Different Strokes

So there are many things here that I have noticed that are quite different from in America.  Some of the differences are good, some are bad, and some are just different.  I will you decide for yourself, of course there are few that I can't help commenting on :)

• pay phones still exist
• When in shoe stores there is never a pair of shoes on display.  Always one shoe
• men wear speedos to go swimming (I told Owen this was not acceptable no matter what country he is living in)
• you go through a metal detector everywhere (I am sure my radiation levels are high)
• there is always a security guard at every store
• stores tear the receipts (I don't get this one)
• you purchase your plastic bags at the supermarket
• you bag your own groceries
• the cashier is always sitting
• you leave your trash at the table in the food court
• stores hire a separate person to clean
• they don't use dryers (they air dry everything)
• cash is the preferred payment (sometimes the only payment option and mainly at grocery stores)
• can't read what you are buying (hopefully this will change with language lessons)
• not wheelchair or stroller friendly
• people push (shove) you around
• cutting in line is the norm (stand strong)
• you can buy corn on the cob ready to eat at a vendor stand and it is always a long line
• there are beer stands and Nestle ice cream stands everywhere
• the American restaurant chains are always packed (I think Chick-fil-A and Taco Bell would be a huge hit here)
• Mixed meats is common (hamburger and lamb for example)
• Everybody smokes (which a pack of cigarettes is like 20 rubles.  It is 28 rubles to the dollar.  so cheap)
• People park on the sidewalk (It is okay to walk in the street because a car is on the sidewalk)
• If it is asphalt people drive on it.  Lines and signs don't mean anything.
• Milk is prepackaged so you can buy it warm and keep it in the pantry until opened
• To eat you have to take out a loan (okay not really but it is pricey so you just cope.  but buying and cooking is not any cheaper)
• There are very few obese people here (I think I have seen 3)
• I have learned not to go to the bathroom when out (they are tiny and usually down stairs so there is no way to take Owen with me)
• Cars have the right away not the people even in the cross walk
• you buy all condiments (ketchup, sauces, etc)
• you don't drink the water
• Mayonnaise is huge here. There is a huge section in the grocery store of different flavors for your dressings. (Jordan we will stay away from this for you :)
• free wifi is everywhere here
• I have seen tons of luxury cars (tons of Bentleys)
• all the babies are bald (maybe not all but a lot of them)

There are a few things that I will probably always say differently from here on out:

• lift for elevator
• toilet for bathroom
• time in military time
• temperature in Celsius
• date (day/month/year)

I am sure there are many more things that are different but that is all I can think of for now.  When I first came it was all different.  After a couple of months I see the differences a bit better and the similarities.  So now I feel a bit more like a pro, so visitors welcome!

Trends?

After being here over a month I have decided to write again about the fashion while we are still in the summer.  This time I will not focus on the 80s but instead on poor choices.  I guess talking about fashion and the differences may make me seem superficial or that all Americans are but living in Moscow is not like the rest of the country.  This city is very concerned about their looks and is very westernized.  

First let me talk about a positive.  

The shoes are amazing here.  I have only seen the same pair of shoes twice.  You hardly see duplicates and the shoes are always taken care of well.  Now I am a bit surpassed to see so many women wearing such high heels.  And this is not only during the work week.  I could understand if I was still working and I would wear heels to work with no problem.  But no these women sport them all the time.  And let me tell you these streets are not really meant for that kind of shoe.  There is cobble stones and grates.  And for you men that don't understand the problem is that heels don't walk well on this kind of ground.  Your shoe gets stuck and you stumble.  Now I do have to say no matter what kind of ground these women know how to wear their shoes.  You don't see them stumbling and falling all over the place from lack of inexperience on heels.  No they are pros.  And I can guarantee you these shoes have to hurt but they don't show pain.  I am amazed.  It makes me want to pull out my serious shoes and then when I do my feet remind me that I have taken a hiatus for a bit too long.  I guess I will have to build up my tolerance again.

Okay so now onto the rest.  

Men:  I do not care to see your chest or abdomen!  Please button up your shirt or please wear a shirt.  It is not like they are young buff men either that are going shirtless. Apparently the no shoes, no shirt, no service rule does not apply here.  I will be out and men just don't wear shirts.  I realize it is hot but seriously!  Now I assume they wear shirts to work but I am not at work to see this.  I am out and about, in the mall, walking down the street, etc.  Unless you are at the pool there is no reason why you can't wear a shirt.  And we all know they are not doing yard work here.  

Note:  Just because a shirt is see through does NOT mean that you have to wear it that way!  Apparently tank tops do not exist here.  Women like to wear the see through top and some really like to wear that bright colored bra underneath it.  Please not that not all these women are young either.  I did see an older woman the other day with a  crochet top and no undershirt.  Maybe this is a trend too in the States and I have been gone too long or am too old school I don't know.  But I do know that I want to have a mass amount of tank tops and hand them out to people.  

And here is the last thing today and I will hop off my soapbox.  The women here are very tiny.  Now saying that they make poor choices in clothing.  You are a size two that is great please wear the size two not the size zero.  If they would wear the correct size then I would not feel the need to introduce spanx here.  But of course that is not the case.  

They are not always far behind on trends.  They have really embraced harem pants here.  I do not enjoy the fashion trend but they seem too.  Not just women but men too.  I have seen a few women wear them well but overall I think I will stay away from this fad and stick to normal fitting pants.

Anyway,  that is all I have for today.  Just because I make fun does not mean I don't enjoy my time here.  I really am liking it and it is already feeling like home.  It is really not that different just a huge language barrier.  I do make fun but that is how I adjust to change.  Embrace it, make fun of it, and love it.  

Home Sweet Home

David and I have finally found an apartment.  We moved in last Thursday afternoon.  This was no easy feat.  David and I have two different views when looking at places.  I see the potential and positives while David picks up every negative.  With every move we have had it is by the grace of God that we are still married.  I know that we can survive anything with each move.  When we lived in Tulsa we were newly weds so of course the place was perfect.  When we moved to Arkansas that was our first real home search. I think we looked at every home in Northwest Arkansas.  It took about three months and we finally decided on one.  The one we picked we saw a month before and our realtor was a bit shocked and wanted to make sure we were all talking about the same place.  I loved our house in Rogers.  Of course buying a house in Rogers was tough because David is from Fayetteville.  The NWA people want their kids to go to school where they did.  That is great but I had to remind him it would be awhile till we had to worry about that.  After buying the new house I learned that we need a fairly new house with a list of small improvements.  David always has to be busy and loves projects.

Next we moved to Houston.  That was when I learned that there is no such thing as temporary.  We decided to move to an apartment for a few months while we looked for a house.  A year later we were still in the apartment when we found out we were moving to Lafayette, LA.  The apartment in Houston was nothing to brag about.  We had a full size mattress, a card table, and a big tv.  After that I learned that college living was a bit better.  At least in college you don't know better and you really have no choice.  And I truly feel bad for our realtor in Houston, for he showed us around everywhere for a year with no result.

Lafayette was a blessing.  We were in crunch and had one weekend to look for a house so there was no time to wait for something better.  And it turned out we loved both our places there.  We had to move when I was eight months pregnant because our landlord sold the house.

And now I am in Moscow.  We physically looked for a month.  David started looking way before then on the internet.  I have learned now to let him lead the house search.  Let him pick the ones we see and then we decide together after we have a few good options.  Before we moved David fell in love with this one particular apartment.  It was very modern, so modern that the bathroom had naked people etched into the tile.  YES, NAKED PEOPLE!  I was not as thrilled with this.  How am I to teach my baby boy that it is not okay to show your private places?  Fortunately for me the people that were asking too much would not lower their price.

We lived in the hotel for a good month.  That was a month too long.  It was an extended stay room but I was ready to branch out.  The staff knew us too well.  They looked for Owen every morning.  The room service guy knew where to bring the food and all the extras we asked for to the point that we didn't have to ask anymore.  And nearly everyday I had to ask for extra water so the guy would bring us four just so we wouldn't call again.  They were extremely nice but it is no place to live.

Now I am glad that we were here a week and that Sheri and Luci were here so that I could see more of Moscow and that we could make the decision as to where is the best part of Moscow to live in.  Originally we were looking close to David's office and then we moved our search to the City Center.  We live in a very convenient location.  We are about a 15 minute walk from Red Square.  Anything we need or want is in walking distance.  It is right off the metro line for David to get to work quickly.  And we live by one of the better, nicer, cleaner metros.  And to boot the metro has ramps on ALL stairs.  The landlord works for the Russian Congress and has received neat gifts from different parts of Europe.  We have a picture from Saddam Hussein up and a gold plated desert dish from Saudi Arabia.  There are many more things that will stay locked up in the cabinet so that Owen can't get to them.  The last thing we need is to have to replace something like that.  The apartment is furnished a bit fancier than we would have picked but it is perfect.  We have rearranged to make it fit us better.  It is two levels and upstairs David claims is the man cave.  I think I am only allowed when Owen has a dirty diaper.  :)

All in all we are happy with where we are.  Of course there are things you could always change with anywhere you live but you have to love what you have and make it your own.  Now only if the boat will get here with all of our other stuff.

AWO

Today I went to the American Women's Organization meeting.  It was nice to finally meet some other women.  I got a chance to really talk with a few women.  One of them is an Alabama fan and was trying to teach Owen "Roll Tide" so we might be keeping our distance from her.  I finally got away from the crazy Tigers and the Bulldog brother.  :)  Of course it is nice to be around some avid college football fans.  I also met a Longhorn.  I will currently keep my opinions to myself.

I went to lunch with a couple of women, Megan and Kim.  Megan is expecting a little boy in January and Kim a new grandmother of a little girl in Amarillo.  Everybody loved Owen.  Of course, how can you not.  He was being his naturally charming self and with no fuss, even though he was tired.  Kim especially connected with him since she misses her grand baby.

I am excited about my new friends and the friends I will continue to meet through the AWO.  I am playing scrabble tomorrow.  Yay!!!!  And we will start working on the Arts and Crafts Festival soon.  I will get to start doing all the things that I have always wanted to do but never had the time.

So watch out Moscow,  here comes O and me!

Puppy Love

I figured today I will write about my four legged babies, being that today is Razor's birthday.  I do miss my puppies.  It is odd how you get so used to them that once you are not with them all the time how empty some things feel.  The room is always quieter without Ginger's snoring and breathing.  There is a void in the space around me from where Razor always had to be touching me.  And I even think Owen misses Razor.  He spent a lot of time having Razor near checking up on him.

We got Razor a few months after we got married.  I still remember the trembling puppy that wouldn't eat as David brought him to work to show me.  It was love at first sight.  We did everything wrong on training him.  We put him in our bed and we didn't kennel him.  We did take him to PetSmart and he graduated with flying colors.  Razor is a true showboater.  He will do the tricks to impress and then forgets them when he is away from the audience.  A couple of years later, after all the doggy prozac we decided to get another dog to help Razor with his separation anxiety.  My brother Josh was looking for a home for Ginger, so it was perfect for both.  Razor and Ginger hit it off right away.  Razor had a friend and Ginger had Razor's food.  From that day they have been inseparable.  Even when they go to daycare they won't leave each others side.  We used to take them to the park and Razor would stand and supervise Ginger to make sure the swimming was going okay.

My puppies have been great even with the arrival of Owen.  I think Razor knew before I did that I was pregnant.  It seemed immediately he was beside me even more and put his head on my tummy.  Ginger was close to follow.  Nothing was going to happen to Owen.

When we brought Owen home Razor was protective from the beginning.  He would stand and watch Owen.  If you held Owen he had to check you out to make sure you were okay to hold his baby.  Owen would cry and Razor would look at you and then Owen to see if you were going to get him.  I even remember one night during baby bootcamp that I was letting Owen cry himself to sleep and Razor heard him.  He looked at me, I said no, he looked toward the stairs and took off.  "Nobody is going to let my baby cry.  Come on Mom!"  Ginger from day one would just sit to the side and think "maybe I should just stay out of the way."   Even as Owen has gotten older, him and Razor have bonded.  We would be sitting on the couch and Owen would reach over and pet Razor.

They are staying with David's parents temporarily until my sister is able to take them.  I am so appreciative of the help and love that is shown to my puppies.  As big as a dog as Razor is he is a big chicken.  He is scared of Janey's Chihuahua, Jake.  He sleeps on the floor now because Jake sleeps on the bed.  Once when I was there I saw Razor go the long way around to get some water because Jake was in the middle and he didn't want to cross him.  Obviously, Razor doesn't understand that he is 90 lbs and Jake is 7 lbs.  

I do love my babies and I do miss them.  I know they are in great hands and I can't wait to see them again.