Славный город Курск. Утро, полное света, звуков и тополиного пуха… Я пил вкусный незнакомый кофе на балконе и слушал урок русского языка. Женщина по соседству занималась со своим малышом: “Тетя пошла, дядя пошел“… Сразу вспомнилось, как моя Машка смешно говорила со мной по-русски. До пяти лет она почти не пользовалась английским, но русский учила самостоятельно – слушая папу с мамой. Видимо, чаще – папу. Поэтому и употребляла все глаголы в женском роде (в доме были одни женщины). “Папа, ты куда пошла?”, “Папа, ты уже проснулась?”
😉
Дополнительные фото – нажмите на изображение выше.
It happened just two hours ago… Thank goodness no one died.
My dear Seattle and Vancouver, BC friends, accept my sympathies. I can imagine how desruptive this shit is to your Memorial Day weekend plans.
🙁
Drive safely!
I paid a visit to my military school, and while I was there, I looked at the gate and it dawned on me, “Jesus fuck! It’s a teleporter!”
One of the holes in USSR’s Iron Curtain
Our traditional get-together in Lefortovo Park to celebrate Army Linguist Day once again was a success. Hats off to Eugene Loginov, who put it together. Again.
(click on an image above to see more pictures)
Andrei Sidorov and Vadim Zima in 15590
Same people yesterday.
My first day in Moscow was very pleasant. I accompanied my old friend Irina to an exhibition in downtown and it was fun. Near the Kremlin, I bumped into Illiya Varlamov, a famous photographer whose work I admired for several years. Now I know his hair is real.
🙂
Iliya has his own blog at: http://zyalt.livejournal.com/
Like myself, he rides a bycicle on his photo assignments:
Pushkin is still in place:
Full photo and video reports are at: http://flic.kr/s/aHsjF9mY4Z
I spent 20 minutes on Russian Railways website trying to buy a ticket to Moscow, and I am still looking for a train schedule… Who the fuck designed it?!!
I’ve noticed the trend before. Many Russian websites are created without their visitors in mind. They look beautiful but navigation and menus are atrocious!
P.S. My bad. The site I visited is not official. It’s designed to sell bells and whistles to rich folks… Money for nothing and chicks for free so to speak.
😉
The real deal is at rzd.ru
Today, during a transfer from Gostiny Dvor to Nevskiy Prospect metro stations I lost my wallet. I knew something was wrong when several young men carried me into the car pushing and shoving as if there was a huge crowd behind me. But it was past rush hours – 10:35 AM, and no crowds…
To keep my balance, I had to grab the overhead rail and it was only later that I checked if my wallet was still in the right front pocket of my jeans. It wasn’t, and then I saw all five of those motherfuckers rushing out of the car just before the doors closed.
I pushed the button to talk to the engineer, briefly described what happened, and he said I must report it to the police at the next station. I did, and was directed to the Head office of Metro Police, which luckily was at Primorskaya station. The cop who took my report took me to the escalator because I didn’t have any money or passes… A very strange feeling. When I reached the precinct, the detective assigned to me wasn’t available and I went home to use my computer to report my stolen credit and debit cards.
I first checked my online statements and was horrified to see more than $6000.00 worth of charges on my CapitalOne Visa. My checking account at Citibank was zeroed as well. I had about 2 grand there. The AmEx card was okay but I still called the bank to cancel it (another proof that American Express is the best card for travellers).
Several minutes on the phone with customer service folks fixed the problems, I will get the replacement cards mailed to me in Russia by May 21-23. The detective called my phone number, I made screenshots of the charges and went back to the Police station again.
The cop looked as if he was one of the robbers – bald, athletic, black leather jacket and designer jeans. He met me in the lobby and took me to his office. First, he handed me my wallet.
“They get rid of the physical incriminating evidence right away. We found it in the escalator supervisor booth”.
Inside the wallet was my Florida Drivers License, Lenta Supermarket discount card, a couple of my business cards and my dental appointment card. Cash gone, naturally (seven thousand rubles, equal to 225 USD), but at least I don’t need to buy another wallet.
😉
Welcome home, dude. You are a real Russian now!
P.S. Those jerks don’t realize how well we are protected. My card issuer emailed me a warning message instantly. The criminals used the card to purchase several high-eng smartphones at a Svyaznoi store.
I am communicating with Citi and CapitalOne to trace the POS terminal(s), from which charges were made. If we know the exact location and time, chances are the surveillance video tapes can help identify the thieves.
Пикник у обочины – 9 мая 2013 г.
Навестив тетку в больнице на Крестовском острове, я пошел на Васильевский остров пешком. Была чудная погода, город жил своей жизнью. Странно, но я чувстовал себя как дома – свой среди своих…
Многие прогуливали своих любимцев, как, например, этот дипломат из Того.
На травке валялись люди…
Запах шашлыков перебивал бензиновую гарь
Количество замков на мосту свидетельствовало о надежности института брака и семьи в стране непобедившего социализма 😉
Наблюдались признаки тлетворного влияния запада. Зачем еще два пацана будут так близко друг от друга сидеть?
На улицах, в парках и на тротуарах было полно велосипедистов.
Изредка пахло СССР-ом…
When skyping with my little girl, I sometimes capture her image with screenshots. Today I did a few when she was showing me her knitting and crocheting projects (very nice ones). It’s amazing how different her looks are.
I think she is turning into a real looker!.. At least in my opinion. On this picture she looks like the type I was chasing since a boy 😉
That’s what I am telling myself here in Russia. Nothing is getting done quickly. Staggering inefficiency in every government office I’ve visited so far.
Today, twenty days after I came to Russia, I finally managed to formally submit all the paperwork for my new passport. A replacement of my old USSR citizen passport, which though technically still valid, is not accepted as proof of citizenship anymore. In fact, it cannot be used for any other purposes either. The required items were: – 4 current pictures, passport size
– Birth certificate (original only)
– Application on a special form
– Bank receipt for the 200 rubles fee (about seven bucks)
I had all that 18 days ago, but nobody in SIX (6) different government offices wanted them. After waiting in long lines and talking to several officials, I was directed by the highest authority of this office to another office. After four visits to the last office, each time escalating my ‘case’ a step higher, I was directed to the top commander of the unit, who resolved everything in 2 minutes. Now, I have to wait two (2) more months because I don’t have any ‘local registration’, and technically I am homeless.
Note: calling any of these government offices is useless. No one answers the phone, or the listed number doesn’t exist, OR it is a fax number, not a voice number. Online contact forms, or email addresses are not provided. THE ONLY WAY of achieving anything is PHYSICALLY announcing yourself at all those places, and TALKING to somebody IN PERSON. Only then things start moving and getting done. Slowly.
Note #2: The most useful and instrumental person in my case was a heavy smoking middle-age civilian woman, who worked in the “right” office. In my several trips to that office I saw her smoking near the entrance of the building EVERY time I went there. She simply locks her office every hour, despite the note on the door, saying “15-minutes Technical Break Every Two Hours” and goes outside past dozens of eager customers waiting in line for hours.
P.S. When I relocated to Florida, I had to obtain my new ‘passport’ there too. It’s called Driver’s License. I found the necessary information in 5 seconds: http://www.dmvflorida.org/drivers-license.shtml It cost me $48.00 and two trips to the nearest DMV office totalling one hour.
I wasn’t ready the first time, because they asked me for a proof of my residence. Had to go home and print my condo lease agreement, which showed my address.
Certified Russian and Ukrainian Translation by native speakers
