Nuttin Like New Money
How much is a ruble worth these days anyway? When I first arrived in Moscow, almost a year ago now, I remember the confusion of dealing with the currency. It was about 5,500 roubles to the dollar then, and falling daily. The money was a bit confusing because you never…
Read MoreRules Are Made to Break
What? You think people follow the rules here? The Moscow Times, Tuesday, April 21, 1998 A Culture of Disobedience By Jean MacKenzie Nothing is certain in life, they say, except death and taxes. Well in Russia, even that truism is not necessarily so. Death, of course, is still a constant…
Read MoreAll Black is Russian Fashion
Russians have an odd fashion sense Russian Fashion By Nick Three days ago one of my Russian staff came to breakfast with her hair down. It was really long, all most down to her butt, and very wavy. This struck me as unusual because I could not remember her having…
Read MoreEaster Memories = Easter Dinner
Easter is a time for eating, not praying! Cleaning out those memories Catholic Easter was last Sunday. (It was also the week of the Islamic Haijj, the annual pilgrimage to Mecca.) As I was writing a thank you email to the gracious hostess of Easter dinner, I noticed that all…
Read MoreSpring is Here Finally
After eight months of winter, Spring is fantastic! Blue skies and new leaves! Time to clean the streets! The first snow fall was the first day of September. The snow never left after the first day of November. It was -17 C in December and -25 C in January. February…
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