Turkey and Licenses

Today I applied for my Russian license...AND ordered a turkey for Thanksgiving, in the same place. Welcome to my world. The Embassy takes care of all. A private driver will take me to collect my license on a Wednesday. And my turkey will be available later this week. It's already here. Welcome to expat life in a major city!

The Heat Is On!

Ah yes, fall in Moscow. I know it's fall because
1. We are losing some 5 minutes of light of day. (really glad I bought those black out curtains!)
2.  The leaves are changing. Not in a lazy, slow, Indian Summer coming, New England sort of way. It is, rather, an hysterical, we must lose our leaves by next week sort of way. I know, intellectually, that this is related to the rapid light change but it's still striking. I have visions of one of those cartoons where all the leaves drop at once, screaming.
3.  People are getting grumpy. It's the light (or lack thereof). When we arrived, everyone was still in a good mood, despite the smog, smoke and heat. Now little things are bothering them and they are complaining about small things. Minor things. Leave in the dark, come home in the dark and it upsets the delicate balance. And the dark is not even here yet. Fortunately, it doesn't bother me that much.
4.  I wish it would snow. I REALLY do not like 40F and rain. It sucks.  Now, -10F and snow I can handle, as long as I can find snow pants before then. Soon enough, soon enough.
5.  The fur coats are out in force.
6. The government has decided to turn the heat on. Thank G-d they decided this before they fired the mayor or we may not have had it at all.

Despite all this, or because of it, I love Moscow in the Fall. The tourists are gone, Muscovites have returned from their Dachas and the sense that you are really living here kicks in.

New Jerusalem

This week was a school outing to "New Jerusalem" monastery. It was fascinating, not just because we had to wear long skirts and headscarves.  At the end of the tour, the guide in the underground church told us that St. Helena had recovered something from the ancient church 6 meters down and that a spring had erupted "miraculously'  when they excavated.... oh, come on?  A spring when you dig? Really?  Even the Russians we were with were skeptical saying "if you Believe it, then it has meaning..."  

And don't get me started on St. Helena. Recovering " artifacts" of dubious distinction all over the world, resulting in poor people everywhere making pilgrimages? Wasting their life savings in pursuit of a fabrication? The biggest scam in history, for sure. Let's travel 200 miles to see the end of the fingernail of an obscure saint just because she said so? 
But it was also beautiful and inspirational, and if that is the ultimate goal then rock on...

Moscow in the fall

Fishing is a typical activity at Moscow's many lakes

Moscow is always full of surprises. Each time I go out, I'm sure to run into something unusual at the very least (making my camera an essential item in my bag).  Yesterday, on one of those amazing fall days just as the leaves were starting to turn, I and a group of friends went out to explore one of Moscow's many massive parks. The goal was to celebrate a birthday and to "get lost." Well, we managed not to get lost but stumbled upon a beautiful lake in the middle of the city. Next to the lake...?  a home made "gym" with weights made out of old tires, tree stumps, and boards. There was even a nice elderly "personal trainer" there who directed us to "come here!!" and made us try out all the equipment. These guys were serious about their weight lifting. Now we know where Rocky's Russian opponent got his start!
Things like this keep happening..I can be walking along, minding my own business and suddenly I stumble upon something that makes me say "really? really? Did I just see that?"
We'll see what next weekend has to offer!

Second Year

So I feel like I forgot something. Something really big....or is it that I've been here a year and know what to expect? I haven't been to the Georgian restaurant across the street at all (maybe this weekend?) but have supplanted it with a Spanish restaurant that serves Ostrich.  Am I jaded already?  I can't wait for the snow and ice since then I actually get out more although I am going on a trip this weekend outside of Moscow.  I'll keep you posted. Still love school, though. SO much better!

St. George slaying the Nazi Dragon.

This is a picture of the ceiling of ГУМ Department Store in Moscow

MacPhe in Russia

Hi,
My name is Patrice MacPherson and I currrently live in Moscow, Russia and teach at the Anglo American School.  I've created this site to vent and to give people the chance to experience my travels and insights into live as an international teacher.