Unfinished

And so we're approaching the New Year's Eve, the most important event in the Russian calendar, the holiday to make all the other holidays unnecessary, the party to obviate all other parties. My parents have been texting family and friends all day long, inventing clever wordings for standard sentiments of goodwill, something more than the simple We wish you very happy 2010, may it bring you health, happiness and everything that you might desire. The first thing we tried to do when we woke up in Haifa this morning was to reserve a restaurant where to reign the New Year in, but the results of our efforts are unclear. There are too many Russians in this city, all the restaurants are booked solid. All of them were telling us that their outside seating is still available, and that's what we're counting on. Our first choice is a restaurant called Nemo, as in Captain Nemo or Nemo the fish.

Happy New Year.