St. Patrick's Day, snow and TopShop

I love waking up to a white morning in Moscow.
Being from North Carolina, it is quite a treat to be welcomed into a new day by snowflakes falling outside your window.
Spring is approaching Moscow so the frostiness that I have become use to is beginning to fade. Unfortunately in a few hours this white blanket will again turn into a greyish-brown mush.

For the last two weeks the temperature has consistently been above freezing during the day. Luckily I arrived during the last half of the Moscow winter and did not witness any -40 temperatures.

Moscow is becoming home more and more. This new apartment is finally becoming what I like in a home and I am finally meeting people. The routine of Russian lessons, work, apartment up-keep, a relationship, running errands and having fun is turning into a life that I can really enjoy.

Every day passes and I am happier to be here, and even more confident in my decision to make this big move. I told Vas yesterday that I know if I had decided to stay in the U.S. and given up this opportunity, I know I would regret it for the rest of my life. I would always wonder what it would have been like, what could it have turned into and what I would be missing out on. So regardless of how this situation turns out to be in months or years later, I know that I have avoided a great deal of regret by taking the chance.

As each day passes I am becoming more comfortable in Russia, but nothing is wearing at the feeling I have each day when I remind myself that I am actually in Russia. I still say to myself, ‘oh my god, I am actually in Russia,’ or, ‘Russia is my home, I can't believe it.’

Was that paragraph full of enough redundancy for you?

Last weekend was St. Patrick’s Day and I think that we celebrated in the best way a Moscovite possibly could.
Friday evening we were invited to a party at the Irish Embassy, hosted by his Excellency, the Irish Ambassador. It was a formal gathering of various ambassadors, other important internationals and prominent peoples of Moscow. The attractive mix of people was complimented by a surplus of Jameson’s, freshly imported Guiness and Russian riverdancers. The Irish drink their whiskey very differently than Americans do. I strongly recommend trying Jameson’s with apple or cranberry juice.

On Sunday we went to the St. Patrick’s Day parade where we were honored to sit in the “VIP” stands with the same mix of people and got special viewings of all of the entertainers. Jameson’s was served again, only this time hot with cider to make the chilly afternoon more comfortable.
I have a couple of (poor) photos from the parade that I will add to this post soon.

On the way out of the parade I looked a stray dog in the eyes and it charged at me- they are cute, but beware!!!

I am looking forward to the coming week. On Saturday we are going to an exclusive spa where we will be pampered and truly be able to relax. Then after I work we will visit a couple of cat shelters in hopes of finding an addition to our little family. This will provide for a more interesting post I am sure.

My work weeks are stressful, let me tell you what! Late Sunday afternoon I join the family and leave late Monday night. It’s tough, working such long hours day after day after day… :)

Yesterday I actually spent some of my hard earned money. I went out on a shopping “spree”
I visited the underground mall behind the Red Square that has become my new favorite spot in Moscow. I was excited to finally shop at TopShop, which is an H&M/Forever 21 upgrade only found in Europe. I have drooled over their clothing over the internet for many years, and I was finally able to go. I treated myself to a new outfit with my hard earned money.

Here are pictures from the trip to the underground mall (the outside is very picture-worthy):

Entertainment at the Square: (Completely unethical, but who doesn't love to see such amazing/cute animals?)




On top of the mall:



Moscow is on top of the world:


and the blurry metro:

oh and I almost forgot....

returning home!!!


and if you want to see these pictures in a bigger, more clear form, go to:
www.photobucket.com
Login name: riskme
guest password: pourvous

and click on the Moscow album

here you can also see my pictures from Switzerland, France, Italy, Czech Republic, Austria, Spain, and eventually I will put up the Grand Canyon pictures as well.

I start my job today! eee! I'm so nervous!

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oh and please read this article:

Obama in Senate: Star Power, Minor Role

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/09/us/politics/09obama.html?_r=2&hp&oref=slogin&oref=slogin

Senator Barack Obama stood before Washington’s elite at the spring dinner of the storied Gridiron Club. In self-parody, he ticked off his accomplishments, little more than a year after arriving in town.

Mr. Obama poked fun at himself at the Gridiron Club in 2006 with, left, his current chief strategist, David Axelrod, and his communications director, Robert Gibbs.

“I’ve been very blessed,” Mr. Obama told the crowd assembled in March 2006. “Keynote speaker at the Democratic convention. The cover of Newsweek. My book made the best-seller list. I just won a Grammy for reading it on tape.

“Really, what else is there to do?” he said, his smile now broad. “Well, I guess I could pass a law or something.”

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really??!!!!???... I guess I could pass a law or something??

Not much has happened, yet so much has happened...

So I have been in Moscow, Russia for about 3 weeks now. I wish I could say that I have done more than I have. I wish I could say that I have been everywhere in my tourist book by now- 3 weeks is certainly enough time- but so much of this time has been spent settling in, rather than having fun.



Settling sure does take a lot out of you. Trying to create new systems, procedures, routines- in a new city, a new home, with a new person... I suppose the best way to describe it is simply as... "adjusting."



Unfortunately adjusting does not provide a lot of exciting stories for blogging.



But to describe a regular day for Micah in Moscow:

-Wake up around 8 or 9 with Vas, fix breakfast and start studying Russian.

-3 days of the week I have Russian lessons with Olga. Olga is 24, and a very nice, modest teacher. Private lessons don't come cheap, but I think they will be worth it.

-I usually spend my day walking around and learning the neighborhood. Sometimes I go running, sometimes I spend too much time on the internet, mostly I obsessively clean the kitchen and go through old grandmother treasures.

-Sometimes in the evenings Vas and I play football with some neighborhood kids by his fathers'. Running around, playing well and spending time with people in this way has been my source of sanity. Thank goodness for endorphins.

-Recently I figured out how to watch Scrubs and Arrested Development on-line for free. There is another "thank goodness."



I've also been playing around with food a lot. I have been forced to be very creative. A vegan diet does not come easily or cheap in Moscow. But for over 6 years I have been working through it... there is no way that living in another country will change that. Luckily we have that wonderful Hare Krishna veggie restaurant.

I love food, wait- I really love vegan food- so this may only be interesting to me, but here is a picture of the food I am eating on a regular basis:



Pictured: Mueslii, dark chocolate, sugar puff pastry, juice, soymilk, canned cherries, jasmine green tea, instant coffee, rice cakes, dried fruit and nuts, seaweed, fake salami (almost all gone), fake hot dogs, vegan mayo and indian spiced tea.

Not pictured: apples and lots of them, frozen spinach, cucumbers, rice, miso, and other veggies (mostly frozen).



I have been cooking and baking every day- and I think that I am getting better.



I may be starting a job soon, which is FANTASTIC news. If all works out, I will be taking care of a 3 year old boy 3 days a week, and teaching him English. It seems that this family will be taking very good care of me, and I will get to join them in France in the summer for a few weeks.

Let us cross our fingers on this opportunity.



Yesterday I took my first lone trip out into the city using the metro. This is no easy task, I will call it adventerous and even a little bit courageous, because it is much different than any metro I have used before (and I have ridden metros in Boston, NYC, Washington DC, Paris, Madrid, Prague, Rome, etc) and nothing is in English. It's like getting through a maze sometimes. Plus, the entire metro system is humongous. It is bigger than the systems of London and NYC put together:





Here are pictures from my outting, there are many I meant to take but forgot to.



Pictures from the nearby Market:





This is usual for markets here. They are like flea markets, but more official and formal. There are many of these small, privately owned mini stores. There are maybe 10 for fresh produce, 10 for cigarettes, womens clothing, housing, coffee/tea, meat, cheese, salami, some asian, toilettries, the list goes on.

We went to a similar market that was all electronics and it was set up the same way. Some specialized in computer monitors, others in WiFi stuff, and so on.



Walking to the Metro:









Eventually I will be making a post just for the metro. The stations are works of art in their own- and hold so much history.. it definitely deserves it's own post.

Pictures from the Red Square area:





this is the stage in which Putin and Medvedev, Russia's new leader, spoke to the country after the results of the election on Sunday came in.









and I thought you would all be happy/relieved to know that when Vas and I went to Ikea last week, I got a new hippo:


We bought new bookcases, wardrobe, dresser, chair, lamps and a big red couch. I will post pictures of the apartment soon.
I was also informed today that in May we will be going through an entire renovation of the apartment. So the completion of the apartment may not come until the end of the summer.

I began this actual post last week.
Today it is Saturday, the 8th of March.
Unfortunately it is the one year anniversary of a tragic loss- a day when we lost one of the most amazing people I have been lucky enough to know in life, Charles Lewis.
Charles, I hope that you know we will never forget you, and there is still so much love for you that exists here on Earth- from Richmond, VA all the way to Russia. And I can just see your bright, shiny smile right now as I type this. We love you and miss you my dear friend!

On another note, March 8th is a good day for Russians.
It is National Woman's Day.
The last post was Man's Day, and ironically today is Woman's Day.

Every woman in Russia is walking around with a bouquet of flowers in her hand. It's quite a nice sight.



"A little more matriarchy is what the world needs, and I know it. Period. Paragraph."
-Dorothy Thompson