Tighten the saddle....let's ride!!

Welcome back to the land of Borscht!  I fell off the blogging saddle.  It’s a bit like taking a day off from the gym  ....  then 2 days  .... then 2 months  ....  and you know the rest of that story.  A tremendous thank you to all my loyal blog followers - family and friends - who have encouraged me to hoist myself back up in the saddle.  I have remounted the tall steed...ya horsey!!

The blogging hiatus started with a trip back to the states for 3 weeks at the end of August. So here’s a mini recap of what the heck’s been going on since the "icy water" post:

• Contrary to popular belief, it does get down right warm in Moscow in the summer.  The high this past July was around 93 degrees F.  

It appears this thermometer needs a cleanin!   (This is in celsius.)

• Moscow underwent a sidewalk makeover over the summer.  Every inch of sidewalk was torn up and reset in brick pavers.  Sounds great.  Er, not so much.  When the sidewalks were torn up - there was no “plan B” for pedestrians - everyone was forced to walk smack dab in the superhighways they call city street traffic here.  Also no forewarning of exposed manhole covers, etc.  I can only imagine the tally of broken bones, sprained ankles and, well, deaths due to the upheaval.  The Jimmy Choos and roller skaters had to be extra diligent. Perhaps most interesting, the brick company that “won” (using the term loosely) the work to repave the entire city is owned by the wife of the former Kremlin chief of staff.  Spousal cronyism?  Naaah.  By the way, the wife is Russia’s only female billionaire...

Notice no warning tape saying "don't walk here"... P.S. go ahead and risk your life walking into on-coming traffic...

• Found those fond of XC skiing staying in fine shape with these summer time contraptions:

• Of course Russia is in the midsts of one of the most interesting political periods in its history. More in a future blog on the protests...one of which took place right next to our apartment.  We couldn’t help but casually stroll over and check it out first hand, (we were safe Mom, promise!).  

• We also took in the Bolshoi Theater and had many incredible trips to European locales as we are enjoying taking advantage of all the great travel at our fingertips.

You may remember how I prided myself in not making one banana peel (major wipe out) on the labyrinth of undulating ice and snow that engulfs Moscow every winter.  Well...paybacks.  Day one on the stuff this year - heels up to the sky...a direct hit to my knee and perhaps most horrifying - the designer purse settled in a huge, deep puddle of ice, mud and soot.  To make matters worse, I was holding on to Steve’s arm...which I proceeded to pull out of its socket.  That was one heck of a welcome back to shock us into reality.  Welcome to winter, now go mend the hole in your pants and strap a sling to your husband’s shoulder...

We officially live in the land of the dark.  We now have one less hour of daylight in winter.  This started when the rest of the world switched to daylight savings time last fall.  President Medvedev officially cancelled daylight savings time in Russia due to the stress of having to change all the clocks back (true story).  The sun currently rises at around 10 a.m., sets at 6 p.m.  All good...if you’re a vampire.  Hello vitamin D.

This is what it currently looks like outside at 9:45 a.m.:

As comedian Ron White would said, today started with “no temperature”.  It was 0 degrees F.  Getting down to -9 tonight.  Fun times right there.  I was at an American Women's Organization meeting recently and in the middle of it, a woman started clapping.  We all looked over and she was clapping...for the sun....because it came out for .08 seconds before it retreated back to its normal comfy spot behind thick grey clouds.  It’s the little things that  make us happy here.

So here we are at the grocery store yesterday....you’ll remember me talking about the exorbitant food prices.  

A quick run down of what you're looking at...  Blueberries on the left for 390 Rubles (that’s approx. $10)....yes, expensive for a small container of blueberries.  To the right you see regular red bing cherries under the yellow Rainier cherries, (these cherries just happen to be my fave).  Now for those doing the math at home, to convert to dollars, you basically divide Rubles by 30.  You will see this small pint of bing cherries is 2,250 RUB or $75 and the Rainier cherries are a mere 2,800 RUB, or $93.  I couldn’t make this stuff up if I wanted to.  I slowly backed away from the cherry section....but did buy the $10 blueberries as a nice consolation prize...

10 days of a freezing cold hot summer...

Post-it note to self:  “Take nothing for granted!”  This presently applies to the joy of having an unlimited supply of hot water running through the pipes of the apartment. We are in the middle of what I call the "10 day challenge"...currently experiencing 10 invigorating days without a drop of hot water.  Translation:  icy Siberian showers and a selection of cold water rinses for the dishwasher and washing machine.

As relative newbies to Moscow, we are being initiated into the concept of no hot water throughout the city for 10 days.  And let me tell you...cold water in Moscow, in the summer, is darn frigid!

While Moscow is emerging from the shadows of Soviet times and starting to come into its own as a flourishing city, a few items of old-world deprivation remain.  Most buildings in Moscow get their hot water from a central city plant rather than from hot water boilers in the basement, as we do in the U.S.  For 10 days, the hot water is turned off throughout the city for pipe maintenance.  Hello breath-taking mornings!

Me after the cold water douse...

As you know, depending on the heat, and workout activity, many summer days are “2-a-days” in the shower department.  After our workout yesterday, Steve and I looked at each other and said “you first”!  My cold water shower survival tactic of choice is the “hokey pokey”.  I put my right arm in, I pull my right arm out, I soap my right arm up and I rinse it all about.  Then lather, rinse, repeat with my other limbs.  And I'm not opposed to “turning myself about” as it makes the whole experience that much more pleasant. 


Two more days to go....then hot water heaven!

This method makes more sense to me...perhaps we can get the neighborhood to chip in for one of these...

Sky high heels!

The stereotype of the beautiful Russian woman is, for the most part, spot on.  Kate Moss comes to mind - mixed with a little Gisele and topped with a smidgen of Heidi Klum for good measure.  And there’s no shortage either.  Russian women out number men by approximately 10 million, (76.7 million women, 66.2 million men).   Some say because of this illegible men shortage - competition is fierce - and, so, the young Russian woman is dressed to the nines 24/7.  I give them full credit - it’s quite amazing, really.

And...high heels abound!I We’re talking really, reeeeeeally high heels, in the 4-8 inch category!  All day, every day, through the rains of spring and the deep snows of winter, ascending the steepest of hills and foraging across broken, cracked, iced over, undulating pavement.  Unfazed. Unflinching. They carry on.  I have to think the podiatry clinics here are making a fortune.   As I’ve mentioned, Moscow is very much a walking city - it’s not unusual to walk 5-6 miles a day depending on what’s “on the list” and where we’re going. I’m not quite sure how the heels do it - no insole cushion or strap relief gel pad can stand up to the beating these women dole out on their feet.  Dr. Scholl’s - where are you?  You'd make a killing.  

When we first arrived in Moscow last November, I was completely dumbfounded as to how these women were navigating the elements so gracefully in these stilts. Finally, after weeks of watching these high heeled aficionados navigate over the frozen tundra, I walked into a shoe store and picked up a pair of these shanks to see what gives.  Viola!  Many are made with something like this.... 

 No wonder these gals are prancing on the ice like ballet dancers from the Bolshoi.  Bravo!  (Brava! in Russian).

Now these look very practical....some sort of heavy gauge wire...good for piercing the ice...with solid traction on the ball of the foot - genius!

Here is a hero if there ever was one....I like the way this gal thinks....if I decide to go the high heel route in winter - I’ll just have Steve carry me around.  He’s big and strong after all.

There’s even an annual high heel sprint race in Moscow. Looks competitive and somewhat dangerous...with some banana peeling along the way...

These seem to make a bit more sense...a little clunky maybe...

I posted this photo in an earlier blog entry....but I love it!!!!

This sums it up....

I’ve also heard during Soviet times, high heels were not available....today, the more the merrier!

Shoveling in stilts - impressive!

This link will take you to a video that is an absolute representation of what I would look like on ice, in heels.  It’s a bit lengthy - no need to watch the whole thing - but at the one minute mark you’ll see the knee gear - where can I buy a pair of these???!!!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gqoNHar3M-E&feature=related

I think I’m up for the challenge this winter... I understand “function over fashion”....but what fun is that?  No pain, no gain...maybe.

Eeeny, meeny, miney....surprise!

Grocery shopping continues to be quite the adventure here in Moscow.  It’s the popular  game called “what’s inside the box?”   The primo challenge is the hunt for baking items - sense of humor mandatory!  Sugar?  Nyet, salt.  Baking powder?  Not so much...turned out to be some sort of custard filling.  Major victory in finally finding cornstarch last week.  It only took 8 months to realize Google Translate would become my very best friend.  Popped in “cornstarch” in the translate box and out came “кукурузного крахмала”....then the “match this phrase” game begins at the store.  No surprise, grocery shopping is typically a longer process here in the motherland.

Interesting choices abound...

Plentiful produce, you can find just about anything...

Russians LOVE their cakes...they are beautiful!

Prepared food, haven't ventured here yet...

This is as much of the sausage lane as I could get on my camera....add 10 feet on either side...

Again, add about 10 feet to these bins... (see below)

Found in the refrigerator section, about the length of your index finger...some sort of cake with fruit filling....interesting, sort of.

The yogurt aisle actually goes the length of the entire store - lots of drinkable...

Dairy products come in varying degrees of fat...here you can see 0%, 5% and 9%...the higher the fat, the thicker the product.  I believe this is сottage cheese...

Mayonnaise for days!!!  Add 10 feet in either direction to this aisle - lots 'o flavors that come in stand up pouches...we'll call it interesting...

Available year round - very bitter...

These peaches grow flat - actually very tasty!

I call this the white albino bell pepper - a little light on taste...

Corn is often sold like this (already cooked) or in a jar (also pre-cooked) that looks like some sort of science experiment...

Gave it a try....one and done...

Always SO happy to find items like this...appears to have come from Germany...?

If really in doubt, there's always Wendy's....this just opened!!

Note curly fries, instead of regular fries and an unidentified food item 2nd from the bottom on the right....?

Big day out!

Big, big day for Steve and me this past Saturday.  For the first time in 8 months of living in Moscow, we actually drove ourselves to a grocery store.   Hallelujah!  

I know this sounds strange.  But...when you live in a large European city, can’t read the road signs, traffic signals and rules are different (well, actually non-existent), and everyone on the road is “driving like a maniac!” (as my mother would often say)... then, we’ve leaned to the more rationale side - safety first, of course. Many ex-pats have drivers for this very reason.  Steve and I opted to buy a car - which Steve drives to and from work...a relatively easy drive that doesn’t take him through the  driving abyss through town.  This girl is on foot 100% of the time - thank goodness for the amazing metro!  But this calls for limited grocery buying as I can only buy what I can haul....hence the happiness brought on with the drive on Saturday.  I took Steve to the store that has some US brands - we stocked up on Nabisco, Duncan Hines, Old El Paso and Kraft products ... heaven!

A few people have asked about the process of obtaining a drivers license....quite easy, really.  No driving or written test needed for ex-pats - come one, come all!  Our US licenses were translated into Russian - and we were free to hit the streets!

I witnessed a driver turning right onto a road full of drivers waiting at a traffic light.  Rather than drive down to the end of the waiting drivers, make a U-turn and get in the back of the line, the driver U-turned immediately under the light in the very front of the waiting line of cars.  Now that’s efficiency!

This doesn’t mean people don’t get pulled over for traffic offenses.  This is actually another reason we are careful when we drive.  The scenario:  traffic accident....you don’t speak Russian....the police officer and other driver do....you’re asked to sign off on a police report, written in Russian, of course...any guess who is at fault?  Not typically a winner for the non-Russian.

Garmin is also in Russian...the hunting and pecking through the Cyrillic alphabet is a bonus round for the adventure!