Out with the old in with the new - AKA Posting Season

August 15-21, 2016

Starting my fourth week in Moscow so I’m feeling more like a resident than a tourist even though I am constantly pulling out my phone to snap a picture of something that catches my eye. Have I told you all how spectacular this city is and I have only seen a corner of it! If you can swing the airfare, you really need to come here and see it for yourself!!

Heading into the office on Monday morning, the rain is coming down in sheets. I’m sure I am quite a sight in my poncho carrying an umbrella. I just wish that I’d thought to pull on my Bogs too as my Birkenstocks are no match for the rivers rushing down the roads and sidewalks. I was checking to see if animals were pairing up and headed for a boat but the rain eventually stopped later in the day once the largest single day rainfall in Moscow forever was reached. 

After work, I head to the salon for a colour and cut with the Master.  She doesn’t speak English and my Russian is very rudimentary but with a little help from the receptionist, we communicate reasonably well. The idea of an emulsion to tone down the blonde highlights is met with horror so the approach to highlights is quite different in Russia; a second colour is applied with a flourish to the top layers of hair. I’m not sure who is more nervous me or the Master until I ask her to cut off a few inches. At that point, she is a bit panicked. I was more worried about the colour!

Overall, I am pleased with the result though it is a bit darker than I had expected. No worries, just a bit early with the Fall colour! Sadly, my promise of a selfie is not fulfilled though I promise to show off my new do as soon as I can get someone to take a decent picture!

June through September is posting season and the time has come for one of my Trade colleagues, Dan, to reunite with his family in Canada. They had left a bit earlier to get things settled at home. Wednesday night was good-bye drinks and dinner for Dan and Manuel, another colleague heading back to Ottawa.

We are headed to Strelka Bar. The restaurant is located on an island in the Moskva River behind the beautiful Christ the Savior Cathedral. 

The menu offers a range of interesting options for both food and libations. I haven’t tried borscht yet and the version served at Strelka - venison borscht with pampushki sounds like a promising initiation. Venison is deer; borscht is beet soup but what the heck are pampushki? The best accompaniment for borscht other than the requisite sour cream it seems – little garlic rolls that are indeed great for dipping and making sure that not a drop goes missing.

The borscht does not disappoint. The venison provides some smoke to complement the earthy flavour of the beets and the addition of a bit of the sour cream results in a luscious pink lake in which the garlicky fluffy pampushki take a dip! More please... As the sun dips below the horizon the beautiful cathedral is bathed in pink as well. 

Heading home, I remember that my housekeeper was going to make spring rolls today when she was cleaning. I open the door to the smell of Mr. Proper (aka as Mr. Clean in Canada) and fried food. There are a couple dozen plump pork egg rolls in the fridge so Eva and I each try one and judge them as very tasty. I send Eva home with a half dozen and put most of the rest in the freezer so I can enjoy them a few at a time.

Friday and I am finally getting my own Internet. I decided to go with the fastest download speed (1 GB/sec) which comes with >100 “free” TV channels for the low low monthly cost of $35! My other service appointments have spoiled me so the cable guys arrive just after 11:30 for our 10:00 am appointment. 

The installation process is complicated by my selection, as new wiring is required to support the higher speed internet. After 90 minutes, I have my own internet, 98+ Russian TV channels and two English news channels. I’m going to need Apple TV to stream Netflix!! 

Back to work to salvage what’s left of the day and then it’s time for Canada Club and a final good-bye to our departing colleagues.

Saturday is a lazy day. Eva and I have brunch in her apartment while she awaits her water cooler delivery. When the weather clears up we decide to head out for groceries with the little red grocery trolley bag that Nathalie had left with me so we can “carry” a bit more. We head to the closest АЗБУКА ВКУСА which is a couple km away and requires navigating three flights of stairs on either side of a tunnel under a boulevard; not bad with an empty trolley bag but a bit more challenging when we’ve stocked up.

En route we pass one of the derelict buildings in the downtown core that are draped with “cloth” so that it looks like the building surrounding it – a brilliant solution to something that could be an eyesore for a long time. 

We make it to the store and back with our provisions. I make myself a nice plate and settle in for a quiet evening while Eva heads out to join some colleagues for dinner and a show. 

Or so I thought! I'd forgotten that the final Tragically Hip concert was that night at 8:30 EST (3:30 am here in Moscow). Over the past few months I have been moved by the grace and courage that Gord Downie has shown in facing his mortality and I did not want to miss his final gift to Canada and his fans; a concert that is sure to be a seminal moment in Canadian history.Nothing for it then; I decided an earlyish night would work if I set an alarm and then had a nap after the concert.  

I awoke in the wee hours of the morning, found the CBC feed and settled in to watch history unfold. The concert was unforgettable and my words will never do it justice other than to say I was glad that I was there when Gord gave Canada his all and then some.

On Sunday after my nap, Eva, Alex and I set off to Gorky Park to check out the Pho restaurant that we saw last weekend. As we entered Gorky Park, we came crossed the start line to the Adidas Urban Tri; complete with a portable pool and tents dedicated to spinning, yoga, relaxation.

There was also a hair salon/manicure station; maybe that's why it is considered an Urban Tri?! I noted again that Muscovites don't do "early mornings" on the weekends so there were more people lounging and getting beautfied than anything else.  A colleague arrived later when the activities were in full swing. Maybe I have to sleep in on the weekends too to experience Moscow properly.

We were on our mission to check out the Pho at the restaurant under the pedestrian bridge. For 500 roubles ($10.00) each, we were treated to a veritable feast; giant bowls of fragrant broth full of beef, fresh noodles and a cornucopia of vegetables and herbs and fresh shrimp rolls that brought me back to last year's trip to Vietnam with Ken. We all agreed that a redo would be needed before this outdoor cafe closed for the winter.

Awash in pho we headed across the pedestrian bridge to the Arbat in search for some Russian champagne. 

View of Christ the Saviour Cathedral from the pedestrian bridge

Mobile Coffee Shop

More beauteous onion domes

We walked a fair piece and finally came to the Metro station and it was time for my first ride on a Russian subway to Arbatskia Station. Can't wait to explore the metro and see all the glorious architecture of these underground transitways.

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Along the way, we found this beauteous mansion decorated with scallop shells that I need to revisit so I know what it's about.

   
Off to Seven Continents for a few bottles of liquor for the guests and then the long walk home. Having walked about 15 kms, we arrive back to the building exhausted and that's all for this week!!

The New Normal

August 8 - 14, 2016

Most of the administrative aspects of my new job have fallen into place so now I am ready to be fully engaged in my role at the Embassy. On Monday morning I had the first meeting with a former CFIA colleague who now represents Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada. Les is responsible for Market Development and my focus is Market Access so there is a pretty clear division of responsibilities. 

Les has been in Moscow for a year and juggling both portfolios so I think he is happy to focus on his AAFC files and leave the CFIA work for me to manage (with his help of course!). Luckily, I have a great colleague in Ottawa that works on the market access files from HQ, Natasha. She spent months trying to get me up to speed while I was struggling to learn Russian and I am hopeful that some of her instruction and advice has taken hold.

Les and I are working together to hire an assistant to keep us organized and help us (mainly me) with incoming and outgoing Russian correspondence. Les was happy to leave the administrative details of job descriptions and hiring to me so I will be working on that when I have time. Les wants to have someone in place by September but I am thinking if the whole process is finished by Christmas (at the latest), we will be in good shape. Under-promise/over-deliver is my goal.

LOL, I forgot to report back on my first day using the shortcut that Craig had used last Friday night after Canada Club. It likely won't come as a big shock but it didn't go 100% according to plan. As I was passing hitherto unseen buildings and statues, I was thinking how pretty the new route was until I realized that I had strayed off course. Luckily, it is a short walk to the Embassy from my SQ, shortcut or not, so I realized my error quickly, made the necessary course correction and still made it to work before my start time. I figured out my error so I am sure that I can use the shortcut without incident whenever I need from now on!

The diplomatic mail from last week is available for pick-up Monday so I join the March of the Penguins to the basement and I am one of the lucky ones; receiving a belated birthday card from my folks and the inevitable bills! No matter, mail from home is a nice treat.

Moscow continues to be firmly in the grip of summer and lunches in the courtyard of the Embassy with colleagues is de rigeur. I'm getting lots of good advice from the veterans and starting to feel part of the Embassy family. With new projects to do and a better sense of what needs doing, the days are whizzing by and it's becoming business as usual.

We are having a Trade Section meeting on Thursday afternoon so I decide to make a batch of muffins as a treat and to the team for their warm welcome. Since it is a new recipe (http://allrecipes.com/recipe/49383/raspberry-lemon-muffins/), I make a test batch Tuesday night and try them out at an Agriculture Trade Team meeting scheduled for Wednesday with Les and Marina. Marina is our very capable and knowledgeable Russian colleague at the Embassy and has picked up my tutelage where Natasha left off. 

The muffins are pretty tasty though the recipe needs some tweaking to make sure there is enough batter for good size treats. I'll just double it tonight! Any leftovers won't go astray as there are plenty of people that have been more than kind.

Late Wednesday afternoon I had a very nice surprise; Eva a colleague that I had met in Gatineau while I was on training and who is going to be my upstairs neighbour popped into my office. We stopped by the grocery store on the way home to buy a few things and then chatted while I made the muffins for tomorrow.  

Leaving the muffins to cool, we headed out to find some dinner. Eva was keen on Russian food so I suggested the Georgian restaurant from week one. We had a great dinner that was very similar to that first lunch and brought our leftovers home for the next day. Once home, I made a second batch of muffins because a girl from Nova Scotia never wants to run out of food!

This morning one of the local staff is coming to my SQ to do an inventory. The inventory is completed using a scanner but rather than pointing it at each item, the machine somehow pulls all the information from the entire apartment (and apparently other apartments in the building as well) as it is waved around. I wish I had a photo but that would have horrified the lady doing the inventory so picture a sixty something woman in a white flowing dress, hair in a bun, pumps encased in plastic sleeves waving a scanner like she is catching butterflies and you get the picture!

It's already Friday! I have a hair appointment (blow-out), lunch with US Embassy colleague to confirm logistics for a September trip to Vladivostok and then the Canada Club at 5. I'll have to find some time for work around all that so I come in an hour early to make up for the hair appt.  

Any woman with coloured hair can imagine the experience of finding a stylist in a city where you don't speak the language. I decided to experiment with a blow dry before committing to a colour and cut. There is a place around the corner from the Embassy which comes recommended so I decide to give it a try. There is an option farther away (e.g., a cab ride) at the Expat Salon where they speak English but I am up for a bit of adventure. The "Master" is a short-haired thirty-something Russian lady that speaks no English but she does a nice job on my hair so I booked a full-service appointment for next week. I'll take a selfie for you all to see the result but I forgot today!

The Israeli restaurant chosen for lunch by Robin is just over a kilometer away from the Embassy and the route looks easy so I opt to walk despite the threat of rain. Miraculously, I made it to Образ Жизни (http://o-zh.ru/english/) without incident. Robin and I both opted for shakshuka (eggs baked in a tomato-red pepper sauce spiced with cumin, paprika and cayenne) which was accompanied by tasting sizes of a number of Tapas - hummus, cheese, olives. I found the very accurate picture below on their web-site. Other than the eggs being a bit runnier than I typically like, it was very tasty. 

Shakshuka

Here's a link to the recipe in case you want to try it at home.

http://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1014721-shakshuka-with-feta

With so many things going on, the day flies by and it's wine o'clock with the usual suspects. After a glass or two of wine and a fabulous Margarita made by Kelly (the spouse of one of the newbies), I walk home with Craig and Kerry. A crew had headed out for supper but I was still pretty sated from my lunch and opted out. 

My early night was rewarded with a very early morning so I will need a nap in the afternoon to be fresh for the evening's activities. Craig and Kerry have invited a few of us to their place for dinner Saturday night, so I am off in search of some flowers for the hostess and I am going to pick up some for myself as well. 

Living in the most expensive part of town has some upsides and some downsides. On the plus side of the ledger, the neighbourhood is beautiful and heading out in any direction you will find something to explore on your way. Today was no exception. Eva and I found the Holy Conception Convent which occupies the site of the original Alekseyevsky (Alexis) Convent, the oldest nunnery in Moscow. founded in 1360. The convent was closed by the Bolsheviks in 1918 and did not reopen until 1995. As most of its buildings were pulled down by the Soviets, an extensive building campaign is underway.

After checking out the grounds of the convent, we continued our quest for flowers (цветы). Even very modest arrangements cost in excess of $100 so we try out a few stores in our 5 km circuit of the neighbourhood. As luck would have it, I had seen a цветы sign many days on my walk home from work that we saved for the end. The shop was quite a bit more reasonable than the others so I bought an arrangement for our hosts and one for me to liven up my SQ. The two arrangements cost less than $100 which seemed reasonable. Stopping at the local bakery, Eva picked up a beauteous chocolate torte for dessert and then we headed home for naps before dinner.

My fleurs!

Dinner was great (caesar salad, juicy BBQ'd ribs, spaghetti, apple pie and ice cream and, of course, Eva's torte!). A real feast washed down with lots of vino and great conversation. After dinner, the Wizard cards came out but alas, none of the luck from the previous week was in evidence and I got killed in both games. Ah well, you win some and you lose some. It was GTHO (get the hell out!) time so off to bed.

Sunday morning some of the Embassy folks (3 as it turned out) were running in a race sponsored by the Four Seasons Hotel and the Nastenka Charity Foundation to help children suffering from cancer. I am no runner but they were also looking for cheerleaders so Eva and I headed over to Gorky Park for the 9:30 start. The race was 3 km and we walked almost 5 km to get out and support our folks (and another 5 back!) so everyone got their exercise.

Gorky park is adjacent to Muzeon Park (from a couple weeks ago) so I got reacquainted with Peter and introduced him to Eva. I still don't see why people think the monument is hideous. We continued down the bank of the Mockba River until we came to the gates to Gorky Park where the Frito Lay people were having a tasting station later in the day and a couple of food trucks were parked waiting for the bulk of Moscovites to get moving.

The park is beautiful but we didn't have time for dilly dallying so we motored on. Will definitely need to return with more time for exploration. We did stop at the Diver Lighthouse for a photo op and spied a Pho Restaurant along the river that we will be trying soon.

Diver Lighthouse

Bo Pho - Under the Bridge

Following a few young Russian volunteers we found the starting line for the race and Dan and Phillipe who are doing the 3 km.

After a series of stretches and exercises (the time for these will likely exceed the race time!), the 8 km race was started and soon after the 3 km runners were off. The race was done in no time and after a quick bit of hydration, we went on a quest for brunch.  

Pho was sadly not the preferred choice so we headed to another restaurant on the river with a more standard menu - Оливковый Пляж. We had a very pleasant breakfast there with the runners and three other colleagues that missed the race but were there for the repast. The breakfast special of poached eggs on toast with asparagus, cheese and mushrooms was great especially washed down with tangy classic lemonade.

After lunch, Eva and I headed toward the main entrance to the park to find a grocery that folks said had great sausages, produce and yoghurt. 

Eva can read a map so we found it no problem, picked up a few things and headed home. On the way, we passed the grocer that many of the Embassy staff in our building love so we stopped there and got a few (too many) more things. On our way home with our spoils we spied a market of some sort on the island behind Christ the Saviour Church. Our burdens were such that we decided to do that another time and besides it was nap time!!

Made some roasted tomato soup for dinner tonight and lunches during the week so had a light supper. Soon enough it was time to savour the latest episode of Suits and call it a night! Where does the time so? Oh yeah, napping!!