Yesterday was a bummer day, as you may have guessed from the blog. I’m a horrible sick person! I want to just be alone and get into a Byxbee Sweat Tent and get rid of whatever I have. Instead, I had to wait around the house for the ‘green guys’, then for the water guy, then for the housekeeper, who kind of forced me out on the streets, when my heart wasn’t into exploration. Add to that the fact that poor Cindy didn’t get home until nine o’clock made for a lonely and frustrating day.
Today I was up shortly after Cindy and felt a whole lot better. Still have no idea what I’ve got but then again, I never completed med school so I suppose that isn’t a surprise. Made a super duper sandwich for Cindy’s lunch. Tonight is another very late “Parents Night” for her. She hung around last night until the bitter end and they didn’t even introduce her! I hope she feels tonight’s meeting is worth missing another of my meals. I made myself a nice little Spanish tortilla for dinner last night. Potatoes, garlic and onion all sautéed and then three beat eggs added to the pan. Cooked it on a very low heat until set, flipped it over and let it get firm. After I placed it on the hot serving plate I sautéed some chopped tomatoes and herbs with a little butter and transferred that to the top of the tortilla. It was my first meal of the day and it was yummy.
I ate in front of the TV while watching my first pirated DVD. At the Izmailova market last week a few of the teachers got some newly pirated discs. They have been passing them around after watching them and I was given Robin Hood with Russell Crowe and Salt with Angelina Jolie. I thought Robin Hood was pretty good and my goodness, what a cast. I think I fell asleep twice so perhaps I missed the bad parts. Tonight Angelina gets to spend a few hours with me. Anyway, the point of this was that these first run movies cost 100 Rubles, without bargaining, which is only about three dollars! They work, they are good quality and they are plentiful. Something to think about as long winter nights approach.
As we were planning on coming here, we had to think about what to send and what to purchase here. I had thought I would buy a used TV here in Moscow, from one of the departing AAS folks, but I came across an Amazon ‘Sale’ online and they had this new Sony 32” multi-voltage, multi-system HDTV for only $500. Over here they were selling for three times than, used. It was bundled with a multi-voltage, multi system DVD player for only $40. I didn’t open either until they arrived here and I was really afraid that they wouldn’t work, but they work like a charm and we are all set in the multimedia department.
Tomorrow I actually have to get up, shave and shower and get all dressed up like an adult, so as to be ready to accompany Cindy to AAS where I have interviews to be a substitute. I think the interviews are only for an hour or so, but this gives me a chance to see the school in action and get a better feel for what Cindy does. I was thinking about it and realized that I’ve not worn a tie since Colin got married in early May. That is way cool!
The Moscow Times is always a source of fascinating news and from what I can tell it is quite independent from the government. For those of you who give a hoot, here is a marvelous editorial that really tells it like it is regarding Russia’s two leaders. I think you’ll enjoy it:
There were a few other tidbits that really explored the corruption that is rampant in the Moscow government. Seems the mayor’s wife is about to begin construction on a very large golf course to be designed by Jack Nicklaus’ company. Coincidentally, this very large tract of land very close to Moscow, had been owned by the city and was earmarked for a public golf course and amusement park for kids, when all of a sudden, the city decided against that plan and sold the property to the company owned by the mayor’s wife. Boy, is she ever lucky with her timing!
A very, very rich industrialist was involved in an accident last February where two women were killed. The women were mother and daughter, both prominent gynecologists who were traveling home with their two year old daughter/granddaughter when their car was hit by the industrialist’s Mercedes. This took place on the main road heading north out of Moscow where there are CCTV cameras at every intersection and yet, strangely, on this day there were no pictures for an hour before or an hour after the accident. After an extensive review, the panel found that the women were to blame and exonerated the industrialist. In his magnitude he has promised to supply the family raising the young daughter with six thousand rubles a month until she is eighteen since her father died of a stroke this August.
Speaking of car accidents, I saw a classic today on my walk. No injuries but lots and lots of drama. Somehow, and for the life of me I can’t figure out how, an old, old Lada made a left hand turn and rammed a brand new E class Mercedes that was just sitting in traffic. The rule in Russia is that regardless of how minor, you do not move your cars in an accident until the police get there. So, no one can move behind either car and the traffic is building up like you can’t believe. The Lada was driven by an old guy with his old wife in the front and some other old person in the back seat with burlap bags. It looked like they were delivering carrots or some other root veggie, and from their clothing it appears they had just been in the field picking them. The three just sat stoically in the car, waiting for the police. The Mercedes however, had two very handsomely dressed young women, complete with big leather boots and fur trimmed vests and hair just right. Each had a cell phone to an ear, pacing up and down and around the car like caged tigresses. I could just imagine that they were now going to be late for coffee or an early cocktail and they were just beside themselves. I tried to stick around a while to see how it all played out, but I had things to do and places to go.
For those of you who want to go online, I’ll leave you with some photos of our boat trip. www.embeesmoscow.blogspot.com. For the rest of you, until tomorrow, Cindy and Wm
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| Photo of the Photographer |
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| Kremlin Wall and Gates |
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| St. Basil's from the Boat |
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| The Russian White House |
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