- 3/3/2008 10:00:00 PMMoscow Trip - Day 22Last night I was up late trying to catch up on emails and my journal. This morning we had to get up and go early and be to the Russian Consulate by 10:00. Marina, Peggy and I would meet Bill and at a McDonald's (or Macdonix as Michael says). We got on the trolley and then the subway. During each trip, we were herded like cattle. It reminded me a little of the way the Jewish people were transported in the movie Shindler's List.
Going to the Consulate is not big deal and there is no reason it should take two days. You go in, drop off your paperwork and the child's passport and they tell you to come back at 3:00 PM to pick them up.
We went to a place called, "The Elephant". It is a shopping mall that was designed in something other than the traditional Russian architecture. As I understand it, there are quite a lot of people who don't like the way it looks.
Inside it looks like any typical high-end mall. Lots of shops, lots of lights and very clean. The top floor has an ice skating rink with a bar in the center. You go round and round and then go have a drink. Then go round and round some more. All on ice. I'm thinking it's not a good combination.
We stopped in to a small cafe to get something to eat and drink. Bill and his son got a strawberry sundae. Bill and I shared a black tea (or "chi" as they call it here). Marina, Peggy and I each ordered a cup of soup. In the cafe there were about 15 people - including us. There were about 50 or 60 empty seats. It took about an hour to get our soup. We sat there and talked about capitalism, market pressure and how waiting an hour for a cup of soup would never fly in America.
I ordered borscht. It tasted like fruity vegetable soup. I liked it. Before we left, Peggy and Marina headed for the restroom. Peggy said it was a disgusting place. The floor was sticky, the toilet seat was cracked and covered in urine, and it stunk. Peggy said it made her want to vomit. On a related side note, I have seen many public toilets that had urine all over the seat. It would seem that lifting the seat when a man goes potty is very uncommon behavior in Russia. I don't understand that one.
When we left the mall to walk around, we saw more stray dogs. One of them entered the subway and ran past us on the down escalator. From what Marina says, the dogs live there and are smart enough to go up and out when they need to.
We walked back to the Consular and picked up our paperwork and Michael's Passport. From what I understand, the visit to the Consular office has a great deal to do with tracking Michael while he is out of the country. If we ever move, we must notify them. When Michael moves out of our home when he is older, he must notify them. Unless - that is - he renounces his Russian citizenship. The key here is that, should Michael ever return to Russia, he could be forced into Military Service or he could be considered a draft dodger who went to America to avoid serving his mother-land.
We went back to Marina's flat the same way we came: the subway followed by the trolley. The people waiting to get onto the subway train and onto the trolley are some of the most pushy people I've ever met. I don't mean "rude" necessarily. They just physically push you around when you get into or off of any public transportation. If you have ever been to a major league sporting event such as an NFL game, you may know that when you enter the stadium through the gates and turnstiles, the trick is to aim for the middle and push your way forward. If you try to slip in from one of the sides, you will be waiting for a while. The environment in the middle is one of continually increasing pressure. Every one is pushing. Not shoving, but inching, inching, inching closer to the front.
This is the same kind of pressure that kills Europeans every year during soccer games. The closer the tail section of the crowd got to the entry point, the more pushy they got. It is almost like some of the people were thinking that they might not get on and started to panic. Many places around here are like that. The subway, the trolley, the bus, all of the turnstiles everywhere, going into and out of the subway station, driving in traffic... Everywhere. People move like cattle. If you are not ready to push and hold your position, you will get stepped on.
When we got to the flat, I called Delta right away to make new flight arrangements. Of our journey back home, we will be taking 3 flights:
Moscow to Atlanta
- then quickly visiting the immigration office
Atlanta to Detroit
Detroit to Green Bay
It is the last part of this flight I had to change.
I called them, they changed it and we're coming home. We should arrive home late late Tuesday night.
