Facelifts, Botox and Boobs

In life there are gives and takes....

Do you smart or funny?

Do you want to be Ugly Betty or dress pretty?

Do you want to be rich with an empty heart or poor with a cup filling over?

Do you want to drive a nice car and be house poor or do you want to travel?

Do you want to live in a city that keeps you busy and it takes you all day to do your grocery shopping? 

Or do you want to live in plain town USA where there is nothing to do but watchpaint dry, hop in your car and drive to the nearest Wal-mart?

(Clearly, I have struck myself a nerve here...)

Do you want a dryer that works or do you want an iron that works?

Unless you are the uncle in Jakarta who is smart, handsome, funny and good looking....not to mention rich, well traveled and debonair....(I have to say this because he is reading and will comment that he is as I have stated)....there is a give and take, an ebb and flow to thins.

Yes, I'd like my cake and eat it too please to go with the dryer that works and an iron that steams. Because i have nothing else to do with my time except wait four hours for a set of sheets to wash and come out looking like this.  

Facelifts, Botox and boobs are a credit card away. 

What I need is a dryer!

Life...

It is a unique life here, one to be cherished and looked upon favorably. For when the contract is up the time will have flown by and what will you have? Memories.  What kind if memories do you want when you look upon your days, weeks, months and years? This question is applicable to all of us, whether living overseas or in the same home for 30 years.  What kind of memories and life do I want to remember of our time here? I choose to be positive. I choose to be happy. I choose to find the good in every experience.

Take laundry for example.  Oh how I miss my oversized American washing machine and dryer! I could do a weeks load of laundry in a matter of hours...assuming I stayed on it!  Here, my machine is a combo washer/dryer. A novel concept for space saving if only the dryer worker like a dryer.  My machine is in German.  Once a cycle starts you can not stop it.  Forgot to throw in a sock or dish towel? Your stuck! Wait until next load. I set the machine to wash. Once complete, pull out the items I want to air dry and then set the dryer.  The first time I did a load of towels I washed them in hot water and set the dryer for one continuous cycle.  The display showed how long it would take...four hours and thirty minutes!  Four and a half hours to wash towels!

The above display was set for two and a half hours.  I forgot to take a picture of it once I started the cycle. Any guess as to what is inside?  I will tell you at the end of the post.  And we can't forget the ironing...almost every item that comes out of this machine needs to be ironed.  

I decided to make some banana bread tonight.  Tired of waiting for our cargo shipment of cooking and baking utensils, I improvised.  The recipe called for a cup and a half of flour.  Does this look like a cup?  The bread sure did smell yummy in the oven! We will find out in the morning...

We need water. We need milk. We need bread.  We need a car! If only it were that simple.  Shopping takes planning and forethought. Even then you still may not find everything you want or need.  Improvise!

Life...life here is about improvising. It is about making the best with what you have and what you have been given. Life here is about getting back to basics; family, friends, sunshine when it smiles and stomping in puddles when it rains.  Life is about scratch cooking. Life is about eating in season.  Life is simple yet complicated at the same time.  Life is about having a sense of humor....if you can 

do these things, you can have a life...in Moscow. But how you do these things and look at these things...that determines the kind of life you have in Moscow. 

Still wondering what is in my washing machine for two and a h alf hours? One king size sheet. That is it....

We Made It!

The itinerary was rather difficult but we made it safely without losing a bag or child.  We were required to transfer airports in New York from La Guardia to JFK with all 8 of our checked bags,  a booster and 2 carry ons each.  Delta Sky Club was a welcomed reprieve as we waited to board our Moscow flight.  Over the Atlantic the munchkins did great!  Head rest televisions kept their attention most of the way if they weren't sleeping.  Not much sleep was had.  Moscow greeted us with beautiful weather, sunny skies and 60 degree temps.  It warmed up thru the day.  We gathered our belongings one more time and found our driver waiting for us.  He took us to our corporate apartment, helped get our bags in and then....we found out our name was not on the list at the check in.  He made a couple calls on our behalf wih numbers given to him by the Mr.  It was said a human resource person would be calling the Mr shortly on his cell then he left.  We proceeded to sit in this small cramped lobby with all of our stuff for 4 hours!  Periodic calls were made and recieved.  The nice Russian lady at check in gave the munchkins candy, bought us tea and interacted with the kids.  She was so kind!  After four hours of sitting with no where to go and nothing to eat a call came that said two taxis were on their way to pick us up and take us to a hotel.  We gathered our things yet again, loaded into the cars with two sleeping children and made our way to the hotel where we now sit.  The munchkins still sleep, the parents have showered and we are ordering room service.  We still have two years to get out and eat localmcuisine.

We still have no answer as to what happened with the corporate apartment.  All we know is our company could not get in touch with the rental agency renting the apartment.

One day down, 729 to go...but whose counting?

Russia, The Land of Contradictions

The following short story was written in a visitors guide to living in Russia and taken from a longer article written here.


Russia transforms a man; man doesn’t transform Russia. If there is one thing I learned, in almost two decades of living and working in Russia, it is that you have to learn to accept what comes your way in Russia. Accept the good with the bad and learn to play with the cards that you have been dealt. Foreigners who successfully thrive in Russia are those who enjoy living and working in Russia and who have a certain affinity for the country. Those who love Russia will find all the reasons why they love it and those who hate it will see all their reasons for hating it confirmed.
One of the keys to loving life in Russia is to understand what makes the country tick. However, in spite of my long history in this country, I am yet to meet the person, Russian or foreign, who can clearly explain the riddle, wrapped in a mystery, inside an enigma (as Churchill put it) that Russia is. One can approximate an understanding and try to dissect Russia along cultural, historic, political and economic lines but the pieces of the puzzle one collects will never create a clear and indisputable image.
It was the famous Russian poet Fedor Tiutchev who wrote in 1886 – “Russia cannot be understood with the mind, nor can she be measured with the ordinary yardstick. There is in her a special stature: You can only believe in Russia.” But if there is one thing that is unmistakably true, then it is the fact that no matter what you say or think about Russia, the opposite is always true as well.
In Russia one is always wrong and always right and the key to successfully thriving in Russia is to know exactly what is the right or the wrong way to act at any given moment. This may seem like an easy task at first, but in a country that is defined by opposites and contradictions, most foreigners, and many Russians as well, struggle to deal with the daily contradictory Russian reality.

Great Expectations

Today we received the agenda for our Look/See.  It looks to be jammed packed days with relaxing nights.  Seeing the agenda has made this another step closer to being real...As in this is really happening.  I feel excitement and fear.  Excitement for a new adventure, new places, new food, new people, new friends (old friends-do not fear, I am not getting rid of you...yet).  Fear of the unknown and new language. 

I have had very little if any expectations along this road. I have tried and succeeded to keep an open mind. It has been easy path to traverse, every door along the way has opened for us.  The relocation agent sent us housing listing to begin viewing.  Yet another step in making this real. Some housing options were very solid possibilities; others not even a chance.  We received another round of listings. This time apartments...the previous were townhouses and homes.  I find myself feeling frustrated and disappointed. Frustrated in that we should be able to find what we would like within our housing budget and you can.  Only it is outside of the city making transportation a major issue. We will not have a car or driver that I am aware of.    Many were not within walking distance to the metro.  I am disappointed because I know where I want to live. It is very near the city center, within walking distance to a metro and potential school and it has backyards for the Munchkins to play in.  The problem? It is twice the price of our housing allowance.  We may be willing to spend more for the location, but we still await a contract. So, we aren't sure exactly how much out of pocket we can spend. 

Without getting into personal details, you can go to Intermark's website to view properties in Moscow.  Here you will find many real estate options in a full range of prices.  For renting, prices are quoted per month.  Do you know what we can do with this kind of rent/mortgage payment where we live?  Hint-Ocean Front.

So, my open mind is closing a bit which means I need to readjust my expectations.  It also means I need to go with the flow.....but I still want to live where I want to live and I am not giving up on that!