Translation of the first phrase is 'Merry Christmas'. I know this is a bit belated, but it happens. We sincerely hope that everyone across the world had a great holiday, whichever one that they observe. As for us, Christmas was a bit anti-climatic, as in Russia gifts are exchanged on New Years Eve. We did buy a tree, although it is not the Douglas Fir that we had become accustomed to in the US we put the ornaments and stockings up about a week ago. Olga's mother came over this weekend and brought some of their family ornaments and so we added those the the tree and around the apartment. It does feel more festive now.
For those of you that are not familiar with how New Years Eve is celebrated here (and I would suspect that very few do know) I will attempt to provide an overview. New Years in Russia is more of a family holiday, as opposed to the US where we typically celebrate with our friends. Don't get me wrong, there is still plenty of libations that are handed out, but there is also a large dinner and the night is long....very long from what I recall. I last celebrated New Years in Russia in 2001/2002 and I believe I went to bed around 7AM. We'll see if I can last that long this year! So, the family gathers (we are hosting Olga's relatives this year so there will be 7 of us) and eats and drinks through the night. Just prior to midnight the President gives a short speech (this year it will be Medvedev, but we will see if Putin attempts to give his own speech as well) and after midnight it is common to go to a square where a tree has been set up to celebrate with your 'neighbors'.
In preparation of the upcoming festivities Olga and I decided to do some shopping. I'd now like to provide an example of why I really need to stop converting the prices from Rubles to Dollars, as it can get a bit mind-boggling. We stopped at a kiosk to get some fruit and vegetables and while the lady in front of us paid her bill I was somewhat bemused that she had spent about $75 on just fruit and vegetables. After about 15 minutes of ordering and tasting, the lady informed me that our bill was 3,050...uh, WHAT??? That's over $100....for fruit and vegetables??? Really??? Then I looked at the price of the cherries that we bought....1,500 rubles per kilo. Hmmm, that's about $25 per pound. I will no longer do conversions to Dollars....I will no longer do conversions to Dollars. I have to admit, there is still some pricing here that I just don't get.
I'll post pictures from New Years later this week. Hope everyone has a happy and safe New Years celebration!
Monday, December 29, 2008
Tuesday, December 16, 2008
Long Time No Blog
Not sure where the time has gone, but it's been a while since I put anything out here. I apologize to my loyal followers.
So, what's been going on over the past three weeks? Let's see. We have had decent weather and a bit more snow (see pics below), but that has again melted. I got my cholesterol checked....I didn't realize that readings actually went that high. I'm on a new, self-imposed, lower-cholesterol diet hoping to keep away from the need for drugs to correct that. I knew I wasn't eating well here, but I even surprised myself. For those of you that know about cholesterol the first digit was a '3' and there were three digits in the number. Suffice it to say that I was not pleased. I'll get a new reading here in the near future.
Upcoming events. We are hosting the Russian side of the family for New Years, which should be quite a treat. The last time I experienced a Russian New Year was back in 2001/2002, which was my first trip to Russia. We started the feast at 7PM and finished eating at 5AM. That's a lot of eating and drinking. And trust me, there was no shortage of vodka! All-in, I believe we will have eight guests, plus Olga and myself.
We also made a quick trip to NYC to get a new visa for me. We arrived on 12/6 and were greeted by a snow squall and extremely cold weather....neither of which we had planned for. We caught up with some friends and participated in something we both miss on Sundays...BRUNCH! Went to a very nice dinner on Monday at one of my favorite restaurants, Nobu. Always like that place. If any of you get to NYC you should try it and make sure you try the Black Cod Miso and the Rock Shrimp Tempura.
Tuesday and Wednesday we did more than our part to keep the economy rolling by hitting as many stores as we could. Unfortunately Olga caught a cold and didn't get to fully enjoy the shopping, but that only means that she had less patience to look (great for me!!!).
We flew back on Thursday and not much is new since then. Hope you enjoy the pictures below.
Outside our building after the snow.
Who is that masked person!? Oh, wait, I know her. That's Olga. C'mon, it's not THAT cold (temperature, approx. 25 F).
Walking into Red Square in early December. That sky looks ominous, right? A large shopping center, ГУМ (pronounced, Goom), is in the background. They put up a skating rink in the Square, how cool!
Closer shot of the skating rink in Red Square, in front of the shopping center, ГУМ.
One of the 1,000 'trees' they put up across Moscow.
In stark contrast, the real tree at Rockefeller Center.
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