Serenity Now....

Welcome to Aucshan...Moscow's version of America's Wal-Mart!  

There are a few differences however...you won't see customers dressed in their pajamas and slippers. You won't see jiffy feet either ( aka-bare feet).  You won't see things organized on a shelf or smell the scent of fresh roasting chickens hot off the rotisserie. 

What you will see are people dressed in many different fashions (some wear shorts while others wear winter coats), the shoes are always spiked, the shelves are bare and it smells like dead fish.

This place is hopping all the time, especially on weekends.  Do you see that crowd of people? This is not quite one third of the store.  It is huge! It is ginormous! It is play bumper cars with your carts and get the heck out of dodge!  Mentally, you have to prepare..."this is it! Don't get scared!" The store is part of the Mega mall which is home to an Ikea and Stockmanns.  I am not sure what else is there because we never have time to look.  The place is always packed! The kind of place where you put your head down and barrel thru!  I am doing quite well with this technique.  I should get bonus points for doing this while pushing a cart.  The carts here go one way...and it is called any damn way it pleases!  Pushing those suckers takes some serious core strength especially when full! It is almost as if I am pushing the cart on ice.  I guess we could say they are four wheel drive models :-)

The Mr stayed at the store entrance to the mall with the munchkins while I completed my small list.  

The shelves stocked with food were almost barren.  It was almost as if people were grabbing items just to grab and have.  There really was no time to stop and think; a difficult task for a non Russian speaker trying to read Cyrillic. I bought a bag of flour. I don't know if it is the right kind or not.  It was almost gone with a few bags remaining.  So, I grabbed this one hoping it may be the all purpose kind.  

I then returned to the entrance, left the cart and switched places with the Mr.  He gathered a few items in his list and paid.  I had to send Munchkin One in the store by himself to give Mr the visa credit card.  They didn't take Mastercard. I remained with Munchkin Two and our two Ikea carts full of over priced items.  I prepared Munchkin One for war...."hold onto that card! Put it in your hand and your hand in your pocket! Do not lose it! See all of those lines? Those people are in line to pay.  You need to find the number 49. Daddy is standing in line 49 waiting for you. Don't talk to anyone. If you get nervous, turn around and come straight out." I really felt like I was sending him into battle!   Mission accomplished!

We found our driver, arrived home and put our feet up! Mama needed a drink!

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