(To theme of “Annie”) "The Moon Will Come Out Tomorrow...”

Many have asked how many daylight hours we get in Moscow. This video quite sums it up:

It’s actually not nearly as tough as we thought it would be...and so on this, the eve of the shortest day of the year...

Our daylight hours have been in line with what we experienced on the east coast (closer to NY than Atlanta), sunrise at 8:57 a.m. and sunset at 3:57 p.m. (times for tomorrow’s shortest day).  You probably read that tomorrow will be unique in that the full moon will completely disappear from the sky early Tuesday morning for a total lunar eclipse.  The eclipse will begin at 2:41 a.m. and ends at 3:53 a.m.  Should you be out moon gazing at that hour, the moon will have a reddish tinge (not to be confused with Rudolph’s nose, as that will come a few days later).

The good news, from Tuesday on...the days get longer.  Yahtzee!  Now that speaks to actual daylight hours and doesn’t necessarily mean the sun will be shining in Moscow each day.  With that said, please grab ahold of the rope and help pull (we thank you).  ;)

Nippy Dip...

Received a notice today that the expat community is doing a fund raiser to help the homeless in Moscow.  It's an ice swimming, aka "snow bathing", event at the end of January.  I thought Steve would really enjoy this - so I signed him up - plan to share the surprise when we arrive in the parking lot the morning of...  It's my duty to make sure he takes in the Russian culture - is it not?  He's an Ironman for gosh sakes - he'll probably snap off 3000 meters of invigorated training!

Old Arbat!

I have to admit we haven’t felt the complete “crush” of the season - being miles away from all the commercialism of the holiday.  That’s not to say Moscow doesn’t have its share of the same but it has a bit of a different feel over here.  With that said, Steve and I agreed that the time has come to ramp up our Christmas shopping for the family...okay, so perhaps we waited a bit too long to get started - but this girl has been digging a hole to China with the path I’ve beaten to IKEA and OBI, our hardware store.  Side note - also just got turned on to Stockmann’s!!!  Pure heaven as it carries lots of US brands - oreos, ritz crackers, cheetohs (may make a whole dinner out of these little gems as the stove is sill kaput), Old El Paso, cake mixes, Nature Valley granola bars and so much more.  I seriously got a little choked up when I found our long lost friends...it’s the little things that make such a difference over here!

Headed to Old Arbat - a quaint part of town with a pedestrian street full of shops, bars, cafes, pubs, book stalls and galleries.  An artsy area teaming with locals and tourists - lots going on! Here's what I saw:

This is not Big Foot - this gal is uber prepared for the weather - very typical!

"Father Frost" in back of photo on the right and check out all the fur...

Not sure how the street vendors stay outside all day long...it was toe-numbing cold in single digit temps and these hearty souls hang out in this weather without so much as a mini space heater!  Tough as nails!

Shear Beauty...

Delay in blog action as this is week number 3 without Internet access in the apartment.  Really?  Really.  Cross-eyed with frustration but have decided to laugh about it as it is far better than the alternative.  Internet guys are coming tomorrow with new router...

This is in our front yard:

Christ the Savior Cathedral is literally right across from our apartment building and is one of the biggest attractions in Moscow.  Construction began in 1817 and took 45 years to build.   It took one day to blow it up - in 1931 Stalin ordered its destruction.  Some of the remains of the original cathedral can be found in several of the amazingly beautiful metro stations in Moscow (more on this in future blog).  In 1958, Khrushchev turned the grounds into the world's largest outdoor swimming pool.  After perestroika, a wooden cross appeared in the square by the pool, together with a box of donations.  Billions of rubles were collected and in 1995 the cathedral was rebuilt (completed in 1998).  It can hold more than 10,000 visitors at a time.

This is the foot bridge leading up to the Cathedral:

We walk across this bridge and around the cathedral to get to our metro station.  What I love most is hearing the faint sound of the cathedral bells in the morning.   Truly breathtaking...

Musings...

My new good friend, Sally, helped my navigate through our little grocery store last night.  As we went up and down the aisles, she pointed out her favorite brands and what to generally avoid.   What a huge help!  So...purchased lots of new and exciting things - went home and prepped for the meal.  Veggies chopped and ready to go, water ready to boil for the pasta...and our stove top decided to take a breather.  Nyet ga-to-vit!  Ergh! 


Found the instruction manual which was written in German and French.  Fantastic!  We were 0 for 3...Know German?  Nein.  French?  No.  Russian to call for help?  Not so much.  Luckily we do have lots of support from new friends and co-workers who have helped us navigate through times like this.  Still waiting for someone to come and look at our stove...

Walked out of our building last week and found a film crew shooting a movie scene outside our entrance.  Huge lights, wires and cameras all throughout our stairwell.  It was fascinating!  The shot included an old, fancy black car with red interior with a driver and another male actor in the back seat with small round rimmed glasses, overcoat, scarf and a newspaper.  If you happen to catch a Russian movie with this scene - you’ll know where it was taken.

Took this photo outside our apartment building - I thought these trees looked so Christmasy.  If you look closely...you'll see a turtle dove (perhaps the Russian version of the turtle dove?)  ;)

  

Random Observations...

Russia knows snow removal.  When it snows, Moscow turns into a human ant hill of street and sidewalk clearing. It seems like they’re removing snow the second it hits the ground.  This place is hyper-prepared for foul weather and it is quite impressive.  Compare this to Atlanta and the deep south - mere gossip that it might snow or ice 5 days out - schools, airports, stores closed. Bread and milk, not a chance.

3 workers clearing snow in our courtyard this morning - they're on it!

Recycling = nyet.  No such thing here.  There’s almost a pride in how much trash can be accumulated in one day.  Now, I will say Moscow is an impressive early adopter to charge for plastic grocery bags.  When you step up to the cashier you’re asked how many bags you want to buy (at least I think that’s what she’s asking).  You look at your stash and size up the need and hope you get it right, ‘cause there’s no going back once you state the number.  Adien, dva, tri, chateria...and then you bag your own.  All good.  I made the mistake my first time through of thinking I could make it with adien (one) bag.  Note to self:  wine bottle and large water bottles are heavy.  Big rip on the way home and ended up hand carrying the whole lot.  Smooth.  Clearly the new American on the block.

Big purchase day yesterday.  With the help of our driver, picked up a new TV, microwave, 3 humidifiers and an iron.  Interesting note:  there is no such thing as a back door pick up window at stores where you can drive around to pick up larger items that you can’t haul through the mall out to your car.  You just haul them through the mall out to your car.  Here’s the scenario:  you haul the beasts through the store, dodging people through the mall, down the snow covered steps, across the slippery parking lot and slide into home base which is your car.  Perspiration level is high since you have 10,000 layers on.  When this process is over - I refuse to look back to see the carnage and the wake of bodies we’ve taken out along the way.  In situations like this, why do you always feel like you’re the only one who looks like a complete baffoon.  Probably best not to dwell on that too long...

Here's the panel from our new microwave:  Glad to see the buttons are in Russian, as is the instruction manual.  Looks like we’ll just go with the pictures...

Charades anyone?

My world has become one big game of charades.  Since my Russian is limited to about 20 words, I have to act out most everything to everyone around me.  Day after day....charades!

Take, for example....

In IKEA, to tell our Russian speaking driver that I want to look around for awhile -  2 fingers (peace sign) in the eyes - then around the room symbol.  Easy enough.

To tell our driver I’m going to walk into the bank - the “let your fingers do the walking” symbol of index and middle finger walking on the palm of my hand.  Check - that works.

Looking for matches at the grocery store (those who know me well know I’m a fanatic about candles....this girl needs to light her candles!).  I spent 5 minutes with the grocery store manager acting out “matches”.   I found a package of birthday candles and used my hand to make a small explosion at the top of my index finger...clearly the charade for match - right?  After multiple attempts - no clue....I put the b-day candles down and left in defeat.  (For whatever reason, matches are one of the elusive items not to be found in Moscow - my neighbor finally took pity and gave me a book of matches she picked up at a hotel).

Ever thought about how you would charade toilet paper?  I did...and decided to hunt it down on my own...no matter how long it took.

I’ve also found myself in hysterics, laughing, when the charade process doesn’t work after about 7 or 8 minutes.  I have this out of body experience where I’m looking down on the scene and realize how completely idiotic I must look.  What am I doing???  Most of the time, from the “charadee”, I get a dead-pan look back...and finally the shaking of the head that signals....nope...nada...nyet...not playing...game over.  So then you realize you can get along without many things, but tomorrow is always another day!