- 2/25/2008 10:00:00 PMMoscow Trip - Day 15Today is another gray and quiet day in Moscow. Last night Peggy closed the curtains in the room so that the sun would not wake us up too early. As it turns out, that was totally unnecessary. I'm not sure what time it actually became light enough to see by but the sky did not get much brighter than that all day. Unlike Cheboksary where they have more snow than what they know what to do with, Moscow seems to be experiencing some of the warming trends often associated with pollution. Temperatures are higher (on average) than they have been in the past.
One thing I've noticed is the amount of dirt everywhere. If I were an entrepreneur, I would set up a car wash. The only clean cars are new cars that have just left the showroom floor. Other cars are absolutely covered in road grime. Some of it comes off during the drizzly weather and the nightly snow fall but it quickly comes back.
Also last night, we made a name change breakthrough. We had walked a lot during our visit to the Kremlin and Yuri was quite tired. He was complaining about the soreness in his feet and legs and we began talking about fixing this problem when we return to America. In the house, we have not spoken his last name much but just concentrated on using his given first name - Yuri. Every now and then we would drop his whole new name in conversation. Then we would incorporate it into a silly song and sing about it.
We spoke to Marina about going to America and getting a new and fresh start. Then we asked the big question, "what do you want to be called? Michael or Yuri?" He thought about it for a moment and then declared, "Michael". I think it will be more tough for me than for him. I know him as "Yuri" and not "Michael". Of course when I become angry with him, I will get the opportunity to use both names :-)
Marina is heading back to Cheboksary today. She will be gone until Thursday. We will stay in her flat under the care of her parents. They are both very interesting people. Her father is a retired military engineer. I don't know if her mother worked outside the home, but she definitely plays the role of grandma (babushka) very well. The other night after the fiasco at the pizza restaurant, Dima told me that if we wanted pizza, Marina would order in. I asked Marina about this and she confirmed that "yes - we can do that". We haven't ordered pizza, but each night babushka makes us a frozen pizza. That is sweet. She looks right at me and talks in her Ukrainian/Russian and has a 1-way conversation with me. I have no idea what she is saying. She keeps talking and I keep listening.
I have been doing a great deal of reading in my Moscow travel book that my dad purchased for us before we left. They have a long and fascinating history. If you're a history nut, this is right up your alley. Dima the driver is a history nut. A great deal of what he speaks about is the many French invasions and how Moscow withstood them - even at great cost. I think that while Marina is away, we will go out with Dima (perhaps on Wednesday) to Red Square. We have not been able to get in there yet but hopefully we will.
As I mentioned above, Marina will return on Thursday. We will begin processing our US Embassy paperwork then and wrap it up on Friday. Then we will do all of our Russian Consulate stuff on Monday and leave Moscow on Tuesday. We're trying to make some additional flight arrangements so that we can get home on Wednesday rather than Thursday. We'll have to see about that.
For the better part of today, we watched too much television. When we were at the open air market, we purchased some "black videos". That is what Marina called them anyway. The long name for them is "Illegally copied and Russian Translated videos". They were 100 Rubles each (or about $4.00). They had Star Wars and some other kids movies. Since I am a Star Wars nut, I had to get them. Michael didn't seem too interested when we got them. Then I popped in Episode 1 and he was hooked. It is a good thing for me that I have seen them 1000 times before. The movies only have one male translator and he has no inflection in his voice. It is the same Russian mono-tone voice for every character, male, female, or creature. Michael liked it.
When we go into the kitchen for each meal, the television is usually on. It is always something different. Sometimes it is the news, sometimes soccer (aka football), sometimes a Russian soap opera - you never know. At Luda's place, they liked to watch this Russian Entertainment channel. It seems to be a lot like the old StarSearch show. On one occasion, they had these two men on who were playing accordions with flames painted on the sides. The instrument didn't have a keyboard but rather buttons on both sides. I guess that makes it a Bayan.
Either way, each man was dressed a little like Elvis with tight spandex pants and a big open v-neck shirt. It was quite interesting to watch. I told Peggy about it. Anyway... they were on again yesterday! I shouted, "come here come here! It's the flaming accordion guys again!" Marina says the accordion (or Bayan) is making a big comeback in Russia. When they were done playing, the people in the crowd cheered very loudly for them. Aside from the silly way I have described them, those men could definitely play - that is for sure!
Anyway... getting back to the television in the kitchen - Michael loves to watch the television, especially the news. This has made me think more about how I will keep up with what is going on over here in Russia once we return to the states. I'll have to think about that one some more.
