Daily Life

I already mentioned that I see mothers everywhere pushing their baby strollers.  They are everywhere.  Kids are everywhere - playing, going to school, walking with their Moms or Babushkas.  But I have yet to see a mother with 4 children.  And I also have yet to hear an English speaker.  So, it doesn't need to be said that we sort of stand out.  This city is not set up for a mother with 4 small children trailing behind.  Today we took our life in our hands just getting off the bus and crossing the street so that we could get to the grocery store.  The seats in the bus are few and far between, set aside for those with children or "invalids" as the sign reads.  But when you take up 4 bus seats on a crowded bus and you are only paying 30 rubles for the trip, however long (a little more than $1.00), I felt a little guilty.   I had already told the children to give up their seats if a babuskha came onboard, but fortunately for us, Russians are sympathetic to small children.  The older 3 were on the playground this afternoon while I prepared lunch.  Though we are on the 7th floor, with my window open, I can hear everything down there.  So, I had the window open listening while they were playing.  I hear C4's cry for help.  When we went down to see what had happened, a babushka sitting nearby asked me if she could give him a piece of candy, "so that he would feel better".  So, back to the grocery store.  After making it safely to the store and putting our bags in the lockers (which you have to do in every store), I was relieved to discover that in this store I could actually take off the shelf what I wanted and pay all at once after bagging my own groceries.  This in contrast to last night when I went to buy some chicken & eggs in a Soviet-style store.  There stood in the same small room two ladies - one selling chicken and one selling eggs.  I asked the egg lady for 10 eggs (which is how they come in Russia as opposed to 12 or a dozen).  But I didn't have the right change.  So she gave me my money back.  I suppose she was just not going to sell me the eggs.  I asked if I could pay for the chicken and eggs together.  She told me that I would have to pay for them separately.  So then I asked the chicken lady if I could buy some chicken.  I paid her; she gave me change; and then I was able to pay for the eggs with the change.  Why couldn't they exchange money between themselves, you might ask?  Suffice it to say, customer service is just not what they do best here.  

It takes a while to get adjusted here and especially to buy the things I am looking for, but it is an interesting life.  To my friends who have lived in Ukraine, you will appreciate this.  Did you know that you can now buy peanut butter and brown sugar even in Far East Russia now?  Oh and for my Eastern shore friends, kefir is as plentiful as milk and bread.  Instead of lugging brown sugar half-way across the world, I should have brought vanilla and scotch tape.  Those things I am searching for and have yet to find.