Weekending in Moscow

sorry for the absence.  last week was pretty busy with meetings in the evenings, so i didn't get a lot of sleep, and i ended up going out for lengthy dinners this past weekend, so i pretty much slept all day on sunday.  it's exhausting living in a different country...everything takes effort.  and i never know what surprise awaits.  yesterday evening i got accosted in the grocery store by the check-out clerk...turns out she was scolding me for not having taken the price tag off of the reuseable bag i purchased a few weeks ago, making her think i just purchased it today.  thank goodness there was another store patron who spoke english and could translate for me.  but it was unnerving being yelled at in a language you don't know, while holding up the line of people who just want to buy some chicken and vegetables and get home to dinner.  everything is an adventure i supposes.

anyway, so here are some pics from the various social activities i've managed to do between evening meetings.  ok, so we didn't ice skate on the weekend, as the title of this blog suggests, but i include it as it was a social activity.

ice skating in gorky park!!  it's just as touristy as it sounds.  like ice skating in central park, if they have iced over some of the pathways in addition to a rink.  you can skate up to cafes and kiosks selling food, tea, wine, etc.  very fun.  and very expensive.  like everything in this city.  but still a pretty darn good time.

This is a soup kiosk.  it's not on the skating route, but fun none-the-less.

the skating rink.

sasha, liza, and beckie skating away.

sasha, beckie, liza, and mike, in the kiddie rink.  the penguins are used by little kids to help them learn to skate.  and are just so darn cute!

the group of us.

in the snow outside the rink.  

next up...a georgian meal.  ok.  so we got invited (and treated) to a georgian feast by our russian exec producer.  he arranged for cars to pick us up from the hotel, and take us to this place.  and this place, the restaurant, looked like it was straight out of epcot center.  "welcome to georgia-land!" it should have said.  it was crazy.  a big themed restaurant with cobblestones outside and inside...waterfalls, fish pond, big barrels and big wooden tables and balconies and fire places.  disneyland.  oh!  and there were roving musicians, and roving dancers dressed in black silk costumes.  they were supposed to be dance-fighting over a girl, but the girl never showed up for her part of the dance, so they were just dance-fighting, i guess.  but the dancing was so intense.  angular, stomping, twirling, sashay-ing, emotional intensity.  the roving singers were beautiful...accoustic with a guitar.  and all the russians at the table knew the songs.  apparently, the georgian tradition is to eat, and sing, and drink and eat and sing and drink and eat and sing and drink all night long.  if we knew the songs, it would have been perfect!  we ate and drank enough, that's for sure.  courses of food kept coming,  and we drank wine and special mineral water that is illegal in russia because diplomatic relations with georgia are not so good.  so you can only find those beverages in the restaurant.  and cha-cha...the georgian grappa.  our glasses were never empty.  it was a long night.  but a fun one.  a bit overwhelming at times...but a good chance to get to know our russian producers.  it was quite dark, so i couldn't get good picks of the dancing, unfortunately.  but just think silky, twirling ninjas and you about have it.

the outside entrance to the restaurant. you pretty much enter the mouth of the barrel.  see?  epcot center.

round one of food.

toward the end of round 8 or 9.

the roving musicians!

dessert.

a close-up of the fried fish, very traditional.  you can eat the heads and tails, but i skipped that part.  the bread in the background has cheese in it, topped with a fried egg.  i feel for the arteries of these people!

another pic of the outside of the restaurant.  it's a huge place.

i was hoping for a more laid-back evening on saturday night, and i guess i got it, but at quite a price.  i agreed to go to a group dinner at a fish restaurant in the same complex as the hotel.  first of all, i ignored the cardinal rule of group dinners (you inevitable spend MORE than if you paid on your own cuz everyone splits it) and the cardinal rule of eating with people on per diem (generally people on per diem get expensive bottles of wine).  it ultimately was a nice dinner, the fish was excellent - they roasted a whole one for the table (they brought it to the table to show it off...one might say "upsell") and we bought in.  they encrusted it with sea salt, and stuffed it with potatoes, tomatoes, olives, etc.  super yummy.   but it cost a couple of day's worth of per diem.  oh well.  thank goodness bfast and dinners are more or less provided at the hotel.  

Anyway, here is our waiter, after having set the fish on fire at the table, more like a dramatic display than anything to do with the actual cooking.  but they spoke enough english and were extremely pleasant with good senses of humor.  a good night out.

and then on sunday night, i attempted cooking.  i succeeded and failed.  i succeeded in picking out what i thought were uncooked breaded chicken cutlets.  i was right!  and i pan-seared them (i have 2 burners and about just as many pots) so they were tasty and juicy inside.  i failed, however, to figure out what the grain was that i previously thought was couscous.  i think it's closer to quinoa, but more exactly that either.  so that took a really long time.  i added some curry and some dried fruits (bonus points if anyone can tell me what fruit dries emerald green...) but it took too long so i just re-heated pasta and sauce and made my own make-shift chicken parm (without the parm).

it's like learning to cook all over again.  learning to do everything all over again.  having to do laundry in my bathroom sink cuz the hotel charges too much, and we haven't figured out a proper and reliable laundry service elsewhere.  having to buy very simple things at the grocer, things with pictures on them so i know what they are (except, i guess, quinoa/couscous).  having to learn a new map, with new names in a new language.  having to learn new routines at the office (like everyone wears outdoor boots to the office, then changes into heeled nice boots in the office; and you have to bring in your own coffee beans; and the russians don't come in until around 11, and don't eat lunch until 2 or so).  and watching wierd english movies, cuz there's only one non-news station that is in english.  and not being able to call home when i want.  and printing on A4 paper...that is the wierdest size, i'm telling you.  and not being able to drink the water, so i'm constantly worried that i'm poisoning myself when i take a shower (ok, that's a bit dramatic, but it's more of a concern than showering in PC anyway).  learning how to order a coffee.  but it will all come in time.  it's just all really, really different now.  and i think it might be more alarming cuz it's so similar, it's just a little bit different, and that little bit can feel like a lot sometimes.  especially when my brain refuses to see a "p" as an "r" or a backwards "R" as "ya."  sigh.  again, it will all come in time.  just like the twirling georgian dancers.  when you least expect it, there they are, delighting and shocking you all at once.