- 2/16/2008 10:00:00 PMMoscow Trip - Day 6Today is the first day we can truly rest. Yesterday's excitement and stress was about all I could handle. We made arrangements with Luda and Sveta to go and see the town and perhaps pick up some souvenirs. We are avoiding paying the cost of a driver by using the public transit system here - electric trolleys. A cab or driver costs $100 per day or slightly less if you only use him for 6 hours. The trolley on the other hand costs seven Rubles. Ahhhh Rubles... that is another story. Where do we exchange our money, how much should we exchange, what will it cost, who will pay for the trolley ride to the place where we exchange... All of these types of things are rushing through my mind.
Little did I know, Sveta made a quick call to "a man" who exchanges money as a side job. they say that his exchange rate is better than the bank. I wouldn't know because that is not something I looked into with any amount of detail before we left. We walked from the flat towards the bus station and met "a certain man" right on the corner at the bus stop surrounded by hundreds of people. "How much would you like to exchange?", Sveta asked us. "We're thinking $300", we replied. Sveta did some quick math on her phone calculator and determined that we should get back 7,350 Rubles. Wow! I don't know anything about Rubles but that sure seems like a lot.
The trolley ride was 7 Rubles per person. Luda paid for our ride on the way to the store - which in Russian is called "Magazine". Sveta explained that this particular store was the largest in the entire Chuvashia region. It was very tall and appeared to have about 10 floors. In side it was extremely clean and bright. The stores were all very modern looking and looked up-scale (as opposed to the warehouse look of Wal-Mart). Sveta asked how long we intended to be shopping. If it was going to be a while, then we should check our coats in, otherwise we can wear or carry them. We decided to keep our coats with us as I needed my coat pockets to carry some other things in.
We left the store and parted ways with Sveta. She had other things to do today. So Peggy, Luda and I got back on the trolley and headed for another shop. Peggy and I took notice of the furs some of the other women were wearing. Many of them had a very nice fur hood lining while others were total fur. Luda explained that they were extremely expensive. This may be so, but they are apparently somewhat common. Wearing a fur like this in America would definitely draw the attention of PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) or some other animal rights organization. They sure were nice coats though.
As we moved through town, I tried to take notice of the people, their dress, the expressions on their faces and their general behavior. I had imagined Russian people as somewhat gruff and expressionless. While this may be true of some, I don't think it is the rule. Generally speaking, people would look at me as I was snapping pictures here and there. When they saw me raise the camera, the got out of my way - almost instinctively. It was as if they were thinking, "I have my business to attend to, you have yours, let's not get in each other's way".
The women we saw on the way were sociable enough with the people they were with. The men did not talk. On man in particular stood across from me on the trolley. He kept looking at me as if he knew I stood out in the crowd but had zero expression on his face about it. I tried to figure out what it was about me that was so different.
- Perhaps he heard me speak English
- Maybe it was my coat.
Many of the Russian men wore a dark wool coat. Some of them, including the guy on the trolley had a synthetic ski jacket on. I didn't have a ski jacket but it was synthetic and dark colored. Then it hit me - I was not wearing a hat and I had a beard. Every man I saw was clean shaven and had a hat or cap. That was the next thing I took notice of. Yes - the Russian men here still wear these giant fur hats. One man had a traditional big fur hat that was black with long light-brown fur that was combed and going straight up. He looked a little like the "Heat-Miser" character from the clay-mation Christmas show. I think I'd like to have one.
I tried to update all the journal notes I had today but Sveta's internet ran out. At home we pay one flat fee for unlimited access for a month. Over here they pay by the kilobyte. She likes to watch Russian translated American television shows. That eats up a lot of kilobytes. I think we will give her a little extra for using her computer and internet service.
