Step Up to Cat Number Two, Please

We just got back from a very nice long-weekend getaway to the Golden-Ring cities of Vladimir and Suzdal, but I'm not anywhere near ready with the pictures, so I'm catching up on a few random events over the past few weeks. 

Work has been chugging along, but it is not without its light moments. One day at the interview window, one of our local staff approached me to ask me to repeat what I said when I wanted an applicant to approach the window.  When I said it she started laughing.  Apparently I was mispronouncing the word for window and saying "Cat" instead.  So for probably the last three months, I've been saying "Please come to the second cat" instead of the second window.  Luckily, most of them have figured it out.   But it makes me wonder what else I might have said. 

We also had a very helpful demonstration on how to use a fire extinguisher, complete with a controlled gasoline fire.  It was actually very useful, since it isn't as straightforward or as easy as you might think.  I'm especially relieved that we know how to use ours after the fire safety inspector said that you should never stay above the third floor in a building without a sprinkler system.  I asked what those of us assigned to housing in such circumstances should do and he said "move".  As if it were that easy.  That said, our fears were assuaged when he went on to explain that we should be safe in our apartment because it is compartmentalized by concrete so that fires can't spread throughout the building.  Still, I'm glad I know how to use our fire extinguisher. 

Lately it's been much warmer in Moscow with highs getting close to 90.  I know that's nothing compared to what people have dealt with in the U.S., but going from mid-60s to mid 80s is no picnic - especially in a country where people don't particularly value air conditioning.  We've made the best of it, but have been staying close to home most days to stay out of the heat.  

However, a couple of weeks ago we had a break in the weather and took a nice walk over to Red Square to see the interior of St. Basil's.  It certainly wasn't as ornate as some of the other churches we've seen, but it was still impressive, particularly given its age of almost 500 years. 

Shortly after that, I took on an extra responsibility of coordinating Conversation Cafe's at the American Corner.  The Conversation Cafe gives locals a chance to practice their English with an American officer on a variety of topics.  This time I went along with the presenter to get an idea of how it works.  There were a lot of good questions, and one person in particular who asked us rather aggressively about what we thought of the neo-liberal agenda.  I can honestly say I don't really know what that is, but I remember certain countries in South America accusing the West of having a neo-liberal agenda at the UN, and not in a positive way.  Given a lack of expertise and the guy's demeanor, it seemed best not to engage.

On the way home, I had the unpleasant experience of finding out that my metro ticket had expired.  I didn't know they could do that.  I got an error message at the turnstyle, and when I went to the ticket office, I got a very Russian response - "It's expired *shrug*"  So I said that I still had trips remaining, I had only purchased it a few weeks before.  The lady begrudgingly looked at the ticket, told me I had six trips remaining.  I asked about transferring them or getting a refund, and she said no and that in future I have to look at the receipt for the expiration date - it isn't printed on the ticket itself.  Wonderful. Thank you very much. So I bought a ticket with fewer trips on it to make sure we could use it before it expires again.

The lack of customer service in general frequently gets on our nerves after a while, so it was nice that we got to look forward to a special visitor.  My Aunt got a last minute deal on a cruise from Moscow to St. Peters burg so we made arrangements to see her while she was in town.  Unfortunately, her trip coincided with our departure for the Golden Ring, so we ended up with only having one chance to see here after I got off of work.  We had exchanged numbers, and I mapped out the route for us to get there - everything was in order...

Except that her cell phone didn't work.  But being resourceful, we found her boat, and after spending some time trying to get the attention of the rather surly crew members, I managed to communicate to one lady that I was trying to find my aunt.  Suddenly her scowl vanished and she said she remembered my Aunt talking about me.  I was given a guest past and we went in search of my Aunt, who we found in the dining room.  I had been so worried we would miss her altogether.

By then, of course, it was getting a bit late for Aiden, so instead of walking to a restaurant, we found a little sausage shack near the boat and ordered some home made kielbasas and introduced my Aunt to kvas - a sweet, slightly alcoholic drink made from bread.  We had a wonderful time catching up and it was a real treat for us.

The last event before our departure was the opening of the bidding season for jobs.  Once we are tenured, we are no longer assigned to our various posts.  We have to lobby - basically to apply - for jobs we want.  We have to send out resume's and have phone interviews, and get recommendations to try to get the jobs we want.  It feels very much like applying for a job for the first time.  The bid list came out the day we left, and while it isn't technically my turn to bid - I should do it next year - there is one job that I am interested in, which I can apply for because of the timing of the job - another factor is that you have to be available for the job you are applying for when it becomes available.  So I didn't actually start bidding before we left, but now that we're back, I will embark on this rather unusual journey for the first time.

It will be awhile before I know anything, so in the meantime, I will work on getting caught up with our photos from our trip.