Russian Shopping Part One: Flea Markets

"The odds of going to the store for a loaf of bread and coming out with only a loaf of bread are three billion to one."
- Erma Bombeck

In Moscow, Shopping is so big that I think I'll split it into a few blog posts. But so far, one of my favorite times here was when we went to Izmailovo (is-MY-lah-vuh), this flea market that was about 40 minutes from my house. It was one of my first encounters with Russian architecture, which also deserves its own blog post just because I love it so much. Izmailovo is sort of tacked on to the back of a beautiful church, of which I did not get a picture, unfortunately. Next time;)

So these little huts are basically just sitting behind the church. The church is almost like a fort. It has walls around it and a gate. The flea market is part inside the gate (you have to pay 10 Russian rubles to get in, about 35ish cents) and part outside (free, but they do have Turkish food, so you end up paying there too...dang you delicious doner kebabs). On with the tour...

So, yes, kinda looks like these people are having a garage sale, with all the seemingly useless stuff you can find, but there are actually awesome things at some of the stands. There were old USSR pins, which I though were unbelievably cool even though my dad told me they were copies. And some other things familiar to the land of wealthy Czars and freezing winters. 

Look carefully and you'll see our buddies the Romanovs! For some reason, Royalty fascinates me, ESPECIALLY the Romanovs. There's just something incredible about the scale of their affluence and grandeur. I'm itching to get to St. Petersburg and see their real faberege eggs. But hey, these are pretty cool for the mean-time.

This part was fun. Right when we were dropped off at Izmailovo we went through the gates and saw some friends from church. We were immediately led to this. Now, I didn't come to the land of fur-lovers empty handed. Thanks to Victoria Alperovich, I should have been taken care of in the way of furry hats, but look at them! Real Russian fur hats and bargaining? Couldn't think of a better pair. 

Mark even found something to try on. After much deliberation and pulling the prices WAY down, Annie and I walked away with hats. Woo! We can't wait for Winter, but my little dog doesn't quite know what to do about them. 

Mighty Wolfpack?

Larger shot of the flea market. My dad, the bearded man in the corner (who at this point would probably comment on how studly he is), lovingly carrying our bag. We came to Izmailovo merely to explore, but you can't come here and not find something you have to have. If you still need more convincing, here's a picture taken in the market outside the gate...

Belt buckles to rival Texas. If you'll notice, yes, the Playboy buckle IS connected to a belt in which the word "FASHION" is branded. Oh, the creativity here.

So there. You should come to Moscow to check out the flea markets. Right behind this is the Turkish food stand! See how long you can resist. Or don't, Winter's a coming, and I need y'all. Until next time!  до свидания!

p.s. It's nine hours ahead of you Texas folk here. Just remember what it's like when someone calls YOUR home phone (ours, by the way, is the same number and not long-distance!) in the middle of the night. That said, we'd still love to hear from you! Just look at the clock before you call:)

First Post!

"If we do not find anything very pleasant, at least we shall find something new."
-Johan Friedrick von Schiller


Howdy friends and family! I wanted to start this blog for many reasons. One, because I know I would be itching for details and pictures of EVERYTHING if my friend had just moved to Moscow, so I wanted to provide you with just that. Two, I'm hoping you'll comment on my blog posts so I can hear from you all. Three, Chelsea LeSueur knows what she's talking about. Four, I want to be able to look back at my year-long adventure in Moscow and remember how I felt as it was happening. I'll be posting pictures here and telling you all about the fun things I discover in hopes that I can persuade some of you to hop on an airplane to come see it for yourself. I'm learning as I go, and I can't wait to show you everything!

I got here last Saturday and pretty much went straight to IKEA. Bad idea. In the States, IKEA is great. Its fun to just walk through and see the rooms and imagine living there. Russian IKEA is a different story. First off, it starts with a backwards N. WHAAAAT?!?! That's the cyrilic "I" making it pronounced ee-KAY-uh. So picture this: You just got off a 10 hour flight. You're so jet-lagged that you could fall asleep standing up. You're walking through IKEA, bumping into crowds and crowds of people babbling in a constant stream of gibberish, trying to decide what would match the walls and the floor and the other pieces, and not even having the presence of mind to say "excuse me" in Russian. IKEA is great, it's got everything you need for excellent prices, but I've been there three times in the past week, and we have plans to go again tomorrow. Yippee.

The next place we went that day was Ashan. That's the "Awah" in the picture above. There is a mall that connects IKEA and Ashan. Crowding here was worse than IKEA. In Russia, they don't really say anything if you're in their way. They just ram their shopping cart into you and wait for you to shuffle out of the way. By the time we made it to Ashan, I think we WERE asleep. Let's just say it wasn't the most thorough of shopping trips.  When we went to church the next day, more than one person told us that they have sworn off grocery shopping (especially at Ashan) on Saturdays.

There's so much more to say; believe it or not, there is life after jet-lag and it is a beautiful thing. I miss each and every one of you very, very much. If I haven't lured you in yet, I dont know how I ever could. ;) Until next time! до свидания!