Flying High

Monday, January 31, 2011

I’m sitting in the Scandinavian lounge in Arlanda, Stockholm’s airport.  It is a very beautiful place filled with lots of wood, Scandinavian design, of course and very friendly staff. How often do you get to go to an airline lounge that has a fireplace and burning candles on the mantle??

As I feared, security at the Moscow airport was very, very tight.  It took almost eighty minutes to get from the front door of the airport to clearing the final security, customs check.  Normally it takes about twenty.  Everyone gets patted down, even if you don’t set off any alarms.  In keeping with the old classless society, women pat down men as well as women.  Closest thing I’ve come to a massage in years.  I am carrying all my luggage so as not to have to deal with waiting for checked baggage, but my oh my do they do a serious exam of your stuff.  Luckily I’m a very neat packer and didn’t bring anything that would arouse suspicion, like the five music students who were carrying their instruments.  I thought we might get a bit of a quintet but they didn’t make them play.

All of the elementary and middle schools in Moscow are closed for the week, so what do parents do with the kids?  They take them on vacation!  The airport was jammed with families who decided to take vacations since there was no school.  They should have renamed the airport H1N1 what with all the kids coughing and hacking all over everything.  All of the personnel in the passport area were wearing masks.  Makes you feel really wonderful.

What do you get on a plane going from Moscow to Sweden?  You get a planeload of drunks who you can’t understand!  As I was walking around the gate area I saw about fifteen twenty somethings sharing a big bottle of water.  I thought it a bit strange but figured they were on a budget, especially the way they were dressed.  When I went into the bathroom, it all became quite clear.  The wastebasket was filled with discarded duty free bags and empty liters of vodka.  They had obviously transferred the vodka to the water bottles and were killing three liters among them.  The Russians meanwhile had more money and were a bit older and they were drinking at long tables in the bar, at least those that weren’t in the smoking cage were drinking.  I was condemned to the back of the bus and was right in the middle of these two groups of drunks, what a lovely flight!  Fortunately they were all asleep within an hour of taking off.  However we were delayed an hour for deicing and the flight attendants had their hands filled trying to keep these guys in their seats.  They finally figured out what they were doing and confiscated their ‘water’.  Adds new meaning to the term Flying High.

I’ve told you before that Russians are made of sterner stuff.  While thousands of international tourist scramble to try and get out of Egypt, 30,000 Russians tourist are refusing to leave.  Ya gotta love ‘um.

Only three more hours of waiting before my next flight.  Time to take a walk. 

Best wishes, Wm

Dashing Through The Snow

It has snowed all day and it is being whipped around by the strong wind. We took a walk this morning and Cindy convinced me to wear those Stabilicers that we got from LL Bean. Man, what a difference. I walked with confidence the entire way and made sure we took the most treacherous route, all without incident.  (From CC: in case you’re worried, I have my own pair and have been wearing them all along.  They are marvelous.)

Most of the day has been spent doing laundry so that Cindy will have clean sheets while I’m gone and I’ll have clean clothes to wear on the trip. I’m all packed, mostly bringing things home that we no longer need here, as well as bringing some of Cindy’s clothes home to be dry cleaned.  I know it sounds ridiculous, but one pair of slacks cost $20 to dry clean and a skirt and jacket cost the same as the gross national product of Peru. 

We went to a party last night to celebrate the wedding of two of the teachers at AAS. They threw the party and it was a good one. Lots of great food, the best of which was pulled BBQ pork that was just out of this world.  I continue to be impressed with the intellect and commitment of these young teachers. Even at the party I heard bits and pieces of conversations as to how they could improve their teaching and curriculum.

I tried to get my boarding pass online but that is no longer allowed in Moscow, a direct result of the bombing incident I’m sure.  So, I’ll have to go and get in the long lines tomorrow to clear the first hurdles to flight.  Also just found out that even though I’m ticketed on SAS, which is a Star Alliance carrier, it is a code-shared flight on Aeroflot, which is Sky Team.  Oh JOY, Aeroflot; I just don’t get it.

I gave all the plants big gulps of warm water today and it smelled just like springtime in the garden.  Just what I needed while looking at the frozen tundra.  All of the plants have thrived since I salvaged them from the garbage when we moved here in August.  They were a sorry looking bunch, but I felt that they looked so bad due to lack of water so I’ve nursed them back to health and now surround myself in my office with green.

Everyone is rather jumpy in Moscow so now even crank calls about bombs are treated as the real thing triggering the shut down of airports and malls.  Yesterday four large malls were closed because of bomb threats.

What started as a grass roots movement to depose a despised ruler has now turned to chaos in Egypt. Mobs are looting stores, robbing people in the street, freeing hundreds of Muslim militants from jails and thousands of other inmates all across the country.  It is sad to see this turn of events, which of course will give perfect cover to Mubarak to instruct his military to turn up the pressure.  We talked with several people last night who have booked trips to Egypt for the April vacation and they don’t know what to do now. Most embassies, including the USA, have begun the systematic evacuation of non-essential personnel and the airports are clogged with anxious tourists from all over the world wanting to get out as fast as possible. It is all too, too sad.

In all likelihood, I’ll not be doing a daily blog for the next several weeks since I’ll be out of Moscow. I’m sure things will crop up that I think need my attention and analysis and if so, you might receive an email. Otherwise, it will be up to Cindy to discuss Moscow, if her schedule and energy allow.

Ciao, Cindy and Wm

What's Going On? (sorry Marvin)

It has been a lovely, quiet and restful Saturday. We were able to actually sleep in until about 8:15, a record for Cindy.  We took a nice wake-up walk around the neighborhood and ended up at our local café for a macchiato.  We are now able to say a lot more in Russian to our favorite barista and he made us excellent coffee as usual.  We had to wait around for the groceries to be delivered from the Liberty Store and used that time to catch up on housework and emails.

Moscow is a-buzz with the publication of the photo of the suspected ringleader involved with the bombing of Domodedovo.  He is believed to have been based in Stravropol, a Black Sea city much closer to Turkey than Moscow that is a stronghold of radical Islamists.  The paper has begun to detail the new security measures that are to be but in place immediately, and it will involve delays, delays and more delays.  There will be metal screening, baggage screening, profiling and dogs, and this is all before you get into the airport proper.  Can’t wait until Monday!

As I suspected and told you on Tuesday, it has not been confirmed that international passengers were the targets for the bomb attack.  The terrorists, in addition to trying to keep foreigners away from the Olympics and World Cup, are trying to discourage foreign investment in Russia as a way of impacting economic growth here. 

In further discouraging news, Moscow has shut down all of its 1,500 elementary schools due to the H1N1 flu.  That means that 500,000 kids have nowhere to go for the next week. Glad I’m leaving!

Here is the good news, it appears that text messaging can have a positive effect as this article discusses.  A woman was set to blow herself up along with hundreds of others gathers in Red Square for New Year’s celebration.  It is reported that an SMS from her mobile provider wishing her a happy new year triggered the bomb and she was the only one killed.  Keen planning. 

Forget what I said in paragraph two about the identity of the bomber.  Now they say it was a 20 year old from the North Caucasus.  This is such a volatile situation and rumors run rampant, especially when they are published in the Moscow newspapers, as well as at BBC. Com, as fact!

It is a good thing that most of the Middle East is all desert; this enables the tyrannical leaders of the various countries there to dip their collective heads deep into the sand.  The Saudi King labeled the demonstrators as infiltrators! His exact words were, “No Arab and Muslim human being can bear that some infiltrators, in the name of freedom of expression, have infiltrated into the brotherly people of Egypt, to destabilize its security and stability and they have been exploited to spew out their hatred in destruction, intimidation, burning, looting and inciting a malicious sedition.”  How in the world can you portray 10, 000 local citizens coming together against overwhelming armed resistance as infiltrators? Things will be all right however because his highness Mubarak says that the situation is stable.  I guess he doesn’t get BBC.

Well the groceries didn’t get here until four this afternoon, which meant we were condemned to staying in the apartment. Not that we had any pressing plans but it would have been nice to take a long walk since the weather has been quite pleasant. We did go out for a quick walk just as it was getting dark to grab a few things from the local grocery store. Just my luck, they were having a cat fair and the place was filled with people leaving with their cats in carriers. I’m still breathing with difficulty.

I invented a new salad dressing last night. I call it Six Tablespoons because you take one tablespoon each of mayo, olive oil, balsamic, sweet relish, Jamaica Jerk sauce and whole grain mustard.  Mix it all together with some fresh black pepper and you have a really different and lively dressing.  I threw in two chopped tomatoes, a shredded carrot and some old brown bread that was cubed, stirred it up and let it sit for about an hour before tossing with fresh spinach. It was very, very good.

From CC: I can vouch for the deliciousness of Wm’s new dressing.  He made me guess the ingredients but it wasn’t fair because even he doesn’t know what’s in Jamaican Jerk sauce.  I was right on the rest of the ingredients and then guessed curry and cinnamon, either of which could be in the jerk sauce (and since curry can be a mix of up to 40 spices, who can tell?).

Best to all, Cindy and Wm.

Plodding, Planning and Published

Since they aren’t scheduled to deliver the groceries until tomorrow, I took a long walk to the embassy and got some more bulky stuff, like TP, olive oil and more wine.  It was a rather cold and grey walk but it felt good to get off the sidewalks and into the little parks that I know along the way, where I felt much more comfortable walking.

Poor Cindy has another full day of Strategic Planning.  They have a committee of thirty people that is supposed to come up with a new Mission and Vision statement as well as a Strategic Plan. I can’t imagine trying to do that with a group of thirty!  With luck they’ll be done by four and Cindy can take the early bus home so we can get a jump on the weekend.

We had the lasagna and sauce for dinner last night and I swear it got a whole lot better.  We started with a carrot and arugula salad, which hit the spot.  The night before I made Tuna Teriyaki and served it with big wok full of fried rice.  I first made a few cups of turmeric-flavored rice, which I love to do not only for the flavor but also the great yellow color.  I then cut up onion, garlic, red pepper, mushrooms, parsley and green onions and arranged them on a big platter and covered them with plastic wrap.  About fifteen minutes before we wanted to eat I started heating the wok that had about a quarter cup of peanut oil in it.  I also started to heat the griddle that I was to use for the tuna steaks.  Once the wok was hot I added the onions first, stirred them around for a bit and then in went the rest of the vegetables. Just before they were ready, I placed the two tuna steaks on the griddle and let them brown on both sides.  I added the rice to the wok and stirred everything around until the rice was very hot.  I then added one egg to the rice and mixed everything up until the egg was cooked and I turned off the wok and covered it.  I added a bit of teriyaki sauce to the tuna and the juice of a half of lemon and let that sit for a few minutes while I plated the rice. I added the tuna steaks and drizzled them with the pan juices and served it to a most appreciative dinner companion. 

For as many years as he has been publishing it, I’ve been reading it. In plain fact, anyone who travels often should be reading it.  The ‘it’ is Joe Sent Me, a weekly online publication for people who travel put together by Joe Brancatelli, who knows his business.  In today’s edition there is a little piece by a member based in Moscow.  It might look familiar to you: http://joe.biztravelife.com/joe.html

The TSA has announced that it will be doing away with the color coded threat levels since they really didn’t provide that much specific information. Today the Russian government announced that they would soon begin to color code the threat levels!

Enjoy the weekend, I know we shall.  Cindy and Wm

Mindless Housekeeping

Today was filled with so much excitement that there were times when I feared my heart would not be able to take the unbridled joy of the moment.  I had to sit home all morning and most of the afternoon waiting for a delivery of groceries that I had purchased at the commissary.  I wanted to stock up so that Cindy wouldn’t have to worry about shopping and there was far too much for me to carry so I arranged with the boys to have it delivered.  They were supposed to come between 10:30 and noon and they were to call before they departed. Neither of those things happened and so I was condemned by my own weakness to sit and wait.

Having completed all of my reading of the news, my emails and my writing, I cast about for meaningful opportunities to better the apartment.  It is amazing how much you can find to do it you really look long and hard.  First came the showerhead, which has literally been flying off the handle if too much water pressure is applied.  I think I’ve fixed it but we can only be sure when Cindy uses it next since she likes lots of pressure, at least from the shower. 

Next came the most fun.  We have a humidifier in the bedroom to try and keep some moisture in the room when we are sleeping. We also have a fan that is used to move the hot air from the radiator to the cold spots in the room.  I took a close look at both and realized that the blades on the fan and the fan on the humidifier were both filled with thick dust. I broke apart all the pieces and took them to the shower for deep cleaning. While doing that I decided to clean the big wick unit in the humidifier as well.  This occupied a stunning thirty-five minutes of wet labor, but everything is ship shape and in Bristol fashion.

The blame game is in full swing here in Moscow and both Medvedev and Putin via for the position of ‘guy most in charge’.  People have been fired, agencies dismantled and theories laid out and then withdrawn. The latest is that this was an effort by Islamic terrorists to destroy foreign investment in Russia.  This is the third attempt to try to focus on reasons and groups, but thus far real answers are just blowing in the wind.

Okay, what did I tell you about flat roof in Russia?

Grocery Update: After sitting around until 1:30 I was getting stir crazy, especially since the sun was shining. I called the Liberty Store and after a few transfers finally got though to Ismail, my friend and the boss man.  He knew who I was but couldn’t find my order anywhere.  “There is no order for William” he said. I told him to look for Emmans and sure enough there it was.  “Oh, I’m so sorry. I would have delivered that to you yesterday but I didn’t know who Emmans was. I don’t have another driver until Saturday, but I’ll make sure he comes to you early!”  They write the names on the delivery the way it comes up on the computer and when they scan my card it comes up Emmans since she is the sponsor and I’m the attachment. And so it goes.

When I finally got outside I decided it would be good to have some serious exercise so I borrowed one of the green guy’s shovel and dug out Cindy’s car.  I haven’t shoveled snow in quite a while and I remember now that I never liked it. At least for the time being Cindy’s car is clean and ready to roll, and by morning I’ll have new muscle aches to take my mind off my shoulder and knees.

Ciao, Cindy and Wm

Normal is Subjective

It is a bright, clear and cold day and Moscow seems to have recovered from its shock at the events at the airport.  Everything is running normally and I suppose denial keeps things together here.  Of course there are always those who will seek profit from tragedy and the gypsy taxi drivers were the first to try and cash in on people’s panic.

I actually went for a long walk and didn’t fall, so this is a good day.  My knees and arms were a bit achy from the fall yesterday but I seem to have worked all of that out during the walk and I very much enjoyed the sunshine.

With all that has been going on I forgot to mention that we went out to dinner on Monday night and tried the other Georgian restaurant that is close to our grocery store.  Just walking in we knew it was going to be a much better culinary experience.  The first thing that you see is a large tank with trout and carp swimming around unfazed by the fact that they might be dinner within the hour.  There were two smiling - I’ll repeat that since it is worth repeating - SMILING hostesses. One took our coats and winter gear and the other showed us to a table in the spacious and smoke free restaurant.  Like the other Georgian restaurant, this one has lots of exposed wood, but it is really done nicely with tables that are set with real tablecloths and real napkins. There were all manner of deer heads and horns adorning the walls and best of all was a great big open grill right in the center of the dining room so that we could watch what was being grilled.

The menu confirmed the fact that this was a bit more upscale.  Everything was perhaps ten to fifteen percent more expensive, but as we would find out, it was well worth the extra rubles. The only downside was that the wine was twice as expensive for half the wine, but it was good wine and served very cold, so once again, we really didn’t care.  To be fair in our comparison, we ordered mostly what we always order at the other restaurant. Cold grilled eggplant rolled around a knob of crushed walnuts and spices, a hot dish of local cheeses between layers of pasta, and the grilled quail.  Everything was wonderful, but the quail was simply superb. It was cooked to perfection and was meaty and spiced just right.  We also had a lavash, which is a Georgian loaf of bread that is tapered at both ends grilled just before serving.  We shall surely return for the food and also for the fact that they have the cleanest, brightest and most delicately scented bathrooms in all of Moscow. They even have earth music: frogs chirping and water falling.

Dinner with the new director and his wife was lovely last night. They got here about forty minutes late due to the hectic schedule and the traffic, but I had anticipated that and the meal didn’t suffer.  After cocktails we started with smoked salmon on hot crispy broccoli blinis with sour cream and dill.  It was a big hit and it is so easy to make.  I had made a very large vegetable lasagna the day before and just before heating it up I added slices of mozzarella that I sprinkled with herbs du Provence and let it all get bubbly hot and brown on top.  I had decided to make this more of a Provençal dish as opposed to Italian so I alternated layers of pasta with layers of sliced roasted eggplant.  I mixed cottage cheese, ricotta, Parmesan and pecorino with three eggs, spices, two cloves of minced garlic and a half pound of chopped raw spinach.  I spread this on the various layers of pasta and eggplant, which had already been slathered with my rich tomato, garlic, carrot, red pepper and mushroom sauce. I baked it hot, 400°, for about forty minutes and it rose up like a soufflé.  I let it cool completely - it of course fell - and then covered it and placed it in the fridge. 

After it was reheated for dinner, I served it with a side of the thick sauce and some extra Parmesan and crusty fresh bread.  I was all swelligent. The new director is a big fan of technology and will be a wonderful addition to the school and a strong ally as Cindy continues to move the school further along the path of innovative technology.

I would like to figure out how anyone who has lived in Moscow for one winter could design a structure with a flat roof.  My walk today had lots and lots of little detours as workmen were on top of large building shoveling the flat roofs covered with snow. There were times when it was like a blizzard with all the snow coming down from the roof.  If the icicles don’t get you than the big chucks of snow will. With the weather clear and crisp, there is a lot of snow removal going on all over the neighborhood. Large dump trucks filled with snow were processing across the main street like so many elephants in a circus parade. Someday I’ll have to follow one of these trucks and see where they dump all the snow. I’m guessing the river. 

Best wishes to all, Cindy and Wm.

Bombs, Bullets and Bruises

It is an inescapable fact that we live in dangerous times. The bombing here in Moscow yesterday, less than a year after the Metro bombing, goes right to the heart of the issue of security. If it can happen in Moscow, where there are more police, secret militias and security agents than anywhere in the world outside of Israel, it can happen in any country.  Any free society that allows people to move about without constant checks is going to have the potential for serious acts of terrorism.  The real issue is what will nations do about it.  I can assure you that Russia will not allow the terrorists to win. They will not close the airports, they will not limit flights, and they will not impede the free movement of people on trains, buses or the Metro because of this act.

I would suspect that there will be more delays as a direct result of more security in the USA than there will be here in Russia.  I’ll let you know next Monday when I attempt to fly to Stockholm to connect to Paris to connect to Washington.  I’m going to walk over to the Metro later today to see what the security is like there, which will give me some hint as to what it is going to be like at the airports.

It is no secret that the bombing was timed to coincide with the arrival of international passengers from Italy, England and Germany.  As I mentioned before, one of the aims of the terrorist is to try and prevent events like the Winter Olympics and the World Cup from being successful. They hope to engender fear and a sense of foreboding on the part of international visitors to Russia, thinking that the Russians will negotiate with them to protect their economic interest and their sense of Russian pride.  I personally do not think that this will be a successful strategy, but I think we can look for more and more of these incidents to occur the closer we get to these major international events.

Since March, when the bomb went off in the Metro, there have been waves of anti-Muslim attacks here in Moscow.  Roving gangs of skinheads and other disenfranchised youth have violently attacked anyone who looks different.  Very few prosecutions have taken place, which of course gives a green light for expanded violence. 

Speaking of violence, what am I missing?  When six people are killed in Tucson and many others injured, the NRA uses that as a reason to argue that more people should be armed!  There were three bystanders at that event that we know were armed.  Only one had time to draw his weapon and then he almost fired at one of the two men who were trying to get the gun away from the nut job. Even he admits that it would have been horrible to have shot the wrong person.  These things happen too fast for any citizen gunslinger to respond. If highly trained law enforcement officers can’t prevent these events, yahoos with pistols that they have only fired at static targets don’t have a prayer.

Thirteen law enforcement officers have been shot since Thursday and yet in three states they want to make it legal for professors to carry guns in the classroom.  Having been a professor for thirty-five years, I can assure you that these are NOT the people you want carrying a gun!  The USA is just upside down on this issue and it is another example of political/social polarization, which will not allow common sense to prevail.

I don’t know what the big fuss is over the fact that China has been able to develop a stealth jet fighter having salvaged parts from a downed US stealth fighter.  This seems like a good situation if we play our cards right.  We’ll fill in the gaps for them if they promise to sell us the finished product. You know it will cost half of what it would cost to build in the USA.

Later today:  I would like to report that there seems to be no evidence of any tightening of security around embassies, train stations, Metros, banks or other public places.  I walked all around for ninety minutes and everything and everyone seemed quite normal.  The most dangerous things that I saw on my walk were icicles hanging from the top of tall buildings getting ready to fall. They cordon off about three feet from the edge of the building in hopes that gravity will take the six-foot ice spears directly down.  Last week a six year old boy was killed by an icicle falling onto his head.

According to the airport web pages, all flights are running on schedule. They do recommend arriving at the airport a bit earlier for departing flights, which suggests to me that there is some increased security.  Let’s hope things settle down before Monday. One of the best ways to keep informed here in Moscow is to watch Russian Television, RT, in English. You can also take a look at it online. Quite good and well balanced, from what I can see with lots of information on the bombing. http://rt.com/on-air/

With all my pious preaching about people walking while distracted on the slippery sidewalks of Moscow, you would think I would be the last person to fall, but fall I did.  I was just walking down a gentle hill and the next thing I knew I had fallen on my hands and knees and was sliding down the sidewalk like a big blue walrus sliding down a beach heading to the ocean.  No real damage, just sore knees, but I did feel stupid for a little while.

Again, thanks for all the concern, Cindy and Wm.

Clams and Blue Light Specials

Cindy promised she was going to take the late bus this morning and I thought, yippee, we could sleep until 6:30 or so.  It was not to be.  She decided she needed to wash her hair so she was up at 5:50 and I proceeded to fall right back to sleep until 6:15.  I got up and made her coffee, got her breakfast, made her sandwiches and lunch items and she was out the door at 7:10 and I was back in bed at 7: 15 where I stayed until 8:30. It’s not that I’m tired but it doesn’t get light until 8:30 and I’ll be damned if I’m going to wander around outside in the dark.

Most of today has been involved with organizing a dinner for tomorrow night.  The new director of AAS is here this week with his wife and they are coming here for dinner tomorrow night.  I wanted to get everything done today so that we’ll have time to sit and relax tomorrow as opposed to me running around the kitchen doing last minute cooking.  I also wanted to get it done now so that when the cleaning lady comes tomorrow, we can keep everything looking fresh and clean.

Spaghetti Vongole

Dinner last night featured spaghetti vongole (clams).  It was supposed to look like this, however here in Moscow I have no access to fresh clams in the shell - in fact I don’t even have access to canned whole clams.  I did get a few cans of chopped clams from the commissary and I had to make do with them.  While the pasta was cooking I sautéed in butter and olive oil some freshly chopped garlic and parsley, seasoned with chili flakes, pepper and salt. When they were nicely cooked I added a quarter cup of white wine and let it cook off the alcohol. I then added a ladle of the cooking water from the pasta and the juice of a half lemon.  At the last minute I added the can of clams, with the broth and a pat of butter.  I tossed in the drained pasta and let it all get hot before serving it with a sprinkle of cheese and fresh parsley.   Before the pasta we had a shaved carrot and arugula salad with whole grain mustard vinaigrette.  Here are some photos and you can see that my vongole did not look like the real thing, but it wasn’t half bad. 

I’ve written before about the Blue Buckets, a group of people who are fed up with anyone with money or power being able to place a flashing blue light on their car and ignore the rules of the road. There was yet another incident this weekend where this reckless behavior caused more death and injury.  I’m going to follow this one to see if the politicians gather round to protect their own.

On a lighter note, or should I say ringtone, here is one that would make J. M Barrie ever so happy!

Finally done with all the cooking for tomorrow and have the kitchen cleaned up and dishes put away. Looks like we’ll be going out for dinner tonight since I’ve not had time to make anything other than tomorrow’s meal.  Can’t wait to see where we end up.   Wherever we go, you can be sure that we are not going to take a pedestrian overpass or underpass.  Just too darned dangerous!

Ciao,  Cindy and Wm

Perky Partner

I woke up today and decided to be perky all day.  I’ve been letting this place get the best of me and now that I realize that, I’m taking action.  Cindy was a bit surprised at my perkiness since she said that yesterday I was a pain in the extremity, which is one of the reasons I decided to be perky today.  Things just seem to go better when you are perky.

We had a lovely little morning stroll before coming back for coffee. Cindy made some marvelous French toast with bits and pieces of bread that we had laying about.  Due to my perkiness, she threw me out of the kitchen and did all the clean up without my assistance, which gave me time to do a few loads of clothes.  We had planned on driving to Auchan but there is fresh snow and silly drivers so we’ll walk over to the grocery store and get what we need for the next several days.  I’ll be doing heavy commissary shopping on Tuesday; I’ve mentioned that they have free delivery if you buy more than $100 worth of stuff, which isn’t hard to do there.  This way someone else can carry all the heavy stuff and I’ll just bring back the light stuff and some of the frozen goodies.

Last night I used up the last of what was fresh in the larder and made a Salmon Spanish Tortilla.  I pan fried sliced potatoes, onions and garlic until they were nice and brown and crisp. I added six small eggs that I had whipped with a little bit of ice water.  When it had set up a bit I did the old flip over and turned the heat off and let it finish cooking from the residual heat of the pan.  While it sat there I spread crème fraiche on the tortilla and topped that with chopped bits of smoked salmon. If I had had fresh dill, I would have used it with the salmon but I didn’t so I used parsley.  I cut the tortilla into quarters and served it on a bed of spinach along with some toasted dark bread and a lovely bottle of Vinho Verde.  Here are a few photos.

I’m going to have to learn how to think through events here in Moscow. We went to the grocery store today at about 1:30 figuring everyone would be done shopping by then.  Quite wrong!  It seems that everyone took two weeks vacation and they all came back to Moscow last night or this morning and the store was jammed!  We managed to get what we wanted but there was a lot of bumper car mentality with the carts and I was happy to get out of there still feeling perky as opposed to pestered. 

I was still thinking about all the wedding parties we saw yesterday. It appears that a part of the wedding mentality here is overt conspicuous consumption. The outfits I’m sure are expensive, but they are expensive everywhere. What the Russians do is rent the largest, longest, gaudiest limos and drive all around town for photo ops at all the popular attractions. These cars are enormous and always covered with flowers and filled with drunken members of the wedding party.  Outside the Kremlin Walls yesterday there must have been fifteen of these chariots all lined up and waiting, while on the main drag going into Red Square there were five or six more loading and unloading their passengers for photos and drinking experiences. I hope we are invited to a lavish Russian wedding before we leave so I can see what goes on at the reception.

Hope your weekend was a good one, Cindy and Wm

Red Square in White

More snow, more grey and more bleak. I’m beginning to understand why teachers don’t last very long here as they do, for instance, in Nice!  We took a stroll in the snow this morning before breakfast and once again no matter what direction we took; the wind and snow would be blowing directly in our faces.  It is uncanny how many times that happens to us. 

We had a nice long breakfast, reading papers and catching up.  We were going to go to a museum or something but the day got away from us so at two we got back into our snowsuits and took the Metro to Red Square to look at the ice sculptures.  We were told that people looking for good luck place the coins there. They rub the coin between their hands and get it hot and then place it over the ice and it melts into the statue, really quite cool.  We wandered around the square waiting for three o’clock so we could listen to the bells from the Kremlin Tower.  Then we headed into GUM to wander around and get warm.  Everything is still decorated for Christmas and I must say it is getting old.

You couldn’t swing a dead squirrel in circle without hitting a bride and her entourage having their photos taken in GUM.  Outside in the square we had seen about six wedding parties but there must have been twenty or more in the store.  The brides outside were cavorting in their long white dresses and the slush was making the hems extremely dirty… also they looked COLD because they only had short fur jackets over their dresses and it was under 20 F.  (Read on; the condition of the revelers probably was a warming factor.)  On several occasions I noticed a couple of the brides checking each other out.  I was amazed at how young they all looked and at how drunk they all were.  The bride carries the flowers, the groom carries the bride and the wedding party carry the Sovetskoye Shampanskoye lots and lots of bottles of Sovetskoye Shampanskoye.

Fortunately, no one was protesting today outside Lenin’s Tomb as they did on Friday. It is hard to imagine that anyone can still get so worked up over his remains.  We decided to walk home and managed to get back just before it got dark. It is slow going even with lots of light; darkness only increased the probability of injury on these sidewalks.

Dinner last night was served in two courses, with a long break in between for me to participate in a conference call with the Foundation Board at NBCC.  The first course was curried chicken salad served on thin toasted dark bread.  The salad had about a cup of chopped chicken, a cup of chopped green grapes, a handful of crushed walnuts, a handful of raisins and one chopped green apple.  The dressing was just mayo, whole grain mustard, pepper, olive oil, a bit of garlic, curry power, cinnamon, nutmeg and crème fraiche.  I mixed everything together and let it all sit for a day so that the flavors would meld.  The hot course was roasted stuffed peppers.  The stuffing was just a mixture of the carrot/cauliflower mash from a few nights ago, with some cooked rice, five cloves of chopped garlic browned in butter, a nice big tablespoon of yogurt and two whipped eggs.  I roasted the peppers first and then placed them in a bread pan that I had lined with the rest of the cooked rice so that the peppers wouldn’t fall.  I filled them with the mixture and let them bake for about forty minutes.  Just before serving I sprinkled the peppers with grated pecorino and served them very, very hot.  Here are a couple of photos. Tonight’s dinner will be far less elegant.

Best wishes, Cindy and Wm

From CC: I’m happy to report that I’m not jaded quite yet … as we walked through Red Square and approached St. Basil’s Cathedral with its many colorful towers covered with snow, I had a little catch in my throat thinking how fortunate I am to be able to see things like this for real, not just in photos.  I’ve already seen St. Basil’s several times since moving here, but each time it’s almost as impressive as it was that first jaw-dropping time last August.

As Bleak as Poe

It has been a rather bleak day, no sun, no warmth, light snow and more slippery than it was yesterday. I took a ninety-minute walk but it certainly wasn’t fun. It was more like an exercise in excess caution. I chose a route that had too many streets to cross that didn’t have lights.  Cars have the right of way here and even though there is a crosswalk that only means that the pedestrians are grouped together for a more efficient kill.

No matter how bleak I thought today was, our dear friend Yuri found it bleaker. Now Austria has denied him a residence permit despite the fact that he and his wife own a chalet and luxury hotel in Austria.  This guy is getting the bum’s rush wherever he goes.

I didn’t get to see much of Cindy yesterday. She got home earlier than usual but she went to the Russian lesson upstairs at 7:30 so we had an early dinner and I didn’t see her again until 8:30. She said the tutor has finally listened to everyone and is teaching the kinds of things we all need to know.  I had made a chicken, vegetable, and rice soup with all the leftovers so that we could eat whenever we wanted. It was very good, quite flavorful and filled with goodness. 

Here is something to brighten up the heart.  There are a series of ice sculptures in Red Square and this little video gives you a good sense of what Moscow can be like in the winter when it is bright and sunny.

And this little animated cartoon can be skipped by anyone how has never been an English major, professor, or doctoral candidate.  It is however very, very funny and ever so true.

From CC:  A word or two about the forest.  The trails and roads are cleared after every major snowfall – well, a few days after; first they do the real roads.  They even clear the benches and a wide area around them.  Every so often I’ve noticed a bird feeder hanging on a tree near a public street, and someone has hung a feeder in the forest near a clearing where two roads intersect.  I’ve seen an elderly couple there who stand very still with an arm outstretched and the chickadees eat out of their hands!  It’s amazing.

Happy Weekend, Cindy and Wm.

Slipsliding Away

We woke up to a fresh few inches of snow and yet it is still very cold. I had hoped that we would get some warmer temperatures as the clouds moved in but it is not to be.  I had to go out and clear off the car since Cindy is taking it to school tomorrow for maintenance. Once that was done I figured, well I’m all dressed for the cold so I might as well go for a walk.  There is an old Russian expression that says, “On the ice, we walk like bears.”  I took that to mean carefully, but with a new layer of snow to cover all the ice on the sidewalks, I think it means that they walk on all fours.  I’ve never seen so many people slip and fall. Part of the reason is that they always seem to be in a hurry and they are always distracted, either by using their cell phones or reading messages, or talking with their friends. In any event, I understand the expression better now that I’ve seen so many Russians on all fours.

Dinner last night was a lot of fun and we really had a chance to get to know the principal.  Our first course was grilled broccoli blinis topped with salmon that I had cured in lemon and fresh pepper and then covered with homemade crème fraiche and thin slices of lemon. It was fantastic if I do say so myself and we all loved it. The main course was a variation on my Basque Chicken.  In this version I rubbed the chicken pieces with sweet paprika that one of Cindy’s colleagues brought back from Budapest.  I then seared the pieces in a little peanut oil so that I could get the temperature really hot without smoking me out of the kitchen.  My goodness, the smells from the paprika cooking in oil were divine and it gave the chicken a wonderful deep rust color, which held up throughout the cooking process.  Once the chicken was seared I removed the pieces and then added the cut up sausage to the same pan and cooked them until brown.  Once removed, I added all the chopped up vegetables, red and yellow peppers cut in long strips, onions, garlic, and chopped tomatoes and softened them for about five minutes.  I almost ruined the meal at this point.  I went to add a little salt and the entire top of the container came off. I quickly scooped out as much as I could by grabbing handfuls of hot vegetables and throwing them into colander.  Luckily the vegetables had cooled the oil a bit and I wasn’t burned but I was very upset.  I rinsed the saved vegetables and added them back to the pan and tasted everything.  I was vastly relieved that it wasn’t too salty.  I looked at the container and could not, and have not, figured out how that could have happened, but given the fact that I failed to close Cindy’s commuter cup this morning, I suspecting that I’m to blame.

I added a half-cup of red wine, normally I would use white wine, but with the paprika I was going for a deep ruby sauce.  I then added all the meat and let everything simmer for an hour.  I drained the liquid and thickened it with a butter roux and added it back to the pot for the last fifteen minutes as the turmeric rice cooked.  The smells were filling the kitchen and seeping into the dining room and I couldn’t wait to get everything to the table. The colors alone were worth all the effort.  Bright yellow rice, covered with a ruby sauce and chunks of chicken, sausage and brilliant peppers made it, according to Cindy, the best effort at Basque Chicken yet.  I had fully intended to make an apple crisp for dessert but when I was buying the bread for dinner, they came out with small apple strudels that were still hot from the oven. I couldn’t resist and served that with some cinnamon crème fraiche.

As Starbucks moves in one direction, it appears Wal-Mart is willing to take some baby steps in the direction of health and nutrition.  Speaking of forward steps, the Russian government banned 100-watt bulbs as of January 1^st in an effort to promote the sale of energy efficient bulbs. The problem is that the new bulbs cost 10-15 times more than the old ones so no one is buying them. Stepping in to fill the gap, two companies are now selling 95-watt bulbs, perfectly legal and they are flying off the shelves. 

That’s it for today, tune in tomorrow. Cindy and Wm

Reaching for the Sun

Another remarkably beautiful day in sunny Moscow and I’m loving it. Crystal clear skies but the temperature doesn’t seem willing to go above 8°F, which means that as lovely as it looks out my window, it is still much too cold to really take any long walks.  I did manage a half hour outing before heading to the grocery store to warm up and gather some food for tonight’s dinner party. We have invited the principal of the high school, a single woman who doesn’t cook and is departing for a principal position in China in July. She is a lovely lady and we look forward to having some private time with her tonight. 

Last night I made a nice little pasta with peas, bacon, onion, garlic and cheese, tossed with a mixture of regular and spinach pasta. This is the kind of soul satisfying meal that makes you tingle while eating.  The frozen peas really were delicious and tasted like they had must been shucked. You can take a look here.  Cindy, in an effort to sleep through the night, decided to just have a glass (and a half) of wine with dinner and nothing before or after. Needless to say, cleaning up was really easy with only two wine glasses and two water glasses.  It worked to a certain extent, but she was still wide-awake early and decided once again to take the early bus. I think she has only taken the late bus once in two weeks.

When we first moved here we were amazed at the number of ATM machines that seemed to be everywhere, from the corner store to the Metro passages to restaurants and cafes.  It wasn’t until we tried to use one that we found out that they are really payment terminals where folks without bank cards can actually pay for their utilities, cell phone bills, bank loans, etc.  Well now it appears they are going to try to enter the US market so keep your eyes open and remember, you heard it here first.

Remember poor Yuri Luzhkov, the 17-year mayor of Moscow who was thrown out of office last year? Well he has been shopping around for a European country in which he could establish residency so that he would be free to roam Europe without the hassle of visas, something Russians must have for each country they visit.  Well, he was declared a persona non grata in Latvia yesterday, dashing his wanderlust hopes. Don’t count him out just yet. With all the money he funneled to his wife, they have untold millions of Euros that they’ll be able to spread around as they continue to shop for a permanent residency.

Entangling Alliences

We have had so much sunshine in the past four days that my plants are starting to do that old heliotropic thing.  As I began to turn them so they wouldn’t get too bent in one direction, I noticed that one of my plants has decided to embrace another. It is really cool and I hope the attached picture doesn’t make you blush as it did me.

And finally this, which will make me stop complaining about walking in cold temperatures.  I guess you just gotta believe!

Best to all, Cindy and Wm

PS from CC:  I had my usual weekly meeting with my tech team today (5 young Russian guys). These meetings typically go very well and today was no exception; I have an agenda of things we need to discuss and then I say we’re done - and then they keeping talking and talking.  It’s rather cute – they wouldn’t admit this in a million years, but they like sharing things with me, and I suppose they appreciate the fact that I really listen.  Today one topic was about occasional work for them on Saturdays, such as videotaping a special event.  Here’s the quotation of the year from one of them:  “You can never control how your Friday night is going to end.”  I’m still laughing – notice he didn’t say predict or know, he said control.  Hmmm, I’ve had some interesting Friday nights in my life but I don’t ever recall not being able to control the ending!

Venti, Trenta, Morte

 I got my walking in while the walking was good. The weather was spectacular, another bright blue sky and lovely sun with temperatures about 12° and a light breeze.  I was able to do about an hour before my face felt like it would fall off, so I walked over to the embassy and had a nice, affordable espresso.  One of the boys was there and I asked if they had stocked the frozen peas and tuna yet. He said no but asked how many packages I wanted of each and told me to come to the warehouse in about fifteen minutes.  He had my stuff all ready and priced and I added a few bottles of wine and some other little stuff and headed home.  The day has now clouded over and we are expecting more snow for the next several days, which should also bring warmer weather.

It appears the water man came without calling and luckily our housekeeper was here, but she had to pay with her own money so now I’m waiting for her to come back so I can repay her.  Quite a system they have for delivering water; random is the word that comes to mind. 

Dinner last night was a simple roast chicken with lots of carrots, onions, potatoes and garlic nestled under the cut up chicken, which I had rubbed with herbs du Provence.  It was a great meal for a very, very cold night.  I had a bottle of rosé tucked away in the fridge so I broke that out and made believe I was in Provence while Cindy opted for a strong red; nice to have choices.

I noticed as I was walking home from the embassy at noon that my shadow was very, very long.  The sun is still just swinging on a southern arc and never gets high enough in the sky to not cast long shadows all day long.  Just for a giggle I compared daylight hours here vs. Charles Town.  Today we have 7 hours and 46 minutes of daylight in Moscow and 9 hours, 47 minutes in Charles Town. The good news is that we are adding 3.6 minutes per day here and only 1.4 in Charles Town so I suspect we’ll catch up sometime in April. 

I note with astonishment that Starbucks, ever on the front lines of customer health, has decided that Americans just don’t get enough calories, fat and caffeine from a 24 oz Venti drink so they are introducing a new super-sized cup, the Trenta, coming in at an astounding 31 oz. Now you’ll be able to have a triple shot, caramel latte with whipped cream served in a quart container for your personal consumption. The Trenta’s final capacity is a staggering 31 ounces or about 916 milliliters.  The average stomach capacity is 900 milliliters.  I guess the company is saying you’d better be prepared to pee if you pick one of these bad boys up.  When the smallest size of drink is off the menu and a gut-busting cup becomes the new in thing, I suppose you can say moderation is out the window.  Remember when we would buy a quart of milk or juice and the whole family would share!

As I was yet again reviewing my Russian Alphabet, I came across a type of Sesame Street version.  Unlike the USA, where they go out of their way to have a child of every color, you will note that the only nod to diversity in this version is the Pink Muppet!  Perhaps the folks in the survival pod will be able to stock Russian Muppet tapes to help them while away their forty days of enclosure as the world ends in 2012.

And to brighten your day with new advances in technology and online shopping, I think you’ll get a kick out of this news item. 

Best wishes, Cindy and Wm

Vtoron Gear

Happy MLK day to all and Happy Anniversary Kent and Valley.

Today was a bright and sparkling day here in Moscow.  The sky was cloudless and azure and the sun, while not providing any warmth, was a delight to see.  Today’s high was only about 9°, but with all that sun no one seemed to care and foot traffic was heavy.  They were supposed to deliver water today so I had to stay home until 1 pm, but they never came and there is some automated voice on their phone but it is all in Russian so I’m guessing they might be on vacation. Everyone seems to still be on vacation, even those working.  All the Christmas decorations are still up and no one seems in a rush to remove them. Perhaps they just want the color and light until January is over and we start to look forward to spring.

I finally got out of the house at about 1:30 and took a bit of a walk on the way to the grocery store.  It is very, very brisk out there but it felt great to get out of the house and away from the three loads of laundry I did this morning.  All the bed linens are fresh as a daisy, as are the towels and other laundry. Cindy and I did three loads on Saturday as well so I’m hoping we are all caught up.  (In case you’re wondering, the washer is very small and can’t take much at a time.) The grocery store was finally well stocked so I got all the staples as well as some indispensables like cookies and fresh fruit.  It was actually fun to shop, except for the fact that they now have the cheapest little plastic bags for the veggies.  It is almost impossible to open them, but it is funny to watch everyone blowing on them, rubbing them together, and trying to find a way to get the darn things open. 

I purchased too much for one person to carry home, but fortunately I had the backpack bag so was able to get everything into three bags and off I waddled.  Feels good to have options in the kitchen again. On Wednesday, I’ll fill in the gaps when I shop at the commissary. I’ve gotten pretty good at figuring out who has the best prices, but most of the time the only things we get at the commissary are those which are unavailable anywhere else, or just too expensive anywhere else.

We were going to go out to dinner last night but it was really, really cold and we just didn’t have the energy to go out a third time in one day.  I rummaged through the freezer and came up with enough stuff to make a rather decent dinner.  We had pan seared tuna fillets with a lemon butter sauce, Brussels sprouts braised with onion, garlic and bacon, and a light risotto cooked in the water used to parboil the Brussels sprouts.  We tried a new wine, a 2009 Entre Deux Mer from Bordeaux, which was just perfect with the fish.

Cindy called about fifteen minutes after I got back from shopping and wanted me to get the odometer reading on the car since it is due for service on Thursday and the Green Guys will take care of all the details once they have the reading.  So, rather than get all dressed again just to run out to see the reading, I slipped on my regular sneakers and threw on my coat and gloves; I mean how cold could I get in three minutes?  No sooner had I gotten the reading and was locking the door, when up comes this young sad eyed Russian guy asking if I can jump his car.  (All communication was done with hand signals and guesses for words like battery, cables, etc.)  I started the car and drove over to where he was trying to push his car out from the slot so as to gain access to the battery. He was very well dressed for dancing, not for pushing cars, so I got out and tried to get some traction with my sneakers and we finally got his car out into the middle of the parking lot.  I drove my car up to his and opened the hood only to find out that he thought I had cables. He had nothing but a dumb looking towing line.  I checked out his car and found out he had a stick and so we went though the motions of my asking him if he knows how to jump a car.  I get in and show him the gear to be in(vtoron) and how to pop the clutch. I then rearrange my car and hook up the two cars and begin to pull him. I’ve only got until the end of the lot and if he hasn’t done it by then, we’ll have to push his car out of the way so that I can back up.  Fortunately his car catches just as I’m about to hit the fence.  I got out and disconnected the cars to his jubilant shouts of tank-u.  I’m now freezing to the bone, my feet are wet from the snow banks and I’m dirty from all the efforts to get him started - but I have to admit, it felt good to help someone here in Moscow.  

Off to create a dinner for my darling.  Best to all, Cindy and Wm

Cold and Bright Sunday

A marvelously lazy day began to unfold about nine this morning.  It was just getting light enough to go outside but the temperature was only 12° so we had to bundle up like Eskimos to brave the chill.  We each got on our thermal undies and started to layer with shirts and sweaters, pants and boots, jackets, hats, gloves, and scarves. I swear astronauts don’t have to spend as much time getting ready for a spacewalk as we do for Moscow winter walk.  We did a long walk to a new Georgian restaurant we want to try tonight. It is actually not far from the apartment, but we wanted the exercise so we went out of our way to get there.  It looks good and they don’t advertise live music so we’ll give it a shot.  Our normal restaurant has just become far too loud with the music to the point that we can’t even have a normal conversation while the chanteuse is wailing about love, loss and betrayal.

On the way home the sun came out and it is now a bright and shiny day, but the temperatures have dropped even more so we’ll stay indoors for a while.  We are just lounging around in our thermal underwear, Cindy looking like something from Victoria’s Secret while I look like Mikhail Baryshnikov’s worst dream.  My plants are actually sighing with pleasure as the first rays of sun in the New Year embrace them.  I feel like I should leave the room. 

Dinner last night was fun, but time consuming to make. We picked up some frozen cod at the embassy and I decided to make Greek Cod, which is nothing more than an onion sliced and layered on the bottom of a bread pan. On top of that I placed five chopped cloves of garlic, salt, pepper, oregano, olive oil and the juice of a half lemon.  I mixed it all up and then placed the two cod fillets on top with slices of lemon and a few little pats of butter. I sealed the pan with foil and placed it in a preheated 400° oven and let it cook/steam for about thirty-five minutes.  Meanwhile, I diced up a carrot and one of the slices of onion I had saved and cooked them in boiling water for six minutes.  I drained that reserving the water and then cooked some frozen cauliflower in that water for five minutes.  I drained that, reserving the water and added a cup of rice to the water to let that cook while I smashed the carrots, onion, cauliflower with milk, butter, yogurt, Parmesan cheese, whole grain mustard and salt and pepper.  When it was the way I wanted it, I put it into a glass bowl, added more cheese, sprinkled it with nutmeg and placed it into the oven with the fish for the last fifteen minutes of cooking. I then kept stirring the rice that was now cooking nicely with the water and the smells were incredible.  When the rice was risotto consistency, I plated everything and brought it to the table with hot crusty French bread and a great bottle of French Chardonnay.  Photos are here.

I shall leave you with a bit of a rant.  When did Miss America become Miss Teen America?  I noted with great dissatisfaction that the new Miss America is a seventeen year old high school student. Burt Parks would be very displeased.

Happy Sunday, Cindy and Wm

Slow Snowy Saturday

I put in another full eight hours at the embassy yesterday, staying until the job was finished.  I now have a new nickname among the boys in the warehouse, The Engineer.  Now those of you who know me can continue reading after the bouts of laughter have stopped, but for the rest of you, let it be known that I’m just not that handy.  However, in the land of the blind the one-eyed man is king.  I simply made three or four subtle suggestions regarding the way they off-loaded merchandise, the way they were arranging things on the shelves, and a few hints on how to rotate the stock.  For instance, they don’t have to move all the cat litter so that the oldest is in the front since there is no expiration date on cat litter.  To their credit, no one really knew what cat litter was; they thought it might be cat food.  But then again yesterday I was working with an all-Russian crew and none of them spoke English and I’m assuming none of them had cats, so perhaps I should be more charitable.

I learned a whole lot more Russian yesterday than I do at our weekly lessons.  At first the boss man, who was entering the data into the computer and who speaks excellent English, was confirming numbers in both English, for me, and Russian for the rest. When I switched to Russian numbers, he happily just did everything in Russian and I got to really practice all my numbers.  I’m really good at 12, 24, 48, and 144 since those were the most frequently used numbers as we counted the box contents. It was a great deal of fun working with these guys and I was the only volunteer that showed up so they really appreciated the help. They have one Russian intern who is working there who really doesn’t get it and at the end of the day when we had finished everything, the boss came to me and said, “ If I had two of you we could have done this in one day.”  Then looking at the intern – who didn’t understand English - he said to me, “And if I had two of him, we would be done in a week.”  This really cracked up the boss and we were both laughing a lot.  He had a lot of what he called anecdotes - which were really jokes - and he would tell them to me first in English and then translate them to the crew in Russian. At the end of our time, after all the hand shakes and goodbyes, he told me that I had moved to the top of the list of all shoppers in the commissary and I was to feel free to walk into the warehouse anytime I wanted and ask him for anything I needed. If it was there, he would price it and give it to me, which really is a big deal.

I was even more exhausted after yesterday’s work since it involved a lot more lifting and stacking on shelves so when six rolled around and we turned out the lights, I accepted the invitation of the manager to have a beer in the new bar, Uncle Sam’s. They just spent a whole lot of money renovating the bar and it really looks wonderful. The bartender, who was also helping us unload the other day, got me a small draft beer and asked about the day’s progress. He was impressed that we had finished the entire shipment.  The bar is an oasis of relatively cheap drinks compared to any of the Russian bars.  At happy hour a small beer, .33 liters, is only 60 rubles ($2) and a big beer, .5 liters is 120 rubles ($4).  You do the math!  When I asked why you would get .16 liters more by getting two small beers for the price of one large one, he just shook his head and told me he didn’t do the pricing. I got home at about six forty-five, extremely tired and all I wanted to do was to sit down with a tall scotch and get into a warm bed with a cool woman. Cindy, the cool woman in question, had to attend three AAS parties, all of which were in our complex. She came home for a bit and we talked while I built a drink for myself and then she had to take off again.  I made myself an egg and bacon sandwich and when Cindy returned we each had a nightcap and headed to bed.  We slept for ten hours! 

Today, we took a nice walk in the morning snow and got some fresh bread and an apricot pastry and came home for a long breakfast.  We both caught up on emails and other work and then we took another walk to the embassy for some shopping.  The boss man was outside smoking and I introduced him to Cindy and he told us to go in and he would be there soon.  One of the Filipino workers, Nikko, was also there and I introduced Cindy and he was happy to meet her and see me again.  I showed Cindy the warehouse and she was mightily impressed.  The boss man came back and said that they would have most everything on the shelves by Wednesday and I should come back that morning for some early shopping so as to insure I would be able to have whatever I wanted before it was shelved.

We ran into a woman at the embassy who I met two days ago and who Cindy has known for a while. She has had lots to do with the school and paid a tribute to Cindy, saying that they wanted her so much they even allowed me to come to Russia! Actually, she said they never bring just one person, it has to be a working couple, but for Cindy they made a huge exception. I was very proud!

Happy Weekend,  Cindy and Wm.

Wee Working William

To end the suspense, Cindy did get a proper hot meal last night. Not terribly innovative, a potato and onion omelet with cheese, but it was hot and tasty so not to worry.

I got home about five minutes before the Russian tutor and slogged my way through conjugations of verbs, not what I consider useful.  One of the other people who lives here joined us and when the tutor left, we had a drink and by the time he left it was eight and I hadn’t even had a minute with Cindy.  I quickly prepped the dinner and we finally sat down to eat and talk at 8:30.  Not the most relaxed evening we have ever had, especially in light of the fact that Cindy leaves at 6:30am and doesn’t get back until 5:30pm and that is on a good day.

My work at the embassy was backbreaking, mostly due to the fact that I was the only volunteer during the off loading time.  Once a month the commissary gets a big 18-wheeler filled with everything you can imagine. The truck comes from Ramstein Air Base in Germany and takes three days to get here.  Yesterday there were 18 palettes of foodstuff and we had to haul it all by hand from the loading dock to the warehouse.  I’m an expert now in using those little palette pushers. 

Once we had all the frozen stuff in the freezers and the cold products in the coolers, we had to start the inventory to match what the invoice said was there and what was actually there.  This involved opening each box, say a box of salad dressing, bringing one bottle to a desk where there was an ancient computer and scanner. There that item would be scanned, and it would say how many there should be and if the counts where ok, I would transfer the box to a smaller pushcart for storage.  Very time consuming, very inefficient  and I know that the person in charge wants to make it more efficient but I’m not sure she would be encouraged to do so.  I’m sure you have all seen people in grocery stores with little hand held scanners checking on inventory.  Something like that would make the job go ever so much faster.

I was there from 10 until 5:30 and I must say I’ve become unaccustomed to manual labor. By 4:30 I was actually tired from lifting boxes and pushing palettes. However, I met the nicest people while working there and enjoyed myself immensely.  So much so, that I’m leaving again in thirty minutes for another full day, which is why this is being written at 9am.  I don’t expect to get home until after 7pm tonight so I thought I would get this out and then fill in the details tomorrow when I have much more time.  

Until then, Cindy and Wm

Cindy's Turn

Greetings from the other half …  William decided to volunteer at the Embassy today and he is stocking shelves at the Liberty Store!  He must have flown out of here because the breakfast dishes aren’t done and he didn’t even put the cream away.  Very un-William-esque.

I’ve had a busy week at AAS – in some ways it felt like I’d been gone forever, not just 3 weeks, and in other ways it was as though we didn’t even have a weekend off much less a real vacation.  I guess it’s good that your brain works that way because it means you can hit the ground running when you return.  On Wednesday I led a workshop for the entire faculty (140 strong) along with my friend Peggy who is the Director of Curriculum and is also new this year.  We put the teachers to work answering our questions about the best ways to get the students to use technology in the classroom.  It went well and now we get to respond to their answers; in other words, now the real work begins.

We have quite a bit of snow on the ground and the forest near the school is just beautiful.  Walking remains treacherous wherever you go, although lately the crews have been working on the sidewalks and parking lots since we haven’t had much accumulation of snow for at least a week and the roads are clear.

I am worried sick about dinner because I came home to an empty apartment with no aromas emanating from the kitchen.  What to do?!  I suppose I should start cooking – duh – but our Russian tutor comes tonight so I don’t really have time.  Either we’ll have peanut butter or we’ll go out to eat.

I can hardly wait for Wm’s oral report on his exciting day at the Embassy – you’ll have to wait until tomorrow though for the written report.

Love, Cindy (and Wm)