From Sweden

Dear friends,
Just a note from Stockholm, Sweden. Christmas Day today, and all is VERY quiet. We saw some skinny Santas walking around the city yesterday...don't know if they "made it around" or not! They looked like they needed the cookies people are said to leave out for them.
There is weak sunshine and pale blue sky outside this apartment window. Yesterday it snowed a little, just a powdered sugar dusting, and the car windows are frosted.
Laura and I had a lovely meal with friends yesterday afternoon, and later the Bible study meeting at 6:30, and then goodies and visiting in another home with friends.
I could have enjoyed things more if I didn't have this nasty cold...the one that the people in Russia were sure I was going to get, but I didn't...anyway, it caught up with me here in Sweden. So, today, Laura and I are taking it pretty easy. Later, we'll have to go and re-pack for the trip to Tallin, Estonia (by air) tomorrow. I'm hoping against hope that my cold will go away and my voice come back by then!
A week from today I should be back in Kearney, Nebraska if all goes as planned. It seems hard to believe that the weeks over on this side have all gone past! Wishing each of you a peaceful and profitable new year. Priscilla

Heading home

Good morning from Aland! That is pronounced OHland, and should have a little circle above the A, but I don't know how to put it there. Again, I've appreciated notes and letters from each of you who have written, and I'm sure the thoughts and prayers of others have helped, too.
Our days in Ekaterinburg ended on Wednesday, December 10. It was a day filled with all the last-day things that have to be finished, packed, used up, cleaned, put away. Our train left in the middle of the night, so we took a taxi to the station after midnight, then waited a couple hours there. It was 3 a.m. before we really got settled on the train and could think about finally sleeping. We crossed two time zones as we traveled west to Moscow, and when we arrived on Friday morning, it was 6 30 a.m. there. Luda had to go to the Latvian Embassy to apply for a visa, and the schedule left no time to accompany me to the airport. It was arranged that a girl I had met before would meet us and go the rest of the way with me, so first it was going thru the metros, then on the intra-city train to the airport. Then it was a long wait.
No use going into details on all that, other than to say that of course it was three very wearying days. FINALLY I was on board the Finnair plane bound for Helsinki. I might say I was in a different world as soon as I got on that plane! Laura and Jane met my plane in Helsinki, and we went to Sorenson's. John, Gordon, and Stefan were already there and we 6 went to some other friends' home for a wonderful supper and evening. Saturday we went into Helsinki and looked around a bit, but mostly I was too tired to explore very far. Sunday was a wonderful day, all in ENGLISH. Monday was filled with good-byes, as John left to go on to Latvia, and in the afternoon Jane and Stefan left to cross over to Sweden.
Gordon, Laura and I, and a visiting friend from Germany, left before 6 a.m. to travel to the ferry in Turku and then 6 hours to Aland. These ferries are a very comfortable way to travel, with restaurants, cafeteria, shops, cabins. Laura and I had a good rest, then it was wonderful to have a warm shower and wash my hair as we travelled. The days this time of year are all gray. The sky is overcast, it drizzles, and besides, the sun rises late and sets early. So, looking out the windows at the water was not so exciting and sitting out on the open deck was not even an option.
Here in Finland, and on these islands that belong to Finland, the temperature is still hovering around 0 Celcius, which is somewhere around 32° F. Yes, it SHOULD be snowy and very cold...but it is not. it is only overcast and drizzly and the grass is still green. The forecast here is for a green Christmas.
So, I am back where I was before I went to Russia, at Gunnar and Melanie's, and enjoying little Ingrid. Laura, Hanna (from Germany) and I have our beds out in the cabin, and I'm looking forward to rest and restoration for a few days! We have invitations for supper and evening each night in other homes here. Merna, Stephanie, and Eldon will come tomorrow, and Sunday will be the Special meeting here....but this one will be in Swedish. Monday, Laura and I will cross on over to Stockholm. On Friday next week, Laura and I will fly to Tallin in Estonia, and return to Stockholm on Monday. After that, a day to pack, and early Wednesday the 31st back to airport to fly to the States.

Two Minnows.....

We arrived back from our last trip (4 days, 5 nights) to Siberia around noon today, and glad we were to be "home" again. It is quite a round of bus trips with an overnight train both going and coming. The train is much better than trying to sleep on a bus, but still not the best rest. Both Olga and Nadezhda hugged me good-bye, extending thanks and "welcome" and pleading that I would come again. Parting is hard.
The weather was unusually nice until Sunday afternoon, when a cold front must have moved in. It was pretty "chilly" waiting for the bus in the early morning darkness, and plenty "cool" on the bus, too. It makes several stops to pick up more people - standing, waiting, in the bitter cold - and every time the door opens more cold air comes in with the people. Everyone waits quietly while the driver collects the fare and logs whatever information...and FINALLY the bus goes on.
It was -17C in Omck, and we waited at least an hour for the right city bus to Nadezhda's. So, we were really chilled through. Late in the evening when we went back to the train station it was down to -20C. That is about as cold as it gets in Nebraska. Not sure the exact degrees, but it is below zero Fahrenheit. For some reason, the train, which is usually too hot, wasn't warm either, so we tried to sleep in our jackets with our coats on top of the blanket. We were glad when we got back to Ekaterinburg that it is not nearly so cold here.
Now we have only a few more days here, as next week we leave Wednesday on the long train trip back to Moscow.
Thanks again to all who have written, or even thought of us. Thinking of the saying, "a big frog in a little puddle"...here, we are like two minnows in a big ocean!