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marta 8

  

international women's day is march 8th.  spring is in the air, women worldwide enjoy extra attention from the men in their lives, and the prices of roses in russia skyrocket.  but its a small price to pay for those you care about.  we, of the male species at the consulate, made our plans for the annual event.  the first year we did something pretty simple.  every women at the consulate was met when they arrived for work and was escorted to their office.  along the way they received a rose and had a picture taken with the consul general.  last year we threw a hawaiian party, importing in leis and wearing our best tropical shirts and shorts.  

this year we're going formal again.  on friday, we went with a film festival theme. escorts (with famous russian, english, and american actors 8x10 photos taped to their chest) walked our "celebrity" women down a red carpet where they were filmed, photographed and interviewed by the consul general on their way to the festival awards ceremony. a few introduction speeches were made, thanking the women for all the things they do to make the world a better place.  then came the awards.  we took the idea of a best film of the year award and announced the nominees from all the consulates and the embassy in russian.  each post's film contribution was actually a creative commercial.  i had to spend a few nights on youtube and adscritics.com to come up with enough "nominees".  the criteria:  no speaking since we had a mix of non-english listeners, honor women for what they bring to the world, and also be creative enough to feel like they could actually be a movie.

here a look at what we presented for the women of mission russia:

Yekaterinburg's "The Second Driver"

St. Petersburg's "Jealousy"

Moscow's "First time"

Vladivostok's "Brothers"

and the winner - Vladivostok!

our creative consul affairs officer also contributed a "live" video feed to offer his congratulations to the ladies for winning.  since he was in Magadan that day, a thousand miles away.  he still wanted to help out with the event.  actually it was pre-taped and played on dvd.  the humorous ending showed some obvious give-aways that he was recording this in vlad before he left.  the resulting laughter proved our annual event was once again successful.  

i handed out the "awards", each wrapped in aluminum foil containing a "marta 8th" coffee/tea mug with their photo on it.  i used foil, since i could mold it into some semblance of an award.

it was a lot of planning.  several people were out of the office on leave or training.  so i was a little worn out covering work and coordinating the event.  but we have a great local staff that helped get the food ready, find the awards, work out the video and audio issues, decorate and then put everything together.

it wasn't the oscars, bit it did honor the ladies with a 5-star tribute.

random thoughts

valentine's day came this weekend and we just finished celebrating my girlfriend's birthday. valentines day is one of the many new holidays they welcomed in after post-soviet time. when we went out to eat, I noticed the restaurant was filled with reserved tables unlike other times when you could sit anywhere.  so it seems many russians have adopted the holiday happily.

lucia and i went for our first long dog walk today after her illness a few weeks ago.  this time i drove her to a safe spot to avoid any other trouble.  but i still had to step in when she spotted mystery garbage on the ground.  during the walk we met a woman walking her dog.  she had a poodle that was happy to see lucia.  but after the initial greeting, lucia surprisingly walked away.  the wagging poodle was whimpering for some playtime with her but i couldn't coax lucia back.  i've never seen her turn down an opportunity to play with any dog as long as it was reciprocating interest.  i gave our apologies to the women and left.  strange..

last year my favorite milk brand stopped putting expiration dates on their plastic bottles. i haven't checked other brands but someone else told me they noticed it too.  i thought it was a mistake at first but after waiting this long i guess they don't bother with it anymore.  cream is another item that bugs me.  even freshly bought cream can go bad in just a couple days.  i'll get two or three little boxes of it and when i go to grab a fresh one i can feel it's newly bloated container waiting to surprise me with a spoiled mess. (update: i discovered cartons of milk still get the expiration dates printed on them.  it's only the plastic bottles that you play russian roulette with)

russian cake - i know it's just personal taste, but every time i have a piece it's like i'm tasting something that's missing just a little sugar.  whereas russian chocolate doesn't have that problem since it tastes as sweet or even sweeter than other chocolates i've had.  I hear russian store bought cakes are normally that way but homemade cakes are better.  

i switched home internet providers a few months ago and enjoy unlimited download usage once again. the previous provider gave us a download limit and if you went over that you paid an additional hideous cost. now it makes it easier to be able to use skype or download without worrying about the cost.  patches and software updates were regularly cutting into my ability to do anything else on the internet.

it's bidding season again for some folks in the foreign service.  and i'm excited to see a couple people are already interested in my position here.  i didn't think it would be hard to fill since this post has been a great tour for me.  the work can pile up with just two people doing it but most of the time it's a great way to serve a tour abroad.

i hit the second river market more and more now to pick up meat and fish.  the quality and price are much better than going to the newer grocery stores.  i picked up six steaks saturday that only set me back about $18US.  i tried one in a sandwich over the weekend and it was tender enough i didn't even need a knife.

i realized this weekend, i may have bought too many consumable items to have shipped here.  i'd have to cook something new every night just to use everything up by the time I leave in 2011.  it's the leftovers and the time that interferes the most.  as much as i enjoy cooking (and eating) some nights i'd rather be doing something else than spending an hour or two making something new.  i guess i can always sell it to other americans.

don't eat the snow

 

 

after coming back from moscow on saturday, i took lucia out for a walk that afternoon.  our happy little reunion quickly turned into me looking after a sick dog.  she began vomiting and suffering from diarrhea by dinner time.  i didn't know if it was something she ate during the walk but suspected it was a bit of garbage she snuck away with without me noticing. after a sleep free night of watching her and trying to make her comfortable, my girlfriend and i took her to the dog clinic.  after a several questions, the doc said she suspected lucia ate some snow/ice chemical concoction that one of the homeowners had spread out on their driveway to melt the ice.  there's no limitations on what people can use to treat their property so if anyone gets infected by it, they are out of luck and look forward to a few days of misery in bed.  in lucia's case, she probably drank or ate something that basically gave her a case of food poisoning.

the doc gave her several shots of anti-inflammatory drugs along with vitamin shots and anti-biotics.  she gave me instructions on how to care for her with some throat medicine to reduce the inflammation over the next couple days.  although she was still weak, she started showing more signs of life by the time we got to my car.  by the time we got home she was able to move on her own and walked into the house.  she's still weak and moving slow but at least she on the road to recovery. 

it sucks when you encounter problems even during something as simple as a dog walk.  i promised her the next posting would involve a place that actually has somewhere to walk where road-side trash and anti-freeze mickeys are not the norm.

to all the cars i've outlived..

remember your first car? well if you grew up outside most major cities in the u.s., chances are you had one.  here the list of the metalglasswireandrubber combinations that i've driven, wreaked, traded away and all to often taken for granted.

dad bought a 72 chevelle for me during high school.  no cassette player, no working a/c.  but i loved it the most.  it survived my first accident after i ran into a plymouth horizon, no one was hurt but the horizon was totaled.  i pried out the front panel, away from the tire, and drove away after the police report.  a year of driving it around with all the dents before my dad and brother helped me restore it back to health and slap on a metallic aztec gold paint job.  it should have been called a phoenix..

63 ford falcon van - you just gotta have one ugly car in your life.  for $400 i thought it was a steal but it had its share of engine fix-up work that needed to be done, including all the rust in the floor.  the only car i've owned that was older than me.  comes with refrigerator, bed, and shag carpet. "if this van a rocking....ahh, you've probably got a fuel line problem"

1979 mazda rx7- after the van, and borrowing my dad's oldsmobile for a year or so (thanks dad), i bought this guy.  I would have enjoyed it more, but I alway seemed to be fighting a nasty oil leak problem.  but it was definitely fun to drive.  winter driving had me flying over snow drifts more than through them.  i remember it had one pop-up headlight that would wink at other cars when i went to fast over railroad tracks.

chevy beretta - not worthy of a pic

owning the beretta, i knew what it was like to drive in slow motion.  passing other cars required visual distances equivalent to the salt flats.   it was the last 4 cylinder engine i'll ever owned. or at least until i retire and buy a "mobility" scooter to go play bingo

1992 jeep cherokee laredo - i spent most of my life with this one (12 years) and through thick and thin, it survived my rampant need to drive cross country not once but three times.  definitely, one of my favorites over the years.  it's final days were in washington, dc.  shortly before leaving for africa i sold it to a redskins fan that just needed a car for weekend stadium trips.  a happy retirement ending to a great companion.

. . . and to the one i depend on now

2006 toyota fj cruiser- after the jeep, i couldn't go back to driving a car again.  vladivostok is the perfect place to own an suv.  but not for just the trails, also for the pot hole'd streets, extra high driving visibility and icy winters conditions.  suicide doors, funky retro design, and 239hp v-6 make this a fun ride in a hill covered city.

rikorda island

rikorda island is about an hour away by boat from vladivostok.  the boat ride in the morning was windy and wet, but we made it to the beach eventually.  you can buy tickets for boats to some of the more populated islands like russkiy or popov islands, but we enlisted a private boat and went to rikorda, which is farther out than the other two.  we had to pack food and drink since the island doesn't have any places to eat.  amid all the prep to get the car loaded and meet everyone, i forgot to bring all the fruit and snacks i had bought the night before.  i did remember the wine and vodka.  which i think everyone enjoyed more than the food.  we spent all day walking and enjoying the water and sun on different sides of the island.  by the time the sunset started to set we met up with our captain and took off for vlad.

the islands here have smooth rock beaches as opposed to the white sand ones in australia.  the water around the island was definitely cleaner than the city beaches i've visited.  i can see why russians like to visit them in the summer.  it takes a bit of time to reach them but it worth the trip once you get there.  i didn't see much wildlife besides birds and bugs so i imagine any four legged critters get caught by hunters.  no one was doing any jet or water skiing like they do at the city beaches.  it was a nice break from shamara beach just for the traffic alone.

speaking of, last week, i took my girlfriend for a scooter ride out to shamara. it's about a 40min ride. it's the first real passenger ride i've given in a couple years so i was a bit worried traffic would make it tough.  but during the whole trip, i didn't have any trouble with going in and out of traffic.  the wind is starting to get cold already so the days of summer are drawing close in the russian far east.

saturdays

a nice way to spend a saturday in vladivostok

• start with ice skating after lunch at the only indoor rink in the city.

• head back downtown to the набришния (seaside boardwalk area) for food, drinks and great views of the water.

• after some шашлик (meat kabobs) hop on a ferry for an hour long ride around the harbor

• head back to the boardwalk and grab a coffee along the way

• take in a movie at the "ocean" movie theater

• grab a dinner at several of the resturants near by, as you wait for the nightclubbing to start

although it's still wet and overcast, everyone gets out when the weather does let the sun break out for a day.  the traffic is a slow crawl out of the city on friday night and even worse sunday night as everyone's coming back from vacations.  but as i've said before, there's plenty to do in the city.

i've been sticking around the city mainly since i enjoy several places to eat out and take in.  but i want to check out some of the other cities in russia, so i booked a flight to st. petersburg.  my girlfriend is leaving a couple weeks before me to visit friends, i'll miss her but i'll get to see her soon.

mind the gap

so i've been thinking about this blog over the last couple months and often wonder if i'm just rambling on or if there's anything useful people get out of it.  originally, i started it as a way to let my family and friends keep tabs on me.  it morphed into a blog/photo gallery and then i notice it, like other foreign service blogs, gives interested parties a means to see what life is like overseas working for the department of state.

when i started, i found a few bulletin board type forums that helped answer many of my questions.  like what about a tv? will mine work?  what's a consumables post?  what about my car and how do i get insurance.  i spent 6 months, at least, trying to figure out every question I had.  i didn't even know people were blogging about stuff like this 5 years ago.  

every year about this time, i start getting emails from people either considering the foreign service as a career or those that are taking the leap in joining the rest of us working abroad.  my first posting was khartoum, sudan.  when people started asking me about what's available there and what they should bring, i realized i need to make a faq page.  it received more hits than any other page i had at the time.  after that tour, i ended up in sydney, australia.  the idea of a faq for sydney was considered for about 5 seconds before i decided there's already a gazillion sites where you can get info on oz.  but now that i'm in vladivostok, russia, it's time to put together another faq.  i wanted to wait a while since i needed to figure out what life is like here myself.  so hopefully in the next week or so, i'll have one put together.  

finally, i've taken a break from writing for so long since i started to wonder how much info i should expose about my life here.  even though i specifically say in my typepad profile that all comments are mine alone and do not reflect those views of the u.s. government, it's still difficult to speak freely about my opinions without worrying someone will take it as the comments of a diplomat of the u.s.a.  a foreign service officer asked me last year if his having a facebook page was a bad idea due to the not-so-nice folks that like to gather intelligence on diplomats overseas.  i didn't want to sound like a paranoid conspiracy theorist, but like it or not, that stuff does go on.  my answer was, you can have a facebook account, but try not to advertise everything about yourself.  my answer really makes having a facebook page useless if you want everyone to see it.  but there's ways to limit your every move by sharing it only with friends.  (note: i have a facebook page but very, very, very rarely write anything in it.  it's only there to keep track of my friends.)  for me, i'd rather have a blog.  it's simple, it's clean, it functions exactly the way i want it too.  i basically wanted a journal of my life in the foreign service so i could look back on it and remember all the details.  

i actually find facebook to be too invasive.  george k said it best "worlds are colliding!"  people post all kinds of stuff and i don't have the inclination or the time to filter who gets to see what.  once you start letting everyone be your friend the floodgates open and the page becomes a who's who of your past.  

you can see now why i don't write much about work.  which is probably for the best anyway since this blog is more about the cities I'm in than the work i do.  as far as work is concerned, i'm the IT guy that's here to fix anything communications related.  you can actually see who all the key officers are at posts around the world by doing a google search on "key officers foreign service".  which surprised the hell outta me when i discovered that a few years ago.  due to the nature of the job, the list becomes out dated quickly as people rotate from one post to another.  but it's still a bit odd to see my name posted out there for anyone to look up.

on that note, i'll continue to post for all the reasons i said earlier. even if i have to self censor what i post about.  i continue to hope it will be an aid to many looking at traveling and working abroad no matter what the blog's final permutation ends up being.

ski trip

it's saturday and i left with a friend to try out some skiing near the villege of артем (artyom).  actually it's closer to another villege but i can't recall the name of it right now.  it's located about an hour and a half northeast of vladivostok.  most of the drive took place through the mountains over dirt roads that were now buried in snow and ice.  i volunteered my toyota fj cruiser for the trip.  only five of us went since the weather and other issues caused a few others to cancel.  i started off around eight am and by the time we picked up everyone and arrived, it was about 10:30am.  i regret not stopping to take photos of the mountain roads but didn't want to block traffic on the narrow strip we were on.

it looked like we were the first to arrive at the slopes.  at first it looked like the place was closed.  but my friend had called before hand to check the ski conditions and to make sure it would be open.  we wandered around what looked like the ski shop and finally found a young man that could rent us equipment.  the rental was only a couple bucks and the skiing rate was 300rr or less than $10US an hour.  well worth the few hours to drive there.  

unfortunately, even the children/beginner slope was so icy it wore out even the veteran skiers.  i skied for about an hour and finally had to give up after seeing several wipe outs, luckily none of them involved me. i liked the ski lift they used.  it required a little dexterity to handle.  there's a rope that runs up the hill and loops back down to a motor.  you step up parallel to it, grab it with one hand and lean back.  it propels you up the hill as long as you keep your skis under you and your weight shifted back. (see above photo)

we stopped for lunch at a small cafe near the shop.  recharged, we went back to ski and try some inner tubing.  i wiped out on my first tube slide and banged up my upper back a bit.  but after giving the tube slope more respect, i enjoyed the rest of the slides.  

all in all, it was a beautiful day with clear air and a warm sun.  we called it a day since it would be getting colder, darker and we still had to deal with the drive back.  i'd go back again but it will have to be after a few more cold days without any rainfall.

drool...

living overseas can cause normal cravings to roll unchecked into addictive distractions.  case in point, i started thinking about cinnamon rolls last week.  the kind with the white glazed frosting and flaky bread that melts in your mouth.  the craving started making me think about how far away the nearest krispy cream or cinnibon shops are.  

last weekend, i set out to make some for the first time.  the first obstacle was finding powdered sugar.  i never saw it before at my regular grocery stores. another run to the shops ended in success as i discovered some packets hidden away in one of the aisles.  

everything was from scratch and my first time working with yeast.  seeing bread dough double in size is freaky enough, let alone seeing how much bigger everything gets while it's baking.  all in all, everything worked out well, but next time i'll improve it with less flour and a shorter baking time. 

- best served with ice cold milk, or hot chocolate if you can take the sugar rush.

is there a брач in the домe? (doc in the house)

i guess i have a high threshold for pain or maybe i'm just use to it.  around thanksgiving last year i banged my foot into a wall (maybe crushed is a better term).  i felt the pain immediately and suspected something was worse than bruised toes. but being the lazy type, i didn't bother with going to a doctor and just wrapped it up and found a wool sock and sandal to wear.  but as the days went by and the pain subsided, one little piggie (the one that didn't have any roast beef) remained swollen.  i called the doc and arranged for a рентген (x-ray).  the prognosis- fractured toe.  (see highlighted square in photo above). the center bone was cracked and now has a rough surface where it forms a joint against the lower bone, closer to the foot.  result- the doc said it's too risky to do any surgery since that can cause more problems than its worth.  i was advised to tape up the toe next to its "brother" toe; my term, not his. this would keep it stable and help it heal without aggravating it.  that toe isn't very mobile to begin with, so i agreed and since then have not had any trouble.  but any dreams i had of being a pro NFL kicker are now shattered.  the good news is, it doesn't affect my drumming a bass beat with Rock Band 2.

which brings me to the creativity that always remains in electronics.  "set the way back machine for 1972, Sherman."..  pong hit the public and the birth of moving pixels around a monochrome screen captivated the masses. (years earlier i delighted myself by putting a magnet against tv screens and imposing my control over any broadcast)  after pong, came space invaders, donkey kong, pacman and the industry rolled like a freight train until personal computers started coming into people's home.  add the internet to this and the term "gaming" stopped being used just for role players and multi-sided dice and now was bringing people together over the net to play video games as a community of players competing with or against each other. over the years, i've been pleasantly surprised at how far technology has come.  now with the emergence of the wii, xbox and playstations, the graphics and story lines are as loaded as any blockbuster movie you see today. i'm a big fan of problem solving and zombies (yeah weird combo i know).  so games like half life 2 and portal are my most recent guilty pleasures when i should be studying.  recently however, i joined my neighbor for a crack at the video game "Rock Band".  i saw it in the states last year and thought it was interesting but didn't have the time or inclination to give it a try.  but after playing it, i found it brings the entertainment back into the family room that the days of atari and nintendo had decades ago.  i liked it well enough that i bought the company, ok I lied.. but i did buy the software and hardware (instruments) for my PS3.  the beauty of the game is not some storyline or fantastic graphics, although it does have both, but the simplicity of letting you jam with friends to great songs in rock history.  a real musician would scoff at the premise, but that's not the goal.  i compare it to a karaoke bar complete with guitars and drums.  sense of rhythm not included.  so if you want to bang out a hit like AC/DC's "Let there be Rock", Pearl Jam's "Alive" or even the Muffs cover of "Kids in America" (original by kim wilde), i highly recommend it.  the best part, the company has new music in the works that is available for downloading so you won't get bored playing "Today" by the Smashing Pumpkins for the 30th time.

learn it, live it, love it.