nothing much happened today
today we worked on logistical matters,
setting up an interview at the US embassy tomorrow, getting the TV and internet
access working. now we can check our email, but we can't send mail
yet.
Finally the kids slept until 7:30 a.m.
(with only a few fussies during the wee hours)! They're asleep even now as I
write and it's
wonderful.
Morning was taken up with phone calls (Monica is doing the heavy lifting this trip, calling people for interviews for both of us), and getting Dmitry over to the apartment to fix the TV for mom and the internet for Ivan and Monica (it's a Windows world even in Moscow).
Dmitry arrived at about 9:00 a.m. and confirmed that our satellite decoder box was faulty. He brought a tall, thin Mikhail with him (Mikhail being the internet person here) who helped us get internet access for ONE of our two laptops (turned out to be mine, to Moinca's frustration). After a few mis-steps we got access to the internet. Sadly, though, we'll have to try and get the local ISP to work further with us so we can send as well as receive email. Tune in tomorrow night for that update.
Everything else went smoothly. Dmitry exchanged satellite boxes so now we have like eight channels in English instead of one. The kids fell asleep before everyone left and Monica and took advantage of the new internet access to check mail and so on. Today's priorities were to get more bottled water and milk, as well as buy something for dinner.
We decided to stop for lunch on the way to Yeliseev's (the super beautiful grocery store where we buy most of our food), and found a cafe on the way that looked good. It was a mistake. The place was filled with wannabe coolies, smokers, and the usual grumpy help. The food was expensive and mediocre (an awful combination anywhere), and the "latte" I ordered was served in a cocktail glass with a straw (to be honest it didn't taste much like coffee either). Sam caught a glimpse of a Pooh story in the morning in which Christopher Robin takes along his "gun" (a pop-gun no less) in case of "trouble." So all afternoon he was nagging and lobbying for, as he calls it, a "shooter gun."
Monica and I have very mixed feelings about this (or I do), but we agreed that if he was a good boy the rest of the day we'd go back to Kid's World to get him a ray gun (nothing that looks like a real gun). This naturally made for a very annoying afternoon with Sam constantly nagging and Monica and I constantly correcting his behavior and threatening not to get him the gun if he didn't behave (it's an awful situation to be in for both kid and parents).
We must have looked like a funky caravan with our two strollers (one double, one single) on our way to Yeliseev's.
On the way back we were loaded to the gunwhale's with produce, meat, water, milk, tea, pasta, and an imported beer. Again: very strange looking, though practical.
After we dropped the stuff off at the house Monica and I took the kids to Kid's World, where we bought Sam his ray gun (he really wanted a lever-action Winchester look-alike but we nixed that: too much like a real gun). The promise was that he is not allowed to point it at people or to shoot anything with it except his own toys and household pillows (the thing shoots foam darts). So far he's kept to that deal. Ingrid had a choice between Tigger and Piglet, but eventually settled on Pooh.
We tried to get tickets to a Bolshoi Theater Orchestra concert (Wagner's "Ring"), but so far as we can tell the seats are already sold out. Moby is playing here on June 11th, but I think it's a little silly to see him in concert when his forté is studio music (maybe I'm wrong and it would be a hoot to go).
After that we came home around 6:00 p.m. and Monica once again made a fantastic dinner: pork loin in onion gravy with mashed potatoes and brussel sprouts. I washed mine down with a Pauliner Hefe-Weizen and it was delightful.
Tomorrow we'll go to the US embassy to meet with a former colleague to get ideas for research contacts while we're here. After that we'll try and work out our internet problems and then do some more tourist-y stuff, like visit the Kremlin itself perhaps. We'll have to see how our feets feel after the morning hike to the embassy (Mom is really getting into shape here).
Morning was taken up with phone calls (Monica is doing the heavy lifting this trip, calling people for interviews for both of us), and getting Dmitry over to the apartment to fix the TV for mom and the internet for Ivan and Monica (it's a Windows world even in Moscow).
Dmitry arrived at about 9:00 a.m. and confirmed that our satellite decoder box was faulty. He brought a tall, thin Mikhail with him (Mikhail being the internet person here) who helped us get internet access for ONE of our two laptops (turned out to be mine, to Moinca's frustration). After a few mis-steps we got access to the internet. Sadly, though, we'll have to try and get the local ISP to work further with us so we can send as well as receive email. Tune in tomorrow night for that update.
Everything else went smoothly. Dmitry exchanged satellite boxes so now we have like eight channels in English instead of one. The kids fell asleep before everyone left and Monica and took advantage of the new internet access to check mail and so on. Today's priorities were to get more bottled water and milk, as well as buy something for dinner.
We decided to stop for lunch on the way to Yeliseev's (the super beautiful grocery store where we buy most of our food), and found a cafe on the way that looked good. It was a mistake. The place was filled with wannabe coolies, smokers, and the usual grumpy help. The food was expensive and mediocre (an awful combination anywhere), and the "latte" I ordered was served in a cocktail glass with a straw (to be honest it didn't taste much like coffee either). Sam caught a glimpse of a Pooh story in the morning in which Christopher Robin takes along his "gun" (a pop-gun no less) in case of "trouble." So all afternoon he was nagging and lobbying for, as he calls it, a "shooter gun."
Monica and I have very mixed feelings about this (or I do), but we agreed that if he was a good boy the rest of the day we'd go back to Kid's World to get him a ray gun (nothing that looks like a real gun). This naturally made for a very annoying afternoon with Sam constantly nagging and Monica and I constantly correcting his behavior and threatening not to get him the gun if he didn't behave (it's an awful situation to be in for both kid and parents).
We must have looked like a funky caravan with our two strollers (one double, one single) on our way to Yeliseev's.
On the way back we were loaded to the gunwhale's with produce, meat, water, milk, tea, pasta, and an imported beer. Again: very strange looking, though practical.
After we dropped the stuff off at the house Monica and I took the kids to Kid's World, where we bought Sam his ray gun (he really wanted a lever-action Winchester look-alike but we nixed that: too much like a real gun). The promise was that he is not allowed to point it at people or to shoot anything with it except his own toys and household pillows (the thing shoots foam darts). So far he's kept to that deal. Ingrid had a choice between Tigger and Piglet, but eventually settled on Pooh.
We tried to get tickets to a Bolshoi Theater Orchestra concert (Wagner's "Ring"), but so far as we can tell the seats are already sold out. Moby is playing here on June 11th, but I think it's a little silly to see him in concert when his forté is studio music (maybe I'm wrong and it would be a hoot to go).
After that we came home around 6:00 p.m. and Monica once again made a fantastic dinner: pork loin in onion gravy with mashed potatoes and brussel sprouts. I washed mine down with a Pauliner Hefe-Weizen and it was delightful.
Tomorrow we'll go to the US embassy to meet with a former colleague to get ideas for research contacts while we're here. After that we'll try and work out our internet problems and then do some more tourist-y stuff, like visit the Kremlin itself perhaps. We'll have to see how our feets feel after the morning hike to the embassy (Mom is really getting into shape here).
Posted: Mon - June 6, 2005 at 09:19 PM
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Published On: Jun 06, 2005 09:41 PM
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Published On: Jun 06, 2005 09:41 PM