Re-entering the world via iPhone

I already had a Russian cell phone but it wasn't "smart" and what I really wanted was to get my iPhone -- and all its bells and whistles -- to work in Moscow while I was outside of a wifi zone (aka the apartment). This way I'd be able to use the maps and texting functions if I got stuck anywhere without free wifi.

Luckily cell phone stores are one thing that is not lacking in Moscow. You can't throw a stone without hitting one. That or cafe or a bank. So I walked down the block to a nearby store and what do you know, the first person I approach speaks ENGLISH! Jackpot!!

So I told him I wanted to transfer my Russian phone number to my iPhone and get a new Russian SIM card for it as well. He understood what I needed. Double Jackpot! Turns out they just need to change the shape of the SIM card to fit into the iPhone (from mini to micro or something like that), and I could literally just move the one SIM from phone A to phone B. No way is it this easy??? It is. And they do this at the store for only 149 rubles (about $4!).

So the guy goes off to get his tools to adjust my SIM card. Meanwhile, the entire time I'm talking to him, I'm smelling something bad. Like really bad. Like dirty feet or urine or even....feces bad. GROSS. So I check the bottoms of my shoes. Nothing.

My guy comes back and asks me a question and I notice the smell again. Is it old pipes / heating in and underneath the store? A garbage bin that somehow wasn't emptied? I quickly smell myself - maybe it's ME!! Nope, really doesn't seem like it's anything on me. Must be the store. Not coming back here. So my helper comes back to finish the conversion and dear lord, I realize it's HIM! HE IS THE SOURCE OF THE BAD SMELL. He may be some kind of English-speaking-techno-genius, but he NEEDS to wash his clothes and himself every once in a while! Ugh.

Relieved that it wasn't me creating the stink, I spent the next 20 minutes breathing through my mouth and trying to finish as quickly as possible. I did leave the store with a spring in my step and an optimistic feeling that my iPhone would soon be speaking "pah-Ruskie" (in Russian). I still needed to go home and restore and sync the phone with my computer to really get it up and running, which actually all worked out fine.