Feeling cultural

A few nights ago Scott and I went to our first concert in Moscow. Scott had gotten two tickets to this show as a birthday present from his team at work, along with a huge box of chocolates, some beautiful crystal glassware and several other very nice, unexpected gifts.

I've learned that even for adults, birthdays are treated seriously here, especially by coworkers. The weird part is that when it's your birthday YOU are expected to bring or get food for everyone. I asked Scott what he did (since I certainly didn't bake a cake or anything crazy like that) and he said he ordered a bunch of pizzas for his group for a 4 pm "snack." Happy birthday, to us!?!

Anyway, back to the concert. It turned out be a really cool Tango showcase, so there was a band on stage and 3 pairs of dancers who would rotate dancing with each new song. Very dramatic and really fun to watch. His team didn't know this, but I love the tango so it was a very appropriate gift for both of us!

At the beginning of the concert, the band leader gave a speech of some sort (in Russian) and then he invited another guy up to the stage who turned out to be an authentic Argentine. We think maybe he was the show's producer. So he got up and spoke Spanish to us and there was a woman simultaneously translating his words into Russian. We missed pretty much everything but clapped anyway. 

And then the dancing and music started and it was wonderful. Of the three sets of dancers, 2 were tall and blond (from Russia) and 1 was shorter and dark (from Buenos Aires, we later realized). This was a perfect show for us since there was little to no talking, just fantastic live music and fabulous dancing!

All in all it was really a fun evening and we realized we really need to get out and take more advantage of the incredible theater and arts scene in Moscow. There are theaters and art schools everywhere and while this city may not do such a good job with building maintenance, casual dining or in general just being friendly to "foreigners," they sure do know how train their artists and put on a good show! 

Tickets to the Tango showcase. 

Fashion Standout Part Deux

Another "brilliant" choice of outfits caught my attention the other day. It isn't nearly as shocking in the photo as it was in real life, trust me. This really took some work in terms of gathering just the right pieces:

(She also had a matching hot pink watch and bracelet, they're just not visible here.)

Victory Day Part II (Our 1st Dacha Outing!) - 9 May 2013

~~ Masha, Dasha, and Boscha at the Dacha ~~

So, as I described in my earlier Victory Day post, we attended the big Tverskaya parade of tanks. That was in the morning and very entertaining/interesting.

Equally entertaining and interesting in the afternoon, we all -- me, Scott, and even Siena! -- were invited to one of Scott's coworker D's dacha (aka summer house) for a Victory Day celebration/dinner. They invited one other family who had a son and a dog as well (D has a small dog and the friends have a chihuahua). We've decided that dachas are the method by which Muscovites survive the city. In other words, they put up with living in small, tight quarters on the weekdays in the city by also owning a tranquil escape outside of the city where they can spread out and relax.

The closest thing I'm familiar with in the US is the Hamptons, as a retreat for Manhattanites, but I believe in general dachas are a bit more "rustic" than most NYer's Hampton estates. Likewise, the type of Manhattanites who can afford to own a house in the Hamptons usually have slightly more spacious apartments in the city. But the larger concept is similar, especially in the summer: everyone spends hours and hours on Friday afternoons driving out of the city, grumbling about the traffic and the city literally empties out. Then they do the same on Sunday night in reverse.

Anyway we were very flattered to be invited, since Victory Day is truly one of Russia's biggest holidays and most people spend it with their families. D's house was a mix of contemporary and traditional styles. It was 2 stories, built on a hill, with lots of wood inside with stone and wood accents on the outside. In the backyard, there was a deck and then some very steep steps down the hill that led to a large above-ground cement pool and sloped yard. Inside, I believe there may have been just one bathroom; for sure there was only one on the first floor. Perhaps there was another one upstairs but it looked more like a loft than a full second story. Overall, the words I can use to describe their house are natural, humble and modest. This may be the main point of differentiation between Hamptons houses and Dachas, although I've heard there are some really "pimped out" dachas as well.

Before I forget, I should probably explain the subtitle of this post. When Scott and I arrived,  we were introduced to everyone: there was Scott's coworker's wife, Maria, who went by "Masha," his daughter, "Dasha" and then his dog, "Boscha." And we were all hanging out at their "Dacha!" Heehee. Scott and I had a nice chuckle. Changing a name to end in "--sha" is actually very common as a Russian nickname so it really wasn't a big deal to them but we enjoyed it between ourselves. :)

From what I understand, the meal we had was quite traditional for a Victory Day feast; most Russians all over the country were eating similar meals that day too. D and his family certainly spoiled us with all sorts of delicious dishes.

We didn't get too many photos of the experience because we didn't want to be "those people" and it felt sort of rude. But, we managed to grab a few.

First we started out with lots of fresh, colorful veggies and salads. The plate in the foreground is ALL pickled items, a serious staple in the Russian diet (helps the vodka go down easier!). Behind the pickles was sliced tomatoes with basil, and to the left was "Russian Salad" (mayo-based egg/potato/carrot-type salad).

More salads further down the table. Masha's mother's special marinated mushroom salad (made from wild mushrooms that she picks herself; Masha assured us they were safe to eat) in the front (yellow dish). The red dish contained a salad made with fish, beets, and green onions; I didn't feel adventurous enough to try it. Then there was a "regular" salad and a plate of cold cuts.

Here's a better view of the full table, along with Masha and Dasha. It really was a huge feast.

Then, as if all those salads weren't enough, there was the BBQ portion of the feast, with marinated lamb Shashlik (skewers). These were so good!

Complementing the Shashlik was an Uzbek-style Pilaf (pronounced "Ploff") with dark rice, sausage, chicken, peppers, dried fruit, pomegranate seeds, and roasted garlic, cooked on a wood-fire grill. Scott now wants this type of setup (regular grill + wood-fire grill) whenever the time comes that we have a backyard/grill setup again. This was delicious as well.

The grill-master himself, D, chilling with a glass of wine. This is Scott's coworker. Boscha the dog is behind D (he's a mix between a Yorkie and a German Shepherd, of all things!).

Last but not least, here's a parting shot of one really tired pooch getting loved on by D's daughter Dasha. This little girl was really so sweet with Siena throughout our entire visit. They ran around, played fetch, played tug, did lots of snuggling and belly-rubbing. You name it, Siena got a LOT of attention that day!

Speaking of dogs, I should mention that our hosts very graciously offered Siena and their dog each a fresh lamb bone from the Shashlik scraps. Both dogs happily chewed away on their respective bones at opposite ends of the house/yard. When Boscha finished his bone, he tried to hide it under one of the cars in the driveway. Siena chewed on hers for a while and then did something she's NEVER done before: she dug a hole in the yard and buried it!

Then she immediately went sniffing around and found Boscha's bone and took THAT one and proceeded to chew IT as well. And when she was done with his bone, she dug a hole and buried that one too! Then she went back to the first bone, dug it up to check on it, and moved it to a new spot. She kept on doing this for a while, instinctively, like it was her job to keep the bone(s) safe. It was the funniest thing for us to watch, considering she's had raw bones before but never behaved in this way. But, come to think of it, we never gave her the bones outside where she could dig in the dirt and we also always take them away before she gets too far along...this just goes to show you, she really is a DOG after all!

We decided that this day was probably the best day of Siena's life so far. :)

Victory Day Part I (Parade) - 9 May 2013

Victory Day in Moscow is always on May 9 and is always a big holiday. The entire city shuts down and everyone has off from work. This holiday commemorates Russia's victory over Germany in WWII. The Russians lost 19 million people in the war - more than any single country or group - and they are very, very proud of the fact that they still defeated the Germans. Even the little kids here seem to know a whole lot more about WWII than any American I know.

Part of the city-wide celebration involves a parade of Russian military tanks up Tverskaya from Red Sqaure. And guess what, Tverskaya just happens to be the very street where we live! So we had an easy front-row seat for this impressive display of national pride and sheer force.

Tons and tons of people crowded along the sidewalk.

This first pic is directly across from one of the exit gates from our building:

Of course Siena came to watch the parade too.

Eventually she got bored and lay down on our feet. 

Crowds walking toward where the tanks end up.

A few military guys for crowd control.

And, here come the tanks! Just your average parade in Moscow...

Anyone need some missiles (maybe Syria?)?

More missiles!

And here's a video of even more tanks parading along the road (I started out with just photos but there were so many tanks one after another, I switched to video):

Musings about Moscow #1

This post originally started as a "things I like about Moscow" list but I ran out after 3 (I think I need to give that list a little more time!) so I've changed it to general musings and observations.

1) The Metro system. Very clean, always on time, runs frequently (as in, you never have to wait more than 90 seconds for a train), and cheap!

2) Borscht. Fuschia colored soup made from beef broth and beets. Very tasty and one of the few authentically Russian dishes that I really enjoy. Often served with sour cream on top that you mix in. Served at pretty much all restaurants, even non-Russian ones, since it's like their version of chicken soup.

3) The air. It seems very dry, which also seems great for my hair and skin, but that might also be the pregnancy? I will say that it is much easier to get my hair straight, and we all know that is one of my priorities in life. :) I believe Scott feels it's too dry and often makes fun of me for luxuriating in the dryness too much. On the other hand, I know that this city is very, very dirty (too many cars and buildings and not enough trees) so the air can't be all that good.

4) Excessive PDA. Muscovites seem to feel strangely comfortable showing all stages of public displays of affection in all public places. Literally. Scott and I have seen embarrassingly steamy make-out sessions on the escalator riding down into the subway tunnels, on benches in crowded public parks, at restaurants while sitting on the same side of a two-person table, even right in the middle of the sidewalk, oblivious to their surroundings, such that it requires everyone to take an alternate path...you get the idea. I've already seen this type of very public PDA to a certain degree in NYC but this takes the cake. We think people do it in public vs "getting a room" because many young people continue living at home with their parents and/or grandparents even after they've finished school and started working. These apartments are tiny so they don't afford much privacy, and so...out they go. Again, this is similar to NYC but for whatever reason, the Russians take it to an extreme. And it's older "young people," not just teenagers (which is what I recall seeing in New York).

on the street

by a fountain

in a booth at a restaurant

-------> 4a) Females holding hands. A subtopic of #4 above is female hand -holding -- pairs of adult and young adult straight women holding hands while walking around town. In the US you really don't see a lot of same sex adults holding hands unless their gay. However, I've seen far too many women doing this in Moscow for them all to be gay. Nothing wrong with it of course, but it's just not something you see everyday in the States. Kind of nice to see such open companionship, but also sort of surprises me every time.

5) Caesar Salad. You can't order a Caesar salad here without a protein (e.g. "shrimps" as they say, chicken or salmon). It's another ubiquitous item on the menu, which is nice, but forget it if you want it as a starter without a protein. Scott and I tried to do this a couple times, since it's something used to do all the time in the States ("You want to split a Caesar?"). We tried to order the salad "бес курица" (which means "without chicken") and it would cause ALL sorts of chaos and confusion for the waitstaff and we get lots of head shakes and hear lots of "нет" ("NO."). Substitutions in general are not handled very well here in Moscow, but for some reason, trying to get a protein-free Caesar salad is really just taking things TOO FAR. Who knew?

6) Ordering and dining at restaurants. This could probably be an entire post unto itself but I'll try to keep it brief.

• Substitutions. As mentioned in #5 above, food substitutions are not good. The one thing Scott and I have been able to do is sub out home fries / hash browns for french fries. Thank goodness. :)
• Phased ordering. The concept of ordering appetizers to arrive first and then ordering main courses a little bit later is not practiced. If you try and order an appetizer and keep the menu, they look at you like you're crazy.
• Service stinks. Probably because tips are optional, the servers aren't very attentive. You might sit down and not see someone for 20+ minutes, or until you flag them down. Or, if you have seen someone and you make / get your order, forget seeing them again to ask for extra ketchup or an additional plate or anything else. Scott and I have learned to decide quickly and consider everything we might possibly want or need during the one exchange we have with the server. We also go to a lot of the same restaurants over and over (there aren't very many casual dining options) so we kind of know which places are worse than others.
• Timing. Even though all the orders for food are placed at the same time, the food isn't always delivered at the same time. And there's no rhyme or reason regarding which things get delivered first (i.e. hot food might come out 20 minutes before a cold salad). This is particularly true when you order bread, which normally would come out right away. It often doesn't arrive until the main course arrives. Speaking of bread...
• Water and bread are not free. This is a European thing (not just Russia), so not really a big deal, but it fits in with the whole dining out experience list.

That's all for now. I'm keeping a running list of observations for another post. I bet after I have the baby I'll have all sorts of good ones!

Good Times at the Dog Park Again

Another day, another good trip to the dog park.

Things started out on thin ice because there was a big, burly, rough-looking dog already inside when we arrived. I followed protocol and approached slowly, asking, "можно?" ("Possible?"). The owner was decent and gestured for me to give him 10 more minutes.

So we took a walk around the 'hood, which, as I've said before, is very nice. When we returned about 6 minutes later, they were leaving. And for the record, the dog had a muzzle on when he left. Yikes.

Then we had the place to ourselves!

So I threw the ball a few times and worked with Siena on some agility tricks - climbing stairs, balancing on a thin balance-beam-type structure - which she mastered without issue.

Fun!! Note that there's NOT a drop of snow on the ground anymore!

Then, just when I thought maybe it was time to go, someone else showed up! And both the owner and the dog were friendly! YAY!!

Typical Siena, saying hello to the Person first. :)

New friends racing around the park.

These new friends only stayed about 10 minutes, but luckily...ANOTHER dog arrived. This time it was the same big fluffy white dog with whom Siena has already played twice. DOUBLE YAY!

The two dogs had a lot of fun racing around and reconnecting (I think it'd been about 12 days since they've seen each other). The only photo I was able to capture was when Siena finally pooped out and lay down. :) Fluffy kept dancing around her, as if to say, "What, that's it?! Come on, we need to run some more; we were just getting started!"

The only slightly negative thing about this trip to the dog park was the discovery of a dead bird (seemed too big to be a pigeon) lying on the other side of the fence. Gross.

Of course Siena noticed it immediately and kept trying to squeeze her head through the bars to get a better whiff / taste of this delectable creature. Thank goodness it was on the OUTSIDE of the fence. But, with TWO dog friends in the park to distract her, it wasn't too bad. I just hope it's not still there the next time we go!

Please Don't Call Me Betty Crocker

Last night I made chocolate chip cookies! Woohoo!!

Just a few of the delicious finished product.

Yes, yes, ordinarily this wouldn't be cause for celebration, but for ME, here in Moscow, it sure is time for a fiesta.

The Problem

Why is it so hard to make chocolate chippers here?

1a) First and foremost, you can't get chocolate chips here. Really! Um, kind of important for say, chocolate chip cookies. They probably do sell some type of imported chips at the high-end stores, but I can't imagine the cost...and 'just' for cookies....I will look next time though. Perhaps when I've lived here longer, buying fancy imported chocolate chips won't be a big deal to me but I can't stomach it yet.

1b) You also can't buy vanilla extract. Here too, it's probably possible to find imported vanilla or maybe an adequate substitute, but again....FOR COOKIES?!

2) Secondly, the ovens are different. Aside from the obvious Celsius-Fahrenheit issue (which of course I can sort out), they have fans and settings that are different from what I'm used to (again, probably won't be a big deal after I'm here longer). Plus, our oven has icons instead of words. And the thing is, with baking, timing and temperature are critical. So this is definitely an issue.

In fact, my first attempt at baking (box brownies) was a complete disaster because of #2. So I had very low expectations this time.

 
   Ingredients all lined up and ready to go!

I mean really, what do they all MEAN!@?

The Solution

To solve #1, I'd actually purchased a bag of tollhouse morsels while we were in the States 2 weeks ago. I realize now I should have bought more because now they're all gone. :( I also purchased a big bottle of vanilla extract. Those are just two of the things I would now tell newbies to bring with them in their shipments if anyone ever asks me (assuming they like to bake).

To solve #2, I winged it and erred on the low side (ie I chose an icon that looked like hear would be coming only from one side of the oven since I'd randomly picked something else for my brownies and they had come out way overdone).

As an added precaution I did not leave the kitchen or sit down the entire time the cookies were baking, so I could really watch that oven like a hawk.

In Conclusion

It worked!
Several dozen perfect cookies that tasted like Home. Yum!!!

Here's a little photo montage of the baking process.

Rockstar Baking Project!

Family Bonanzas in NC and OR

In a remarkable feat of planning, Scott and I were able to attend not only his first cousin Daniel's Wedding in North Carolina (April 20, 2013), but ALSO my very special nephew and godson Sammy's Bar Mitzvah (April 27, 2013) the very next weekend in Oregon. 

There was actually a period when we thought these two events were on the same day (oh no, really?!!), but thankfully, it was a user-error (we had the dates wrong), so we got to celebrate both!! So great that it all worked out.

We had a fantastic time visiting with everyone - for many it was the first time they were seeing me pregnant and I'm already 27 weeks along (aka pretty darn big)! Anyway, what a great couple of weekends. After all the good company and good food and so much ENGLISH, the whole trip went WAY to fast and it has been really tough coming back to reality in Moscow.

Some photos from Daniel's rehearsal dinner:

And some photos from the ceremony/reception:

Some photos from Sammy's Friday night dinner:

hey, i know that guy!

 A few from the morning service:

 And finally, time to par-tay!

requisite cute slideshow :)

non-alcoholic blue raspberry concoction from the Italian soda bar - yummy!

really? these girls are 13?!