HOWEVER.... This Sunday was a winterwonderland here in Huy. There is a couple of things we should all learn about the snow, specially when you come from a place when it never snows. Here are some pointers about the snow.

Snow is water. Si mae, yo se, Nicole descubrio el agua tibia. The point is, snow is water, therefore if you lay on it trying to make snow angels, it is very likely that you will end up überly wet. Please do remember that jeans also get cold very quickly, so when doing snow angels, I STRONGLY recommend not to do them before going to work, otherwise you might have to walk back up to change...

Snow is a death trap... Melting snow specially. When walking in melting snow, always take the still wet snow as a mildly safe place to walk, DO NOT try to walk over the watery icy part, you might fall (as yours truly did) and then have to make funny awkwardly robotic movements to get up. As a side note, when doing snow angels, I recommend a second person to help you get up after making them, in that way you can preserve the pretty snow angel form.

Snow sleds are incredibly fun. They are also difficult to drive. When sliding off a small hill (belgium hills are flat places for Costa Ricans) always choose the place where the grass should be, the sled will slide faster. When getting dangerously close to a tree, a bush or a cement wall, do not try to avoid by naively trying to drive to the right or left. Using your feet or tossing yourself off the sled might be a more practical and efficient approach.

Do not attempt to make snowmen with freshly fallen snow. This kind of snow doesn´t attach propperly and there is no point in trying to make the small ball and the rolling it over some more snow to make a round body. Also, snow cannot be handled like sand. Do not transport snow from one place to the other and pile it together in order to make a snow man, it will end up looking like a volcano... Have patience.

If feeling down because the snow is already melting and you didn´t get to do your snow man, take a second to remember that, with global warming, it is very likely that more snow will fall. So, take a second, thank the US and the chinesse for the lovely snow you will get to enjoy. Also, once you are done playing with your snow, please do save a minute of silence for all the dying polar bears and emperor pinguins (and the frogs, and birds, and giraffes, and all the cities slowly drowning... perhaps you should take many minutes of silence).