Moscow at high speed

I’m very proud of everyone for restraining themselves from writing me irritated notes asking WHY I’m squandering the last weeks of the blog Not Blogging! Thank you!   Actually, I’m spending a record amount of time not being on the computer, which doesn’t lend itself to stuff like blogging and processing pictures.  A few things that have crossed my mind to tell you about while I was whipping about from point
A to point B…

In the metro:  I’m remarkably pleased with myself for not only voluntarily using the metro (we do have access to a car) but also not getting lost very often.  Here is the metro map for the entire city of Moscow:http://engl.mosmetro.ru/flash/scheme01.html  For reference, we live at the Aeroport metro line (dark green line #2, north from center) and most of the action (friends, restaurants, entertainment) happens in the middle, happily on the green line.  We have also made a trail to Partizanskaya stop (dark blue line #3) where Ismailovo flea market resides.   The hardest part about the metro is being underground and not knowing which direction you’re going.  There is a hint, given to us by our friend Jason, and that is the announcements (spoken in Russian) are made by a male voice when you’re going toward the center and a woman’s voice going out of the center.  That’s a handy tip and I wonder what my fellow metro passengers think when the lady next/across from them starts in surprise when the announcement is made, hot foots it out at the next stop and hurries across to the opposite train.  Another hard thing about the metro is not talking (English speaking in close quarters attracts attention) and also not making expressions (official expression in the Moscow metro is “cold fish”) or looking anybody in the eye directly and especially not smiling (so few Russians smile).   Lastly, I try not to look at the floor, although sometimes I forget and see where someone was bleeding (??) someone puked up their dinner(???) and strange puddles seeming to come from no source (???!). Having said that, I now know there is a point to the Russian floor phobia.

Floor Phobias: I, coming from relatively clean country life in Texas, have not had a floor phobia and actually abide by the 5 second rule, which is if something drops on the floor and you pick it up within 5 seconds, it never touched the floor.  Actually, I think the official rule is 3 seconds, but I’m getting older and slower, so I gave myself the extra 2 seconds to respond.    Arrival in Russia in the winter and we noticed that EVERYBODY takes off their shoes the second they enter the door of any home.  I thought it was because of the snow and slush, but the custom continues with the streets dry.  I also started noticing a lot of money (change) laying about the streets.  Lest you think Moscow streets are paved with gold, let me tell you it’s mostly kopecks and occasional 1 ruble coins.  It takes 100 kopecks to make a ruble and a ruble is worth 31 cents.   Well, I don’t know about anybody else, but I would stop to pick up a quarter in the US any day.  However in Moscow the money has touched the ground and therefore rendered too filthy to pick up by anybody but homeless people and beggars and being neither, I’m afraid I would attract a lot of attention picking up coins constantly.   Once, while getting change at Ismailovo, a 100 ruble note dropped to the ground.  Dismayed and flustered, Tanya clucked, (Russian clucking sounds like “oye”) apologised and gave me a DIFFERENT (clean) 100 ruble note and gingerly picked up the soiled note and put it in a bag (to be washed for later??).   People don’t put their bags on the ground to tie their shoes, they don’t let their children play on the ground and even some places of business provide plastic shoe covers for people to put over their shoes. Once I encountered a plastic-bootie applying machine that automatically put the bootie on your foot. I stood to the side, observing how other people were operating the machine, but couldn’t make myself put my foot in what looked like jaws, lined with metal teeth opening and closing about people’s feet because I was sure I’d put it in the wrong place and get my foot squished or chopped off as the machine was trying to do it’s job.  As I stood by suspicously watching the machine in action, I noticed that occasionally the machine malfunctioned and some of the booties produced during the malfunction were discarded in the trash next to the machine while the patient Russians reinserted their feet to try again.  I dug a pair out of the trash and manually put them on, thank-you-very-much.  I’m sure I’m the object of stares and ridicule on a daily basis, but I’m fairly immune to that these days.

We’ve enjoyed so many cultural and historal sights and events so I cringe a little to honestly confess that what we’re going to miss the most is Ismailovo flea market.  We’re there every weekend and I even have made a couple of friends, especially the hat guy who is SO HAPPY to see me every time I pass his booth.  Greg was taking a picture of me trying on a hat and the guy (in true photo bomber fashion) snuggled up close and gave Greg his best rakish smirk.  I don’t know his name and we just call him the hat guy, but Greg better watch out because he might have competition for my affections!

My other Boyfriend