Marketplace Success

I had quite a satisfying experience at the market place (which is located right around the side of our apartment building). I thought of Outward Bound. Navigating in a foreign marketplace is just as challenging as some outdoor adventures. I know how to say “Please,” “I don’t understand”, and “Thank you.” That’s it. Somehow, I managed to buy a watermelon from of course, the watermelon lady on the corner with her scale and calculator. Thank goodness for calculators at the open markets! I don’t understand numbers in Russian (there more complicated than you think). I also bought cметана “smetana”(sour cream) from the dairy truck and хлеб “hleb” (bread) from a market that had a bread section. When you go to buy something, you pay the clerk right there for what you get, then you go to the next food section. So far, it’s looking like there’s no such thing as fresh meat, just frozen or cured. All the hot dogs and salami you could want. I left this experience today with a new appreciation for the market and some self-esteem for my uncanny ability to point and have it somehow produce the food I need. It all worked out.

Jon and Artem registered us with our passports at the post office. While they were away, I managed to get some cleaning done. Too bad they don’t do security deposits here; I basically cleaned up the scum from the last tenant. Not pleasant.