided that maybe I ought to get out of the house. The two families and I all loaded up into the van and another car, (driven by a local friend), and headed towards the mountain to play in the snow.
On the way there, the driver took us by some natural hot springs. This rock formation was so beautiful! It was neat to see the steam coming up from it, and to put our hands in warm water while the air around us was so bitter cold.
I loved all those colors and shapes formed into the rock! So beautiful! I was really glad he took us by there to see it.
We were able to get a photo with me, the Suits, and Gran.
We kept heading up, and then suddenly the driver pulled over and announced, "We're here!" We looked around at the lack of snow, and saw the mountains still off in the distance and felt confused. He insisted that there was no road up to the mountains and we could just play in this snow.
There was some snow on the ground...but there was more mud than snow. We all got a good bit muddy. But the kids had a great time trying to make snowballs out of the very powdery snow. Here Sputnik is throwing one right at me.
Schlomo, I mean Spiderman, spun a web at me.
Dayspring just tried to figure out how to make a snowball. I was just trying to figure out how to not freeze. I was good from the waist up, but my legs and feet were frozen!
The Suits got down jackets for Christmas, so they were toasty and warm. Doesn't she look gorgeous!?
The sun began to set, and that was our cue to head back. The mountains turned such pretty colors as the sun set shined onto them.
It made me think of "purple mountain majesties." The driver took us on a bit of a tour of some areas that are being rebuilt since an earthquake had flatten many of their buildings. We stopped at a restaurant that was heat through radiators from the natural hot springs...we were able to warm up and eat an awesome meal. $35 covered 14 of us!!! I just kept thinking, I could pay that for just me at a restaurant in France! I thoroughly enjoyed the entire outing that day.
Back at home, I read some to the kiddos one last time before they went to bed and I began to pack my suitcase. Skype is an amazing thing, and so Schlomo and Sputnik have always remembered me, no matter how long it's been between visits. Because of that, I got MANY squeezes and sweet whispers of, "I love you Aunt Soj, please sit by me." Dayspring was just beginning to warm up to me by the time it was time for me to leave, but maybe now when she sees me on Skype she'll remember me from this visit. I do love those kids...and their parents!!!
The next morning, we made the 3 hour drive back to the town with the airport. The scenery was beautiful the whole drive...countryside, twisting roads, rolling hills, and amazing mountains in the distance. I commented that I thought all that I'd seen on this trip to Central Asia looked just like what I'd thought Central Asia would look like.
My flight went smoothly with no hitches. I was a little nervous about making it from the airport to the metro in time to catch the last metro of the evening. Our God is good to us, though, and answers our prayers. My suitcase was the first one out of the shoot (first time ever!), and I was able to grab it and scurry over to the shuttle bus, which I just barely caught. Just a few suitcases later, I would have missed that bus, and subsequently missed the metro, thus having to pay a ridiculous amount of money for a short taxi ride to my house. Instead, I caught the bus, caught the second to last metro, and was able to collapse into my bed at 11pm.

It was a good Christmas. Thank you, Lord. Thank you, Suits.