So, yes, we have the T in Boston. But the trains don't run every three minutes. And there are certainly no murals or mosaics touting the glorious socialist revolution. Actually, now that I think about it, maybe in Davis Square there are...#9 - Speaking Russian. It's not quite as much fun as speaking Italian, but it's still pretty fun.
Sadly, I feel like I have reached a plateau with my Russian skills. I can have brilliant conversations about the price of hotel rooms or how to get to Tver; I can even trick the ticket ladies and get the lower resident price at the museums; but when it gets any deeper than that, I find myself tuning out. If I pay attention, I can follow the conversation just fine, but I am too shy to participate.
There is really only one way to remedy this situation, short of moving back to Moscow on a permanent basis (and even that is not guaranteed to help, since all of my friends there speak English!). The only answer is to sign up for Russian conversation classes back home.
I would do it, I really would. The problem is that I don't think I will have time, since I will be busy with my Italian classes!
I told you it's not quite as much fun as speaking Italian.
#8 - Fashion. I admit it, I appreciate the effort that Russian women put into their look. I don't always approve of the outcome, but at least it's usually something interesting to see. That said, the people on the streets of Moscow are looking more Western than ever before. Gone are the days when you see devki strutting about in their underwear. I even read that some clubs are discouraging women from revealing too too much. Apparently one popular club has a so-called "no-ho" policy and the bouncer will refuse to admit women who not appropriately dressed. Let me clarify: many clubs have strict "face control" - that is, bouncers who refuse to admit women who are not appropriately dressed. But a shortage of clothing never used to be considered inappropriate... it's only recently that clubs are starting to realize that they might class-up their act by encouraging women to dress more, well, to dress more.
Of course, there is much less pressure on men to be looking good, so they are not subject to such extremes. But on any given day, you are bound to see at least one woman who looks absolutely spectacular and at least one woman who looks like a walking disaster. Neither of which you are likely to see on the streets of Somerville.
#7 - Azbuka Vkusa. Literally translated, this means "The ABCs of Taste". It is the name of the very well-stocked, very expensive, 24-hour supermarket near my flat. You can find anything here, including Italian coffee and American cereal. Azbuka Vkusa has a long glass case filled with prepared foods like soups, salads, grilled salmon, roasted chicken - anything you want, all if it delicious. They make the best seld pod shuboy I have had since my days in Yekaterinburg. This salad - which translates as "Herring in a fur coat" - is herring topped with layers of potatoes and beets with a mayonaise dressing. Best Russian salad ever.
Never mind that shopping at Azbuka Vkusa costs as much as going out to a restaurant, if not more. Seriously, remember the Salvatore, the fruit guy in Venice, who charged me 5 euros no matter what I bought? At Azbuka Vkusa I experienced a similar phenomenon, where my bill came to just under 1000 rubles (US$40), no matter what I bought. Cereal, milk and seld pod shuboy. That will be 1000 rubles, please.
I guess I won't miss that part. But it sure was nice to know that I could pop downstairs for herring and beet salad, any time of day or night. You just can't do that in Somerville.
#6 - Svekolnik. Cold beet soup. Like borscht, but cold. Delicious, refreshing and oh-so-good for you.
I have often said that soups are the pinnacle of Russian cuisine, and summer soups are no exception. Sure, we have gazpacho and creamy cucumber and many other tasty cold soups here, but I have yet to see svekolnik on a menu outside of Russia. Fortunately, I know how to make it myself. Maybe I'll have to learn to the same for my seld pod shuboy.
#5 - White Nights. I know that Moscow is not St Petersburg, and they don't call it White Nights. But it's still pretty far north. The entire time I was in Moscow, the sky stayed light until after 11pm. I'm not sure what time it got light in the morning, but certainly before 5am. I had the pleasure of watching two sunrises in Moscow - not because I was an early-riser but because I was finishing off a really good night-out. That doesn't happen in Somerville.
#4 - Summer Cafes. Summer doesn't last very long in Moscow, so locals know they need to take advantage of the warm weather. That's why every restaurant worth going to opens a letnoe kafe, or "summer cafe". They take over the courtyard, or the sidewalk, or the rooftop - because they know that people want to be outside. I remember the days when letnoe kafe refered to a tent in the park with a few tables and a lot of beer. If you were lucky you could buy some peanuts, but there was no guarantee. I suppose these still are the crucial parts of the definition of letnoe kafe - tent, tables, beer - but Muscovites have really refined the concept. At an Uzbek place called Chaikhona, you can sit on comfy couches and listen to cool music and smoke hookah pipes. At Swan Lake, you can sit overlooking a little pond (yes, with swans), sunbathe next to the swimming pool, or even visit the massage hut for a Thai massage.
So, we do have our own cool summer cafe near my house in Somerville. Technically, it's called The Biscuit, although we still call it by its old name, Panini. Since it has become The Biscuit, they have added a sweet, outdoor seating area, that is quietly concealed from the street and bursting with blooming flowers. In the past week, I have taken to popping in for an iced coffee. It's very nice... but nobody is offering to rub my feet while I'm there.
#3 - Post-industrial art galleries. The art scene in Moscow is booming (beyond anything anybody imagined, according to one artist I talked to). One cool trend is the conversion of factories and other industrial space into exhibit space. Once a wine factory, Winzavod now contains the city's most prestegious galleries, as well as an avant-garde clothing boutique and a cool cafe. On the river bank opposite the Kremlin, the Red October chocolate factory was forced to close. But they are preserving the building and converting it into living space and retail. The first step was to allow local artists to use the garages as studio space. Known as Art Strelka, they open up to the public on weekends and in the evenings.Although "post-industrial art galleries" is on my list of things to miss about Moscow, we do have this in Somerville. We have it at Brickbottom which is cool. And if I had my way we would have it up the street at Dewire's Garage. I'm not sure how the good folk at Dewire's about my vision to turn their garage into galleries...
#2 - Minor celebrity status. Expats have definitely dropped several notches on Moscow's social ladder. There are a lot of us in Moscow, so we are not as exotic as we used to be. And more importantly, we don't have as much money as used to. In fact, we don't have as much money as many Muscovites.
That said, there is still a certain status associated with being an expat. People still want to know where you are from when they hear your accent. And more often than not, when you answer, they arch their eyebrows in surprise. "America! That's pretty far away!"
Back in the USA, I can't really impress anybody by saying I'm from Somerville. Maybe if I go to the South Shore.
#1 - Skydiving. Just kidding. But skydiving is representative of something...
The number one thing that I will miss about Moscow is being in a place where "anything can happen and it usually does." It's trying new things - unexpected things - sometimes pretty crazy things. It's watching history happen at lightning speed, and coming home with a notebook full of stories. It's not knowing how the stories will end.
Back in Somerville, it doesn't seem like anything happens at lightning speed. And although I have some great stories, I have a pretty good idea how they are going to end. Life takes on a very pleasant - if predictable - routine. We cook. We eat. We write. We pet the cat. We weed the garden. Come to think of it, those are all the things I would put on my list of Top Ten Things to Miss about Home.
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