This Dog

a haiku for my Siena

rebellious red dog

stolen pacis need rinsing

Moscow is still cold

Siena sunbathing in our Moscow kitchen.

Does this look like a dog who feverishly gobbles up a pile of cat poop during her morning potty break?

Does this look like a dog who leaps up onto the guest bed in order to reach into her human baby brother's crib and snatch his favorite pacifier?

Does this look like a dog who howls at her mama in defiance and frustration when she's not getting enough attention?

Sigh.

Lightbulb Handcuffs

There are 5 lightbulbs in our apartment that need to be changed and I can't do it.

This is one of the things about my experience here that gets under my skin and really, really bugs me. Simple, non-intellectual, normally easy household tasks that normally wouldn't be a big deal become a Huge Project.

And while I sort out the complex details of the situation (kidding), I see the dead bulbs every day and it feels like they're taunting me, "Nyah, nyah, you can't fix me…"

So the reasons why I can't change them (I actually have spare bulbs so that's not even a factor):

1. First, I don't have a tall enough ladder to reach;
2. When I asked one of the guys from the building to borrow their ladder, he brought it but insisted on climbing up for me (how gentlemanly!). Unfortunately, he couldn't figure out how to get the casing that covers the bulb unscrewed from the ceiling. He said a "specialist" must do it (WhAT?!);
3. The building guy left and asked The Specialist to come up, but HE said the landlady needs to request it first (WhATTTTT?! Okay, maybe I understand that - we're in a rental after all.); 
4. And finally, our landlady doesn't speak English so things like this I need to ask Scott's Admin to call her, explain in Russian what is happening and then the landlady will make the request.

OMG. OMG. OMG.

We're talking about lightbulbs!!!!

The Russian Lessons Continue

The pace of my baby/pigeon Russian lessons has slowed because we've pretty much got the basics covered (i.e. bottle, milk, sleep, awake, feed, what time, finish, how many...). However, here and there I still get a few new words in.

I find that my brain still does not retain much and I still feel so frustrated at not being able to have detailed conversations with the nanny. Or with anyone for that matter. Once again, reminded of how lucky I am that the nanny is SO patient with me, because we really do end up "saying" quite a bit to each other each week.

January 11

• turtle -- черепаха ("cheddy-PA-ha"); I love this one. :)

a picture is worth a thousand words

• dancing -- танцы ("tahn-tzay"); to explain what I do at my weekly Zumba classes

February 28

• bib -- фартук ("FAR-took"); this apparently really means "apron," but R always calls the bib a fartook so...fartook it is! This is another one of my favorites. :)

fartook :)

March 6 - this turned out to be the day of body parts!

• ear/ears -- ухо / ушки ("OOSHay"/ "OOSHkey")

• nose -- нос ("nauss"); wow, how easy-peasy!

• cheek/cheeks -- щека / щеки ("SHAYka" / "shaykey")

March 19

• slippery -- скользкий ("skolskey"); it snowed (late MARCH!) so the sidewalks were slippery. And we tried to talk about it.

• to cry -- плакать ("plakat")

• he cried -- он плакал ("ohn plakal")

Can't believe it took this long for us to need the word for "cry."

March 27

• take a walk -- погулять ("pagoo-LAI-yet"); for my Siena.

• feel happy -- хорошее настроение ("haROshay nastraiYEN-eh"); when I put this into Google Translate it came back with "good mood" so that was interesting.

• holiday -- праздник ("prads-zNEEK") or выходной день ("veeHAUD-noy deeyen" which is actually "day off").

• class/lesson -- урок ("oo-ROCK") or занятие ("zan-YAT-yee-eh")

March 28

• refrigerator -- холодильник ("hollow-DEE-nick")

• Monday -- понедельник ("pahn-ee-DEL-nick") strangely and confusingly similar to the word for fridge when a Russian-speaker says it.

• week -- неделя ("neh-DEL-yah")

I'm an idiot

Boy do I feel stupid. And annoyed.

The moms in my Monday play group made a reservation for a private group at Gymboree yesterday morning. I tried to go and failed.

Backing up for a sec, it's kind of amazing they actually have Gymboree here, and supposedly it's pretty similar to the Gymboree in the US, i.e. classes, climbing structures and playtime. I personally didn't even know that Gymboree had stuff for children < 1 year old, so I was pretty excited and looking forward to it. 

Lobby of Dinamo Gymboree

Play area at Gymboree Dinamo

First, and this is not really that bad but stressful nonetheless, our driver was late. The car was parked by the apartment but the man was no where to be found. Eventually he showed up but we left 30 minutes later than I had planned (and to be totally honest, I was responsible for 10 of those minutes). It is still tough for me to get used to adding travel & driver time into my plans. The idea of a Driver sounds so glamorous, but it also removes some of your independence and requires constant coordination. 

Anyway, the private group session was only 45 min, and we actually made it in record time, arriving only 15 min late. The car was nice and warm so naturally Beau fell asleep...and stayed asleep in his car seat even after we plopped him down in the Gymboree lobby.

Sleeping angel.

After taking off my shoes and hanging up my coat and beginning to wonder if the baby would just sleep through the whole class, I learned that I'd gone to the wrong location!! What?? Yup, big fat FAIL by mommy!

I basically read the email too fast and blew it. Ugh, ugh, ugh!! This could have happened anywhere but of course it happened in Moscow where I already have very little tolerance for things going wrong. And where I already feel limited and just stupid much of the time. And where it is such a deal to get out the door with the baby and all the winter gear during that one little window when he isn't eating or napping.

Anyway. Beau woke up soon after -- it had been his usual 30 minutes -- but it was too late to try and go to the correct location. The next class at the "wrong" Gymboree was for babies 10 months and older so that wasn't an option either. So I put my shoes and coat back on, we got back in the car and went home. Hmph. 

Today's Score
CB: 0
Moscow: 10,003

Cute shot of all the winter boots, big, small and colorful, all lined up in the Gymboree lobby.

Good news and bad news

I'll start with the bad and just get it out of the way. 

Yesterday I made a stir fry for dinner, which is one of my go-to dinners. Fail-safe most of the time.

The plan was to get chicken, but at the last minute I saw a package of beef all cut up and perfect-like for a stir fry, so I went for it. Mind you, I had no idea what the label said (of course it was in Russian, and I didn't recognize any of the words), but I knew it was definitely beef because it was in the section with the little cow. :) So how bad could it be?

So here's what my stir fry looked like. Not bad.

And my sauce smelled great: fresh garlic, ginger, onions.

That's where things went downhill. The meat was SO tough. Scott and I were chew-chew-chewing each bite and the whole thing was very unsatisfying!! All that chopping and marinating for nothing. Should have gone with the chicken. Boo. :(

Score, to date...
Moscow: 25,001 CB: 0

Okay, now on to the good! This one was a HUGE SCORE for Miss Siena!

There's a school behind our apartment building and they have this sport court (rectangular and self-contained, a little smaller than a tennis court). It's got 4 walls and seems very secure (ie no openings for someone to squeeze her little body through) and looks absolutely perfect for, yep, you guessed it, ball-throwing and running and general dog romping fun stuff. Whenever I'd considered it before, it appeared to be all locked up. Well yesterday I took a closer look at the gate and while there was in fact a padlock, it wasn't actually locked! Woohoo!

Here's her majesty's first freedom run (video) in our new "dog park." Such joy, this little dog has for living. 

And here's another fun video (longer). This sweet girl always cheers me right up.

Updated score, to date...
Moscow: 25,001 CB (and Siena): 2

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!

Taxi "Service"

Late last week I had a disaster of a day; nothing went smoothly. And to top it off, I was sick! I’m still coughing, sniffling and sneezing, but definitely on the mend now.

So one of my favorite activities here in Moscow is Zumba. So FUN! It’s offered through the AWO twice a week and is held in the US Ambassador’s Residence because the Ambassador's wife is a member of the AWO and she volunteered the space (pretty cool). It’s a great "organized" activity with other ex-pat women, a nice way to get some exercise, and perhaps most importantly, I find that participating in it requires so much concentration that, for a solid hour, I forget about any and everything that's bothering me. I always leave feeling much more optimistic! I may do a separate post exclusively on Zumba, so I’ll leave it at that.

So even though I felt terrible when I woke up, I figured I'd rally and go....maybe doing a little exercise would "flush" out some of the bad stuff etc etc. The class is located in a part of town that’s not too convenient to any one Metro that is near our apartment. If I take the metro, I have to switch and it ends up being just a couple stops with more transfers than anything. It’s just one of those places that’s more convenient by car for us. Unfortunately we recently had to fire our driver (long story – maybe I’ll get into that another time) so Scott had his assistant arrange a taxi for me.

Sign #1 that things were not getting off to a smooth start: Scott texts me to say that the first taxi company they tried was “fully booked.” Nice.
But, we persevered and were able to book a taxi from the 2^nd company. Okay.

Sign #2 that things were not going smoothly: Initially when I went out to get in the taxi, I couldn't find it; our building has a bunch of exits so it's never clear where someone in a car will be waiting. This was annoying b/c the class (obviously) has a set time, and I really didn't want to be late. Little did I know.

Well I did finally find the car and off we went. Scott’s assistant had already told the taxi company the address of where I was going so I didn't really say much. When we started out, I noticed right away we were going in a different direction than usual but I thought, well, this is a different driver and this is his job, so leave him be...(this was probably Sign #3... and the point at which I should have just gone home). Where do we end up? The American Embassy, which is not at all the same as the Ambassador’s Residence! Argh!! When I told the driver, "Nyet" (No) and gave him the proper address, he just gave me a blank look and literally had NO IDEA where it was!!

I tried to bring it up on my phone and OF COURSE, for some inane reason at that moment, the internet / maps / data on my phone wasn't working (and this taxi driver didn't speak Englsih, OF COURSE)!!

Next I tried to pull it up on his phone but he only had cyrillic letters on the keyboard which made it painfully slow for me to type, and I had no idea if I was spelling it correctly. Ever so thoughtfully, the driver pulls out an old dog-earred road atlas – without opening it to central Moscow -- and dumps it into my lap: "Go ahead, you find it!'

So I start flipping pages, trying to figure out where to begin looking; you know how those atlases have the 10,000 foot view and the 1 foot view and every neighborhood in between? And mind you, we have 8 minutes to get to class at this point. EIGHT! I had allocated 45 minutes to get there and we’d already been driving around to the wrong place for over 35 minutes. 

“Just a total cluster,” as Scott would say.

For the record, much later, after I’d already called Scott and his admin told the driver where we really needed to go, I did find the right page in the atlas. :-) Really, one of the more irritating parts of the experience was that the admin was the source of the problem: she’d given the taxi company the wrong address and when I told her the correct street / address (I knew the address, just not the route), she, too, had no idea about the street or building I was talking about! While I had her on the phone, I made her look it up online and then Ihanded the phone to the driver so she could clarify in Russian. But wouldn't you think that a taxi SERVICE would make it its business to really know the ins and outs of its home city? This is Russia!

When the driver finally understood where we needed to go and I saw we were correctly en route, I looked at my watch and saw that we were going to be at least 25 minutes late to class. It had now been an hour and ten minutes of back and forth with the admin, the taxi company and the maps and nobody understanding anyone! UGHHHH.

We were probably a block or two away from the Ambassador’s residence when I just decided it was really not appropriate for me to walk into class THAT late. It’s just rude and disruptive and I didn't feel right about it.

So I told the driver I just wanted to go home (in Russian). He just kept saying,“Moment, moment…” and gesturing toward the building. Yes, Mr. Taxi Driver (I’m sure his name was either Oleg, Sasha or Sergei), I see we are only 45 seconds from the destination, but you get the booby prize for getting me there 25 minutes late! So I just repeated for him to take me home.

But boy was I pissed. I didn’t feel good, no one knew where we were going, I couldn't communicate properly and now I had missed my class!

He finally understood (read: actually listened to what I said) when I wouldn’t get out of the car. Then he got pissed! He started grumbling and asked me “Why? Why?” (in Russian) and shooting me dirty looks. I just shrugged and pointed to my watch, to indicate that yes, we had arrived at the proper destination, but alas, we were just too late.

I really should have just stayed in bed that day. When we got to my building, I paid him ½ of what the meter indicated since the driver certainly didn’t deliver on his end of the bargain. Of course this made him grumble even more, but I just got out and didn’t look back.

The crowning glory of this wonderful morning was arriving home and finding that Siena had scraped off a bunch of leather from our couch in a new spot (she's already done it in a few other areas but we've been trying to limit the damage to just those few). AAAAHHHH!!! Thanks a lot, Siena. Some days you just need to throw in the towel and move on!

The Dry Cleaning Babushkas

Dry cleaning in Moscow. 

Ah yes, this deserves a sub-heading of its own. It is one of my favorite crazy-making activities in Moscow. I think it is basically a few decades(?) behind the U.S. and it is a Big Deal to get something dry cleaned here. What makes me crazy (and why it's a Big Deal) is two-fold:

BIG DEAL REASON #1

The system is very, very inefficient so it takes a long time. Like 30 minutes, maybe even more, to drop something off. And an additional 10-15 to pick something up. Seriously.

The place we go uses computers to keep track of everything that you bring in, but they ALSO create a hard copy receipt for every item in each order. And what goes on this receipt? Oh, these receipts contain state secrets!

The dry cleaning babushkas (as Scott calls them - these are the middle-aged/older ladies who work at the counter of the place we go) actually go through and look at each item in extreme detail. They count the buttons on the shirts and write down detailed descriptions of the color, cut, and style. Further, they will make a note of the color of the lining inside the waistband of a pair of men's trousers, the type of waist closure that it has (hook or button) and whether or not it has cuffs. I'm sure there's some kind of note about pleating too. All written by hand AND all re-typed into the computer. FOR EVERY ITEM THAT YOU DROP OFF!

Here are 2 examples of receipts that have not been signed yet. Very important!!

Pickup is no more efficient. You MUST have your receipts in order to collect your stuff, and if you don't, it is a HUGE catastrophe for the babushkas. Scott and I have gotten lots of dirty looks for showing up empty handed! Without original receipts, you need to present your passport to PROVE that yes, the clothes are really yours.

Then once you've proven you really are not a closeted clothing thief, the babushkas count the pieces and you put your initials on each and every hard copy receipt (keep in mind, there's a whole page of information that was documented for each piece of clothing). Then each initialed receipt gets an official stamp. Oh, the Russians love their stamps! This is very important stuff we're tracking here...

BIG DEAL REASON #2

It's very expensive. So not only does it take a ridiculous amount of time to drop off and pick up, it costs twice as much. One would hope that by paying so much more money, EITHER the quality of cleaning would be leaps and bounds better than in the US, OR the speed at which it's all processed is miraculous. But.....it's neither of these. I mean, how do you dry clean something better than someone else?? And we already know that the price paid is not for efficiency.

Here are the ladies, hard at work doing their best to keep the city of Moscow's pants and shirts in order and with their proper owners.

The infamous computer with duplicate info. This lady is actually stapling the hard copy receipts right now and not paying any attention to the machine in front of her.

The one saving grace of this highly inefficient system is that our babushkas happen to be located inside a nice grocery store. So what we do (Scott invented this technique for us, thankfully) is drop off the clothes and then head into the grocery store to do some shopping while the ladies do their paperwork. Even then, sometimes the receipts are not ready (since you have to sign and they need to be stamped). And of course if you're picking some things up, you still need to wait and sign all of those receipts. BUT, at least you get some groceries out of the deal while you're there.

So this is why it's crazy-making and a Big Deal.

Dog Park, Russia-Style

Siena and I had a date at the dog park yesterday. In the morning when she was all hyped up and I had to leave the apartment (and I felt so bad) I promised her that since it was such a nice day, we'd not only take a walk, but we'd go to The Dog Park. I know she doesn't understand everything I say, but I always feel better telling her exactly what my plans are.

So around 2:00 pm we loaded up into the car and got underway. I had towels for wiping, a ball to throw and a bone for the car in case we hit traffic. And in typical Moscow-fashion, there was traffic. Who knows why. It wasn't horrible, but what could have taken 15 minutes took about 35. And Siena was already anxious to do something other than SIT, STAY, SIT, OFF, OFF, OFF in the car.

Anyway, we arrived and when we got to the park I saw there was another dog there. Yipee!!!!! A playmate!!

Here is a photo of the dog that was already there, taking advantage of the blue skies and sunshine to let loose.

Sure he's big and black, but I know lots of wonderful large black dogs. Seems harmless enough, right? Wrong!!!

We get to the gate of the park and of course immediately the big dog comes bounding over to say hello. His tail was wagging and I was still (foolishly) pleased that there would be another dog for Siena to mingle with. No big deal.

I slowly start to open the gate -- I made a lot of noise and did it really really slow on purpose because I wanted this dog's owner to see that I was coming in and to get up (he was sitting in the sun) and take control of his dog so we could enter without the big guy escaping.

Well, little did I know, but I guess letting myself in (all be it slowly) was just not appropriate. The dog's owner jumps up, runs over, and starts yelling at me in Russian. I have no idea what he said, but his tone was clear: DO NOT COME IN!!! Huh? Why not? What's the big deal?!

Despite not really understanding the problem,  I quickly apologized (in Russian) and said, "I don't speak Russian. Do you speak English?" (Also in Russian). The man ignored me and just kept gesticulating and yelling and of course his dog started getting worked up upon hearing his dad making such a fuss. I then said again (in Russian), "Sorry, I don't understand."

Finally, the man gestures with his hand and makes a big chomping sign and points to my Siena. OH DEAR GOD, the big black dog is going to EAT MY SIENA!!!! Or bite her, or do something bad! Yikes!

So I quickly back off from the gate and pull Siena (who is now straining with every fiber of her little brown body to get into the dog park and play with the other dog) back away as well. The man continues to yell and gesture and says in English(!), I think, "You ask ME first." Or something to that effect. Really? Yes, that's what he said. I noticed at this point that near where the man had been sitting was a giant rope-like leash (I mean literally a piece of thick heavy rope) with a HUGE scary-looking muzzle. Oops.

So we left. But before I walked to far away, I asked in Russian, "When?" What I really meant was, "when will you be leaving?" even though I don't know all those words...I mean, it looked like they'd been there a while and if he was about to leave, I could wait. His dog wasn't really racing around much so perhaps he was leaving momentarily. But he didn't answer, just continued grumbling and grouching.

Once we got down the block a little ways, I saw a young woman with a big fluffy white dog. The very same fluffy white dog and owner with whom we'd played the week before at this very dog park. So I quickly caught up with her, said hello, and asked if she'd tried to go in too (in English - many of the women here seem to speak at least a little broken English whereas the men just don't care and don't even try). She said yes and that the man said he would be staying there a while more. She was walking away from the park and appeared to have changed her plans with her dog. Just like that.

So neither of our dogs got to go to the dog park. A PUBLIC dog park, mind you. The man inside was acting like it was his private park! So rude. And there was literally nothing I could do but walk away and apologize to Siena.

The whole experience was so very Russian. "This is the way things are here and you can't do anything about it. I'm also not going to be nice while I tell you that you're S-O-L."

And then we sat in traffic for an hour and 10 minutes to get home. What a great day! UGH!!!

Grocery shopping

Going to the market for food shopping in Moscow stresses me out. It's very hard to tell exactly what you're getting (prices / descriptions are in Russian, weight is in grams, and not everything has an appropriately "descriptive" picture on its label). Given that everyone lives in apartments here, everything is in tiny packages but they cost at least twice as much as in the US. Add to that, the stores don't always have the same things they had the week prior because of supply chain issues and what seems to happen to me: when I go with a specific item in mind (like the day I wanted a jar of honey), many times you can't find it and there's no one to ask or they just don't have it that day. Just all around frustrating.

Today I went to the store to get a few things for dinner and some other random items we needed, among them Saran Wrap. We actually have a tube of Reynold's wrap that was mistakenly shipped over here with our kitchen stuff which I've been using; this actually turned out to be a wonderful mistake because it's worked just fine for wrapping up leftovers and perhaps more importantly it's what we use to keep Siena off the leather couches! -- but I digress. In most instances for food, Saran Wrap is what I would prefer and tin foil is overkill. So off I went.

When I got to the little section with all the various wrappings and baggies, I must have spent a good solid 5-6 minutes staring at those shelves, studying the all-Russian packaging and the only thing I could correctly identify was that this was where they sold aluminum foil. Yay me for figuring that out! So I was in the right place! I saw a few boxes with plastic bags - possibly ziploc type but probably not since those are not common here - but the rest of those long rectangular boxes were a mystery. I think they had some large bags for steam-cooking stuff in the oven because the boxes indicated a temperature (as in, "can be heated up to 320 degrees").

So here's what I chose to buy after as I said, much deliberation:

Looks like it might be the right thing, huh? Kind of hard to tell, but really I studied this box quite a bit and I honestly thought it might be their version of Saran Wrap.

Alas, when I got home and opened the box, it was not. Bummer. It was a roll of cellophane. Why would anyone need this much cellophane and why was it near the tin foil? If it were me, I would have put it with the gift wrap...

Oh well, if at first you don't succeed, try try again. I'll ask around and see if one of the wives knows what it's called in Russian and if she can recommend a brand to look for. Or, maybe she can take a photo of hers so I can show a store clerk.

I was able to get the rest of my list though so it wasn't a complete waste of a trip.

Swimming upstream

Flashback post from October 2011:

This is an excerpt from an email that I sent to Scott's parents.

Scott is working and I am by myself for a while. It's rainy, grey and cold here now. Very depressing weather and I don't even live here yet!

As I mentioned, today Scott went to work so I tried to use my little coffee maker but was unsuccessful. It wasn't getting consistent power with the converter and so I guess the pump couldn't properly push water thru the filter. There was a ton of steam coming out from the area where the filter / grinds were but no water going thru and it made a lot of noise that didn't sound right.

Luckily there is a free standing plugin hotpot to boil water and one of those French press coffee makers so I was able to make a small, strong cup of coffee. It was frustrating though, and a bit messy, all for a tiny cup of coffee!

Then I tried to get on Scott's computer (he was touring stores today and didn't need it) and that didn't work either. I'd been able to successfully set up the wireless router yesterday (hooray!) but it stopped working after Scott left this morning (oh no!) and after many attempts, I couldn't get either the wireless OR wired connection to work after that. Tried restarting everything and went back to the wired connection even, but still no dice. Again, very frustrating.

Then I showered (well, I took a bath actually, because the shower is not very large or convenient for moving one's arms very much) and washed my hair with the intention of blow drying it straight, since Scott was at work and I had lots of time. No dice there either!! The moment I turned on my hairdryer (using a converter of course), I blew a fuse and all the lights in BOTH bathrooms went out! Crazy. So I didn't do my hair (and didn't have the appropriate product for wearing it curly) but now I'm sitting in a cafe using the free wifi on my phone with slightly frizzy/damp hair. Thank god the wifi in the cafe is working. I have no idea how we will reset those fuses, but I'm leaving it up to Scott. Too exhausted to deal with anything else right now and all I did was wake up, try to make coffee, use the Internet and blow dry my hair! If it weren't happening to ME I'd probably think it was funny. :-P 

PS The one additional issue I didn't mention in this email was that I somehow got locked IN to the apartment. Scott had left in the morning and locked the door from the outside like he normally does, and apparently that requires using the keys to UNLOCK on the inside as well (vs turning the locks like a normal door)! I ended up throwing the keys out the window (9 flights down) to Scott's driver, he came up to unlock from the outside and then showed me what was going on. Mortifying!!

The Keys to Success

...A brief flashback post from the week of February 25, 2013, when I first got back to Moscow

My first week unfortunately got off to a rough start. Once again I had a problem with the front door - me and Russian doors are just not friends!! - basically I put the key in the wrong lock (there are two locks on the door but we only use one). Well, this key is some fancy-schmancy italian key so it has a little piece of metal on it that swings out for "extra security" so once it went in, it literally got stuck inside the door.  So not only can we not get the key out of the keyhole, we can't lock the door!

We already had a handyman coming to take a look at our shower drain the next day so I asked him to get the key out of the keyhole as well. Well I really should have asked our realty company (we use them as the liaison for managing stuff in the apartment) to call a locksmith and not just a handyman, because in the process of yanking the key out, he BROKE it! He got it out and came over to me saying, "No use." The thing is, we only had those 2 keys. I told him he needed to get me a new one since he was the one who broke it.

When he tried to make a new copy (I'd borrowed Scott's key for the day so we had a "good" one for him to work off of), it turns out to be too fancy to have it made at a normal hardware store. And only the landlord can make copies by special order from Italy!! ARGGGHHHH! So at this point we have just one key that we are sharing. Had we called a locksmith, he wouldn't have broken the key, I'm sure of it. Why? Because Scott did the SAME EXACT THING the first week we lived in this apartment and the locksmith made short order of the problem without damaging the key.

Oh, and after 2.5 hours of tinkering, the same not-so-handyman wasn't able to fix the shower either! Double argghhh.