Moscow - Second Impressions

We've been in Moscow for nearly 3 weeks now, and already my opinion of Moscovites has evolved significantly. Lately, Jerel and I have both found them to rival the Shanghainese in their friendliness and helpfulness. My best illustrative anecdote comes from a recent episode at my local 'MacKafe'. I was busily working away on my laptop (enjoying tea and free internet) and agreed to share my booth with a random Russian woman. When she finished her meal, she asked me with concern "where is your smile?" and proceeded to give me "a very small present" consisting of a bouquet of wildflowers. I was so touched! I was actually very much in need of cheering up on that day as in typical Chana fashion I was tormenting myself over a difficult (for me) decision, regarding apartment choice. Apparently I don't have much of a poker face... This brings me to a random Moscow observation: fresh cut flowers are inordinately abundant - rivaling (but not quite) alcohol in their availability on the street. I have yet to figure out the flower market here but perhaps they are being snapped up by friendly Russians passing them out to those in need of cheering up!

This seems like a good chance to share a funny example of a foreigner blunder from my early days, involving my attempt to purchase a bottle of water at one of the many 'essentials' booths on the street. The typical setup is one where the vendor is inside the booth, behind a small window, and the beverage-filled fridge is just outside the booth. I proceeded to help myself to my beverage of choice, then bring it to the window to pay (normal, right?). I had a bit of an embarrassing struggle opening the fridge door, but thanks to all my cardio-kickboxing classes, I was eventually victorious. The vendor seemed a bit frazzled throughout the whole exchange but I couldn’t imagine why. A few days later it became clear…it turns out that the normal protocol is to pay first at the window, at which point the vendor presses a magic button that allows the customer to open the fridge door with ease, rather than wrestle it into submission as I had. Fortunately, I don't think I did any permanent damage!