Wednesday, December 8, 2010

Shoe removal...

Tearing hair out at present...no Internet connection in the apartment!  Beyond frustrating.

Questions for you:   What socks do you have on right now?  Thoughts on their condition?  Upon close inspection, perhaps a hole...or two?  Any chance they are in need of a little Clorox?  
A shock wave of these questions went racing through my brain as I entered the home where the Moscow Christmas Traditions event took place the other day...  

Brain:    “Ut oh....not good...trouble ahead...warning....warning....this is about to get really really embarrassing!”  In slow motion I removed my boots....holding my  breath....eyes darting around sizing up everyone else’s sock situation...............................then a huge exhale when I realized I was in the clear!
  Disclaimer:  these are not my socks, no really.

Proper Russian etiquette, and actually, almost a requirement when entering any home in Moscow, is to remove all footwear at the front door.  This is so second nature to most...shake hands, remove shoes.  Spring, summer, winter, fall - shoes off.  Even workmen, I learned today, enter all homes with special slipper type flip flops.  Boots off, flops on.  It has a bit of a Japanese-esque feel to it but the truth is, Moscow has a bit of a soot issue.  It’s actually more like the fine dust you kick up driving over a gravel road.  It’s not that we’re walking through a constant cloud of this...it just seems to be everywhere.  The entrance way of every home has a shoe rack for shoes during the visit and most people (at least the Russians) offer slippers to wear while visiting.  I’m planning to swap out an old pair of shoes for an upgrade during our next home visit...

How great are these?  Mop the floors in comfort!