Mall Madness

So there is fabulous shopping here in Moscow.  Many of the stores you dream of seeing in little ole Arkansas or Louisiana are at your fingertips.  And when Luci was here I really do think we hit everyone of them.  Not just at the mall but also on Tverskaya and in the GUM.  But today I will focus on Metropolis Mall.  Now just like anywhere in Moscow, you need two credit cards to buy anything.  This is where you do have to be realistic about sticker shock.  It is not like you really need the shirt live unlike food and drink.  Not all stores are overpriced.  Many are reasonable.  But many stores that are in the states you will end up paying double for the same item.  So unless you really think that you won't find that item in the States, just wait to buy.  The two shops that we have that Luci has wanted to go to and are rare in the US are Top Shop and H&M.  Luci spent a good long time in Top Shop and left with some really great purchases.  H&M, however was a bit disappointing.  There was nothing spectacular and as the game "Mall Madness" would say "Ooh long line, try again later."  Sheri and I were tired and the line to the dressing room was not enticing.  Ah to be young again and be able to withstand a whole day at the mall with repetitive trying on.  I guess once you get out of high school and you no longer do the back to school shopping, long days are gone.  Unless of course you are the last minute Christmas shopper and must buy everything on Christmas Eve before the mall closes at 6.

Now as I have mentioned in just about every post so far it is hot at the mall.  You have to go into a store for a little bit of coolness.  And then once you start trying on clothes any coolness you may have felt is long out the door.  Poor Owen was sweating up a storm.  But he is a trooper.  He is always happy at the mall and never fusses as you push him from store to store.  Of course that could be because he does get attention everywhere he goes.  Remember he is a celebrity.

The mall is three stories and very wide.  I have been several times and still have not been to every store.  The mall is right beside David's office so it is a convenient place for us to meet up.  Also, there is a large supermarket (similar to Wal-mart) on the ground floor, and I visit the baby stores on the top floor for O goods.  Not to mention we are a bit tired of hotel food and there is not anything near by so we have frequented the food court quite a bit.

I am trying to think if there is something this mall does not have.  It has a bowling alley (yes inside on the 3rd floor), a movie theater, an electronic store similar to Best Buy, and an awesome department store called Stockman (this store even has a few American grocery items).  And what is really nice about this mall is that categorizes the shops for you.  There is no failed attempt like in the malls in the States.  All baby and kid is in a corner and you will not find a similar store somewhere else in the mall.  And like in any mall this is where you can do some serious people watching.  And some of the people watching leaves you speechless (or with a whole another post).

So when you come to visit I will take you here to see all the stores, and then you can decide what you can't live without so that you have to sell your plane ticket home to buy it.  :)

Babies and Russia

So i have come to learn that buying baby stuff here is very difficult.  Not to mention the fact that I can't read any of it.  It took me a couple of weeks to be able to find the organic baby food.  So check found it.  Of course it is twice the price of the baby food in the States.  They don't have the formula I use here.  So I am having David's parents ship some over.  Fingers crossed I actually get it.  I tried to go online and order stuff from Amazon but they don't deliver here and the European Amazon doesn't have the stuff I need.  So yay me!  Owen is at the stage that he can start eating the yogurt melt aways and cheerios.  Besides getting him ready for bigger food this helps with his fine motor skills, to be able to pick up the small item and make it to his mouth.  Well guess what; they don't have either here.  I can understand the yogurt melts but cheerios.  Seriously.  Even a comparable option they don't have.  I am a bit bummed by this.  

Some other differences:

• wipes come in small packages and of course are more expensive
• I have to buy a monitor here because the adapter and voltage difference; and of course it is more expensive than the one I bought in the US and it is the SAME monitor
• they have water bottled specifically for babies here.  Not sure what that is about.  I mean isn't bottle water bottle water?

These are what I have noticed so far.  And soon I will have to purchase a high chair and possibly a smaller stroller.  So all in all what I have learned is that I will need to take out a loan to raise a child in Moscow.  

Cajun Country

Okay so after doing this blog for a whole two weeks now I wish that I would have been blogging all along with all my moves.  I try to think back on things and this would have made it ten times easier.  I guess David's favorite place was Houston.  While I enjoyed Houston and have some great friends I might have to say I enjoyed Lafayette more.  My stay in Houston didn't lead to many stories.  We had a one bedroom apartment with a full size mattress, a card table, and a huge tv.  So not much there.  And most of the time I was at work.  And I am not one to share my work stories with the whole world, especially since it was non profit and I wouldn't want to hinder their fundraising.  

Now Lafayette or South Louisiana for that matter gave me something to be the bane of my existence.  I cannot pronounce a single thing there.  Everything has been frenched up so you can't say the name.  Take one of my best friends name.  It is DeRouen.  It took me forever to spell it and I still can't pronounce it.  You don't actually say the N.  I mean what is the point of having an N on your name if you don't say it.  This is not the only one.  I also have trouble with Boudin.  It is a food and it does not sound the way it is spelled for all you non Louisiana folks.  Beth would try to get me to say it correctly on a daily basis.  I have given up.  At this point I think it would be easier to learn Russian.  There are many words that will continue to thwart me or at least give my tongue a sprain trying to say them.

• Atchafalya
• Butte
• Boudin
• Cher (not the singer, pronounced more like Sha with a long A) (like O's outfit; see below)
• Bouillon (pretty sure I did not spell this right)
• Kaliste Saloom
• Pourciau
• Billeaud

I am sure there are more but this where my brain stops for today.  I am sure as my Louisiana friends read this they will have more to add.  Now I failed to mention that besides these I cannot say you must make a normal name very fancy by making it French.  For example, Richard.  It is not pronounced like the first name but more like Reechard.  And when my friend Laura tries to say something that is more country it comes out all pretty and french and I tell her she has to make it a bit more country.  

I wouldn't trade my Louisiana time and Cajun lessons for anything.

Dining Out continued

I forgot to add something on dining out.  I have not seen any babies when eating out.  I guess Muscovites don't let their babies out.  At least not when dining; I guess they see it as their time?  Every time we go out we get looks.  Either bad or the look "did you really bring your baby here?"  When Sheri and Luci were here we were at a "restaurant" in the mall and these group of men said something to the waiter and pointed at us then moved.   And most places don't have high chairs.  It is just an odd concept here.

Now when Owen and I go down for breakfast each morning at the hotel; all the women stop to see him and even take pictures :)

Dining Out

Well the dining experience here is what I would call an experience.  I have mentioned a few things in other posts but will touch on them again, for I just don't think this post would be done justice otherwise.  Everything here is very expensive, the food is no exception.  Luci, Sheri and I went to lunch one day it cost over $100.  That is just plain ridiculous.  We did finally find a neat little street with a lot of restaurants on it with quite a variety.  These eating places were much more reasonably priced.  Not much different from the States.  Some things I learned quickly when eating out in Moscow:

• you can find English menus
• But that does not mean the server understands you
• if you can't point to what you want then you need to find another place to eat
• all pickiness goes out the door (if you don't like tomatoes  - tough!  Pick them off!)
• There are no refills
• You pay for ketchup
• They have not heard of Ranch Dressing
• all drinks are about the same price (so cheap doesn't matter; choose the coke or big kid drink if you want because water costs just as much)
• don't count on your drinks being cold
• always sit outside because the A/C is not what we are used to(now I have not hit the season for the Arctic Tundra yet so I am this will change soon)
• if there are pictures of the food on the menu you are much better off understanding what you are ordering
• there is no non smoking sections here.  They claim there is but the table beside you being smoking does not count.
• all food is what you have heard of before

Besides all of that we do have several of the fast food places we all know and love:  McDonalds, Burger King, Wendys, Subway, KFC, Sbarro (we are missing Taco Bell :(  

Mexican food seems to be something they have not grasped onto here yet.  Sheri wanted Mexican so we looked in my book at the three whole places they suggested.  It was good but not great.  My cheese for nachos was the cheese you get a the ballgame.  Sad yes!  And then the "Mexican" place in the mall we ordered cheese dip and it was a big thing of shredded cheese melted poorly.  They bring you a tea light to put under the dish to keep it warm.  Well unless I have been using tea lights wrong all this time they don't really heat much they are more for decorations.  

Now apparently the people here love Sbarro.  It is not the small section in the food court back in the States.  No this place is big everywhere it is.  It is in the malls but it has a huge pizza option, along with a huge salad bar, dessert bar, and drink center.  I do find it interesting the love with Sbarro.

All food is available here so need to worry about starving.  Luci primarily ate Sbarro and sushi the whole time.  I have not strayed far from that.  David has been in love with the club sandwich.  It is made slightly different here:  mayo, lettuce, tomato, bacon, fried egg, and chicken breast.  The egg is quite yummy on it I have to say.  

So now you all know that when you come visit if my cooking has not reached par levels then we will be eating out and you can manage.  No starving here!

Moscow Metro System

Today I shall write about the wonderful metro system here in Moscow.  This really is a great system.  I have attached a map of it for you to see how easy it is.  Now don't let the language and names confuse you.  David took us on it the first time and since then Luci mastered it.  She could get us around on it with no problem.  The whole system connects so if you are on one color but need to be on another simply ride to the connecting spot.  The metro is very inexpensive so it is a great way to travel. 

Now of course there is a catch.  I think I might have mentioned once that Moscow is not wheelchair or stroller friendly.  It is a bit more stroller friendly than wheelchair.  In some parts of the city they built ramps to get to the metro system other parts they added steel bars (that may or may not fit the wheels) on top of the stairs.  These bars are extremely steep.  So it is tough.  Now they might but a ramp on one set of stairs but the next set of stairs your on your own.  No rhyme or reason to it.  Some metro stations have a wide enough pass through for a wheelchair/stroller some don't but once you get through you have this steep escalator.   You have to go down a very steep escalator to get down to the trains.  The first time I rode them I had a bit of vertigo.  Sheri mentioned she had a similar problem after having her children.  So I wonder if this is common for all moms with babies.  I had to fold up the stroller to get down it.  So thankfully people are with me.  There was always one holding the stroller and one holding sweet baby Owen.  And then someone to help carry the stroller up the stairs with Owen in it.  So obviously this does not work if I am by myself.  I will have to rethink how to travel the metro.  Maybe when my front pack comes in on the ship or even a small umbrella stroller would work.  

Now the southern gentleman is long lost here.  People rush onto the train; don't let you sit; and push you out of the way to get off.  Luci was standing and this guy sitting next to her kept elbowing her for being near him (mind you this is a packed metro car.)  Luci stood her ground.  The guy gave her a dirty look when he left but she held her stare to let him know it was not okay.  Go Luci!  

We did ride the light blue metro one day (this is the day that Sheri was sick) and we had someone offer to help carry the stroller; give us directions, and offer us a seat.  We were a bit shocked.  Of course the person offering directions didn't help much because she was speaking in Russian.  But the thought counts.  

So that is the metro.  I do enjoy and will have to figure out a way to travel on it.  A bonus is that Owen always falls asleep on it.  The movement and the noise is soothing to him.

Harry Potter

As most of you know I am an avid Harry Potter fan.  I have read the books so many times and yet still want to read them again.  So of course the release of the final film comes out after I have moved to Moscow.  So I went on a search to be able to see HP here.  When I first looked I saw that it released on the 14th here, but found out on the 13th that I was wrong and that it actually released on the 13th.  So two days ahead of the US.  Great, Luci and I will be ahead of the game.  Only problem is that the English theater here gets movies a couple of weeks after they have been released in the US.  So Luci and I decide "Why Not?" Let's go see it in Russian.  Sheri watches Owen for us and we jump on the metro to the mall.  The mall is only 3 stops from the hotel.  So about 10 to 15 minutes.  We eat in the food court have some ice cream and head to the theater.  It was a bit more troublesome to order tickets than I thought.  The guy understood Harry Potter.  Which in Russian looks like Frappen Notter.  But I did not understand the time.  He asks the girl beside him.  She tells him to write it down.  He does not have a pen.  Finally he starts to write the time and I try frantically to point and say yes that one.  Da!  Then we learned that they assign seats here, no first come first get like in the US.  So we pick our seat.  This is good to the fact that you don't have to stand in line and fight to save seats but on the downside people come in late to the movie because "Hey I know where I am sitting."  We also saw it in 3D.  That was the only option.  All the previews were in Russian.  Out of the 6 or 7 previews you could tell that 2 of the movies were original Russian films the rest dubbed over in Russian.  

The movie was great.  I have read the 7th book only twice so I am a little rusty on it but I did understand what was happening.  The only words we understood were Harry Potter and any other name in the book.  We missed all the jokes when the rest of the theater was laughing.  And we bust out laughing during a serious scene due to the accent.  I am anxious to see the film in English.  I will be watching the English theater for the release there.  Luci on the other hand gets to see it much sooner.  I am a bit jealous.  And the books are on the ship coming here so I will have to wait even longer for a refresh on HP.  

Now I will have to hope that I am in the states for the Hunger Games release.  

TV

So there is one thing that I truly do not understand here.  We have about 7 channels in English.  The ones I seem to watch the most are BBC Entertainment, Vista 1000 (movie channel), Euro Sport, and Disney Channel.  David does watch the National Geographic Channel but I cannot seem to get into this.  So what I don't understand is that these channels have the shows in English but they take the time to dub the coming up next in Russian.  Do people understand the tv shows then?  Why do they take the time to dub all the commercials for shows and movies in Russian but not the actual show?  Then there is also the radio stations/music channel.  They play English songs on there.  I saw Taylor Swift and Pink the other day and listened to Bon Jovi on our way from the airport.  Do they understand the songs?  or is it like me listening to a Russian song and show?  This baffles me and maybe soon I will be able to ask someone about it but for now I will still continue to contemplate it.  

Arbat Street

So the three of us and Luci decide to see Arbat Street.  Hard Rock Cafe is also on this street.  Sheri is not feeling well this morning but tries to come along.  Such a trooper.  After we get off the metro she has turned for the worse.  We realized she drank the water by accident this morning.  So lesson learned "Don't drink the water."  Luci has never been to a Hard Rock and was curious about them.  So I thought sure lets go there.  Ha!  only if it was that easy.  We took the metro to Red Square because according to the map Hard Rock is near there.  So, so far so good.  Well as we are trying to navigate there we (or I) realize that I am not very good at reading a map in Russian nor am I very good in English.  I am trying to read the roads and am making up familiar names to try to find out where I am going.  So yes today I named a Russian street Oklahoma because it started with Ok.  So in the end it took us 3 hours to find the Hard Rock Cafe.    Once we found the place we went bold and asked for ice for our hot drinks and we slurped the drink down in one big gulp.  The ice was quite refreshing.  And a better achievement is that we are not sick from it.  i think we did a big circle to find out exactly where we were going.  I do feel that I know the Kremlin and the area around it quite well by now.  Today would be the third day that we have been there.  With this day I am tired.  We have walked sooo much and taken many many stairs.  I do have to say that Moscow is not stroller friendly or wheelchair for that matter.  I am thankful that Luci and Sheri are there to help with all the stairs.  There answer to a ramp for the stairs to the metro is to put two steel bars for where your wheels should go.  If they don't fit then your screwed.  Not to mention how steep it is.  This week has taught me that I will have to rethink how I take Owen out.  Or really that he needs to learn how to walk tomorrow.  

At the end of the day Luci says to me "Do you realize what we did today?  We left to eat lunch, we found the place and we came back to the hotel.  All in six hours!"

One great thing about the Hard Rock Cafe was that everything was in English and we had a server that spoke very good English.  It is amazing how you take your language for granted until you are in a foreign country.  

Kremlin

To continue our site seeing adventure we went to the Kremlin Armory.  Sheri had read in one of my many Moscow books about seeing Lenin in his tomb.  You can only view him from 10 to 1 so we thought we should hurry to get there.  Everyday we go out it is always in the afternoon after Owen has had his morning nap.  To truly see everything in the right times you should start early in the morning because most exhibits close by 6.  Well we never got a start before noon.  So lunch everyday was always around 3.  That is tough for me because anybody that has worked with me knows I am hungry by 11.  As I digress, we delay lunch to see Lenin's tomb.  To get tickets for the Kremlin you have to go this little station that looks like a trailer.  Well everyone tries to cut in line.  They try to push you out and since you can't speak the language they try even harder.  So Luci and I finally stand out of line so Sheri can advance without people cutting around the stroller.  So we go into the Kremlin and ask the guard about Lenin's tomb since it is 12:45.  He starts laughing at us and says that exhibit has been closed for about 5 years now.  So apparently my book is not updated even though it makes a point of saying it is updated all the time.  

The Kremlin is very pretty.  We made it to the museum to see the Fabrege eggs.  They are amazing.  There is so  much detail in them.  Then we go to a church and a museum.  Once again as you start looking at all these they start to look the same because you can't understand anything.  So we go out to start to head to the next building being stopped along the way for more pictures of Owen the celebrity.  Of course I am starting to get really hungry now and a bit grouchy.  Luci learned fast that I need food.  So we head out with intention of coming back later in the day.  As we start to head to get food it starts to rain.  Sheri pushes Owen to coverage, but the coverage is not big enough for all of us so Luci and I start to run for it.  We notice around us people are pointing and laughing at us.  We learned that day to always carry an umbrella and that rain only lasts about 15 to 20 minutes so you can wait it out.  No need to sprint and get soaked.  After all the rain we meet up with Sheri to eat.  So today we had true American fast food.  Sheri and I had McDonalds and Luci had Sbarro.  It was quite yummy.  

Now the whole day we avoid Spider Man at every turn.

On our way to Red Square we spotted a Levi's store.  So we decide to walk up hill to visit it.  Well there is a lot of things we have learned this week.  One is that you cross the streets underground.  We did not know this.  The streets were completely cleared and blocked for the President to drive past so we took a run for it.  The security was blowing their whistles and all.  Later that night we read about crossing the streets underground.  

After shopping at Levi we decide to head back to the hotel to meet David.  We finally get a taxi and then see the traffic not moving so we decide to jump out and try the metro.  Well thankfully I convinced David to come to us and show us the metro the way back.  We venture to the same side street as the night before for dinner.  We find a very yummy Italian restaurant.  The food on this street is not over priced at all which is quite nice.  First Luci and I stop at a book store to see if we can find a Harry Potter t-shirt in Russian.  No luck.  

We head home after dinner through the metro.  I will have to do a separate post about the metro.  In the mean time it is quite easy to get around on.  Just me and Owen with the stroller will be a no go but once I get my back pack it will be a different story.  

That sums up the second long day.  

Red Square

Luci and Sheri have arrived and we decided to venture over to Red Square.  Probably the most famous tourist spot in Russia.  It is a large beautiful area with great architecture.  But it is also massive.  We start making our way to St. Basil's Cathedral, but stop for food on the way.  We ate at Bosco Cafe.  This cafe is in the Frommer's Guide book.  While we are eating Luci spots the GUM shopping area and wants to detour.  Everything is very pricey here and requires two credit cards to complete a single transaction.  I guess I would say at 90% of the stores.  I was told by another expat that once you get past the sticker shock things will get easier.  I am in the process of doing that.  When I am shopping I look at stickers but have given up when eating.  You would starve and go thirsty if you didn't.  There were some cute stores but nothing we haven't seen so we head onto the Cathedral.  It happens to be the 450th anniversary of St. Basils Cathedral the day we decide to go.  We did not know this when we set out that morning, so it was a nice surprise.  We wait in line for about an hour and then as Owen starts to fuss because he is tired and hot a woman walks up to me and says that babies do not have to wait in line.  So some people behind us start beelining to the front so we follow quickly.  The officer lets us in and we wait at the church entrance for the next group to go in.  People crowd around to get inside like it is the last chance they will every get.  Owen is asleep and i am not up for pushing my way through like I normally would.  Finally a nice woman stops people to let me in.  The design detail in the cathedral is absolutely stunning.  Everything would have been even more spectacular if we knew what we were looking at.  Even though it is a tourist spot the information is in Russian.  So we look through the rooms quickly.  My sweet butterball is getting very heavy at this point so Sheri offers to hold him for awhile.  The swapping process does not go smooth and Owen wakes up.  Poor tired baby starts to cry, no big deal I can soothe him, but in the process a woman walks up and I am pretty sure cusses me out for the baby crying in the church.  I say cussing because she was quite angry.  I have no clue what she was really saying though.  One thing I have noticed here is that people will tell you what they think but since it is in Russian i just have a blank look on my face when they say it.  So obviously their opinion doesn't matter to me.  

Now in the process of this whole day pictures have been taken of Owen.  As I say this please be aware that these pictures are by strangers.  If you see Owen on the internet or in a magazine don't be surprised.  All these people see him and mimic to how cute he is and then take pictures of him.  Some ask but others do not.  I find it humorous because I try to imagine these people going through their photos when they get back.  I mean will they be saying "Ah that is the extra cute baby I saw."  I just find it odd.  I am extremely flattered but find it odd.  So my son is a celebrity.

We leave St. Basil's and decide to go see the Kremlin Armory.  The Kremlin is huge.  After we have walked two long sides to where we think the entrance is we realize the place has just closed.  So we will do the Kremlin another day.  As we are leaving we walk back through Red Square there are these people in a Shrek, Spider Man, and I don't know what else costumes.  Luci thinks it would be fun to get a picture taken with spiderman.  I express this is not a good idea and stay to the side as she goes up to him.  Well after the picture he wants payment, we don't know how much, we don't speak the language.  Luci gives him some change but this is not enough for him and grabs her by the arm.  Sheri is running up there and I run up with the stroller and say the only word I know in Russian.  Nyet!  He looks at me like I am weird but I keep saying it with force and he finally backs off and we take off up the street.  

From here we go and eat at a restaurant called Academia.  It was very good.  We chose to sit inside but it is much cooler outside with the breeze.  The only drawback to outside is the smoking.    Academia is in this great little alley way were we will be visiting much in the future.  And I guess from here we get a taxi back to the hotel because it is late.  

The time throws you for a loop here.  For example it is 10 pm as I write this and it looks like 6 pm outside.  It stays daylight until about 11:30 pm here.  So when you think it is 5 it is already late.

So this wraps up our first day of sightseeing.  It might be more detail than you want or it could be not enough.  You can let me know.

1985

Todays topic will be about the fashion here or lack there of.  There is so much to tell I am not sure where to start.  I guess I will start with scrunchies.  Yes I said scrunchies.  I have not seen so many scrunchies since I was in 7th grade.  When I saw the first one I thought maybe it was just a bad seed, we have those in the states, but nooo they are everywhere.  They even carry them in the stores.  I mean really.  Which this leads to the next trend.  Apparently they are a decade behind here.  It feels very much like an eighties flash back.  Now since I was so young in the eighties I have to go by movies and pictures because my memory is a little foggy.  I have seen acid washed jeans, high waisted jeans (not in a good since more like that gave you a major wedgie or camel toe) muscle shirts and my favorite of all JORTS.  They are every where.  This place has been invaded by them.  And i would say 95% of them are with the tank top and the occasional muscle tee with the rhinestones.  Yes these are men wearing the rhinestones.  Yesterday I saw a man where gym shorts, tank top, white socks, and dress shoes.  I thought maybe just a fashion blunder then I looked to my right and saw another one.  Coincidence… I think not.  

The mullet seems to be making a come back here or maybe it has never left.  But it is not really the men that are sporting the mullet.  It is the women.  Yes the women.  Every time I see a mullet I think of my dear friend Melissa.  She once said that a mullet was the best of both worlds.  "Business in the front and PARTY in the back!"  And the little boys are following the trend with the rat tail.  Not quite ready for the mullet but trying to get there.t 

Last night leaving the Harry Potter movie I saw a girl in cute white dress, but what possessed her to wear the black thong with it.  Like nobody will notice that.  Yes the poor undergarment choices are rampant here.  

And I cannot leave out the man purse.  Or European satchel as some would say.  You seem them in every shape and style.  But my favorite is the woman's purse.  Yes I have seem many men carrying a woman's purse.  There was a guy next to me at Sbarro with a silver blingy bag.  Luci asked if it was his girlfriends and then we realized, no it was his.  

And with fashion I will have to talk about the PDA here.  I have seen more displays of public affection here in two days than I have all last year.  Yesterday at Red Square I swear the man was going to swallow her.  But her leg was so into it I am not sure how she was standing.  It is everywhere, on the metro, in the mall at the food court, walking down the street.  EVERY WHERE!  

I am sure this will not be my only post on fashion for it seems I keep thinking of more stories to tell.  I will have to try to post some pictures for y'all so that you do not feel left out but I can tell you if you imagine something bad then it is probably spot on.  

so to be continued....

luke warm is NOT okay

Here is something that I have noticed that I do seem to have a problem with.  Yes i will have to get over it but that does not mean I am not allowed to complain about it.  i am not sure if this in all of Europe or just here.  It is hot here.  I have mentioned this before and I know it will be the arctic tundra soon.  Being hot is not my problem the problem lies with the lack of anything to cool you down.  Everyone here seems to be perfectly fine with hot cokes, hot water, mild A/C.  Let me tell you I am not.  I want a very cold coke.  It is fine that there is not any ice.  I don't really care for ice.  But you can at least have your fridge set to cool.  Is it really that hard to have a cooler working just hard enough for the bottle to be cold.  I mean at this rate what is even the point of having a cooler.  Just keep the drinks in the plastic and let us dig them out ourselves.  And even though you are hot and want to step into a nice air conditioned room and the waiter tells you it will be cooler inside for your baby, DON'T believe them.  It is NOT cooler inside.  You are much better off outside with a slight breeze.  Setting the thermostat at the same temperature or higher than outside does NOT constitute as COOL.  Even in my hotel room it does not get that cold.  I have turned down the thermostat so many times and yet it does not get any better.  I was raised to hang meat in a hotel room.  Dad you would have a problem with this.  It is best you wait to visit until I get into an apartment to avoid this problem.  Of course it does not help that I can't read the thermostat controls and just keep pushing down hoping it will change the output.   Not to mention that Owen sweats profusely.  He is so hot hear and it turns out he loves cold water but once again he only gets warm water.  He has rosy red cheeks all day long with crazy sweaty hair.  So at this point I am going to say that you should visit in the fall, winter or spring to avoid this issue (and my complaining).

Russia Day 1

We get off the plane and I feel like I am in another country and then I remember; Oh Right!  I am in another country!  I have no clue what anybody is saying.  It is bloody hot.  The AC is definitely not on.  We make our way through customs and being stalked by the taxi drivers.  Of course I can't seem to remember to say the only word I know.  Nyet!  NO!  I don't need help.  I am pushing a cart full of bags with a baby on my hip.  My arms are still sore.  Then David picks the wrong driver holding the Schlumberger sign.  We stand in the airport parking lot for an hour waiting on a driver with a bigger car, because Yes I have TOO many bags.  We have no clue what the driver is saying to us but you can figure out he is mad.  But of course that could just be the lack of understanding Russian that the language seems angry.  And it is HOT!!!  I am mean seriously HOT!!!  I thought a 75 degree day would be warm but tolerable.  NO  it is extremely HOT.  75 is more like 95.  So I apparently live where I have extreme winters and summers.  Anyway, I digress.  After we get loaded into the correct car we head to the hotel.  CRAZY DRIVERS is an understatement.  There is no such thing as traffic laws or signs here.  If there is pavement you can drive on it.  Stop light, What's that?  We WILL NOT be getting a car here!  Apparently it is the thing to hire drivers here.

It took us several days of waking up at 4 am to get used to the time change.  We are now on the right track.  Food is very expensive here.  David had a $31 hamburger the other day.  There is no Dr. Pepper. David keeps looking at every place to see if it will magically appear.  Coke is not nearly as common as Pepsi.  Smoking is everywhere.  And nobody seems very friendly.  Being from the South I smile and say to everybody they look at me like I am crazy.  The Asians, Persians, and Greeks are friendly when they see Owen and gush over him but that is about it.  Needless to say I have a bit of adjusting to do.

Flight to Russia

Getting ready to go to Russia took longer than I anticipated.  I am sure working up to 2 days before I flew out did not help at all.  We had it down to take 6 bags and the stroller but after the movers left my house with all the stuff to be shipped to Russia, I realized I forgot a good bit of stuff.  So an extra bag had to come out.  In all I have 10 bags total.  Yes please don't freak out and No I do not need you to tell me that that is too many bags.  In my defense this is to be everything I need for 8 weeks until the shipment of everything else comes in.  Getting to the airport was not a problem.  My dear friend Michelle and her mom drove us to Houston from Lafayette.  I was about certain that the little ole Lafayette airport could not handle all my bags and I am sure that some would have been lost.  Getting on the plane in Houston was no problem.  In fact going through TSA with a baby was much faster than all my past experiences.  Just a lot to handle with bags, a baby, and their rules.

So we got on the plane and Owen was tired and hungry so of course he was a bit fussy at this point.  The guy next to me did not seem thrilled.  Now mind you this is an overweight man with so much jewelry on I am sure he did not pass through the metal detectors.  Not to mention his dangly diamond earring.  He proceeds to ask me if I am going to give my child a sleeping pill.  I am not very nice at this point and tell him he will be quite as soon as I feed him but I am waiting for take off unless he would like for Owen's ears to bother him the whole flight.  He said nothing else to me.   Owen loved the flight attendants to the point that if he was fussy all I had to do was turn and face him toward them and he would quite down and stare.  This seemed to be the only thing the large man next to me seemed to agree on.  He and the guy next to him were hitting on the flight attendant with a lame pick up line about a Singapore Airline girl contest and that she should have won.  After seeing Owen staring at her I heard them say to each other that the baby had taste.
We had a bassinet in the wall for Owen to sleep in.  This was nice for the fact of him having a bed.  And he fell asleep right away but every time there was turbulence I had to pick him up.  This I did not look forward too and would try to procrastinate as long as possible to take him out.  It got the point that the flight attendant would stand over me until I got him.  Ugh.  He slept the whole flight.  I am proud to say that it was not my baby that cried the whole flight.  :)  Yeah one thing that I was worried about down.  Now only if I knew what was waiting for me when I got off the plane.

My family has recently relocated across the world to Moscow, Russia.  With all these life changes I have decided to start a blog to document this new path in my life.  I am not a writer, I write like I talk.  If you have a problem with the grammar you are welcome not to read my blog.  :)   With my dad being so great at English I am sure this writing will make him cringe.  I did learn a few lessons from him that have stuck so I will try not to finish my sentences in prepositions.  I guess I will start with a brief summary of where David and I have been and how we ended up where we are.  

David and I started off our marriage in Tulsa, OK.  I wanted to come home so a year later we moved to Rogers, AR.  After about three years the Lord led us to Houston, TX.  A place we never expected to end up in and didn't really want to be there either.  It turned out we loved Houston and it was the best move for us.  From there David's job relocated us to Lafayette, LA.  It was a great place to be.  It reminded me of being home and I met some great people there.  While in Lafayette we had our sweet little boy, Owen.  He has been the best blessing to our life and family.  We knew we would not stay in Lafayette long for David's company relocates you every 2 to 3 years.  We were hoping to go somewhere warm, like Rio, but the Lord had other plans and chose Moscow, Russia for us.  So here we are.  Now mind you we have only been out of the country before this to Cancun and I don't think that really counts.  So, I hope to tell you all about my experiences in Moscow.  Experiences of the language barrier, being a full time mom, learning how to cook and many more things I don't know about yet.  I hope you enjoy my blog.

Love,

Abby