i started making a mental list of the things that i have learned so far here in russia. here is the current list:
1. fresh bread. you can find fresh bread at almost any time of day in any grocer. fantastic. i make salami sandwiches for lunch every day on freshly baked baguettes, or brown grain bread.
2. mustard. sometimes i think i MUST be in germany due to all of the mustard flavors on the shelves. dad will love it!
3. office dress. dressing up for the office takes on a whole new meaning here. most of the girls here look like they are going out to a club versus to the office. high heels EVERYWHERE. and fully done-up make-up, usually done at their desks when they get in. short skirts. very short skirts. and apparently it is just fine to wear translucent tops that show the bra you are wearing that day. bonus points for colored bras. sometimes that can even be coordinated with the skirt you are wearing. really, it is incredible the outfits. i have been chastised by multiple russian colleages for wearing jeans to work. even smart, nice jeans. i should be wearing skirts i am told. and high heels. i am told i need to show off my legs. at the office?? anyway, watch out park city. i'm bringing home a new fashion trend. some may call it a bit slutty...i call it "eastern european chic."
4. cars can be parked anywhere. ANYWHERE. sidewalks preferred. and if your tires go flat (whether naturally, or perhaps are slashed), just leave the car there. it will eventually rot down and be absorbed into the pavement.
5. alcohol is cheaper than coffee. and WAY cheaper than tea. a pot of tea at a typical cafe can run you nearly $12. a beer is around $3. coffee is somewhere in between, depending on where you go. if it is kafemanya (the latest trendy coffee chain), a "flat white" (british for cortado, which is italian for espresso with equal parts milk) can be nearly $15.
6. never assume the grocer will have the same products today as he did yesterday. unreliability is the constant. i'm sure this comes from the days when you never knew when the bread pr milk order would come in. it remains today. yesterday there was spinach. today, no. not even any form of lettuce. limes in abundance last week. sunday, when i needed them, i had to trek an extra 30 minutes to the super fancy grocery store and pay $10 for them. and our local store was out of toilet bowl cleaner for a few days so i had to get it from the big grocery store in the mall a few neighborhoods away. more than just traces of soviet life remain here. that said, sometimes there are fantastic surprises that appear! like fun european brands of foods. or super tasty oranges that are there for a week and then never again. but for that week, i ate my weight in delicious, juicy oranges. it's a fabulous day when there are cherry yogurt drinks in stock. very tasty. and per my #1, there is ALWAYS fresh bread. which has not always been the case here, so we count ourselves lucky and blessed.
7. cherry juice. this is my new favorite thing. the russians have cornered the market in cherry juice. i have never had it before and it is AMAZING. and as i stated in #6, it's hard to find the same brand twice in one week, but that's fine, cuz i get to sample all of the brands! and it is an extra-special day when my fave brand is in stock.
8. the russians love paperwork. i mean LOVE. we have to deliver at least 3 monthly reports, all saying basically the same thing, and all with documents and meeting notes and charts and spreadsheets. any and all forms of documentation that prove we are working hard on this project. my friend katie wright would be horrified at the amount of paper we produce and turn in every month. it is amazing. i don't think anyone reads it. i do think that they measure our worth by the amount of paperwork we turn in. and it all has to be bound and stamped and with pretty cover sheets. we probably spend half our month preparing the documents to prove how much work we have done that month. it is comically inefficient.
9. the russians love stamps. everything is stamped. at least twice. with official stamps. one day one of my colleagues was blessed with the opportunity to use the company stamp (the russian company that hired us), but only for one day. and it had to be driven across town and delivered by hand to her. like it was an endangered animal or a government secret. it's probably both.
10. i could start a new career as the recycling mogul of moscow. to my knowledge, recycling doesn't exist here. (plug your ears katie wright!!). but it's not likely to happen anytime soon considering A the amount of paperwork the russians love and B the amount of paperwork it would take to get a recycling system going here.
ok, i'll leave it there. will add to it throughout the year.
more later on the weekend's festivities...we had a Eurovision party. absolutely incredible. if you don't know what Eurovision is, google it. like American Idol, but it is a competition for singers from each country in europe, plus israel. fabulous does not even do it justice.
No comments:
Post a Comment