On the way, I noticed hundreds of soldiers milling around and setting up metal detectors on the main street by the church. I figured it was another protest rally or something, but I really had no idea. I just strolled past with my head down like I had good sense.
When I got out of church, I couldn't believe my eyes. They were having a huge Saint Patrick's Day Parade. I stood and watched for a few minutes and then headed to meet some friends at the Electronics market (that experience was a whole other story within itself).
This week I had to make a trip to Siberia to visit with some customers. For those of you who aren't geographically gifted. Siberia is a LONG way away from Moscow (or anywhere for that matter). The travel agency that I used to book my trip got mixed up initially and tried to book my trip via train (it takes 48 hours by train). I ended up taking a three or four hour plane flight, and a six hour car ride to see the customer. To complicate matters, my phone broke on the flight to Siberia, so when I got off the plane I didn't know where to go, who to call, or what to do. I ended up just walking out of the airport, hoping that my driver would recognize me. He did, and he was holding a sign up that said Baker Hughes (Of course, he held the sign up from the warmth of his Land Rover, as he knew better than to get out in the cold). Did I mention that they had 4 foot of snow? CRAZY! We drove all day to the customer's field office.
When we arrived the safety girl gave me a brief run down (in broken English). I almost laughed out loud when she told me about their water system on site. She told me that the running water was not safe to drink, she then clarified that it was "only meant for human consumption". I was biting my lip not to laugh.
On the long ride back to the airport I begged my driver to stop at a convenience store so I could get something, anything, to eat (I hadn't eaten in 12 hours). He relented and pulled into what had to have been the worst truck stop/gas station that I've ever been to in my life. They had a café, but when I looked in the kitchen there was a cat laying on the kitchen counter next to where they put the food. I opted for potato chips instead of something fresh. I bought almost every bag of chips they had (bags of chips were all that they had to eat in the store). I would have killed someone for a Snicker bar (or anything Chocolate)!
When you can't read Russian you depend on pictures to help you thru. I had bought bags of chips with pictures of what appeared to be meat and seafood on the bags. I had never had Beef Stroganoff flavored chips before that day (I can now mark that off my list). I had also never had caviar flavored chips, nor will I ever again. ~The Moscow Correspondent
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