Some Pictures

So we haven't had that much time to go out and take pictures (and since we're limited to "I don't speak Russian" or "Please speak slower"-type conversations), I don't have a lot of stuff for you to see yet, but if you're patient, maybe in a couple of weeks we'll be able to get you more pictures of Moscow.

However, I can show you a few of our first pics of the city:
I'm a country boy (a jungle boy, to be precise), so I'm not really used to life in the big city. Here's a typical scene near our apartment. If you look closely, there's a small slice of sky visible in the corner. :)

Every apartment does have a nicely painted playground nearby, and here's the one just down the block from us. Apparently, it's a cultural phenomenon to have your kids outside at least some time every day, so in the afternoons of the nice days we've been having, these have been full of people with little kids playing.

Moscow must be booming, because everywhere you go, these giant cranes building new apartment buildings. Of course, with the prices they rent for, it's no wonder that the new entrepreneurs are frantically building apartments as fast as they can.

Here's our first haul from a grocery store - all these goodies (plus a few bathroom items not pictured) for around $60. This was from a more "Western" grocery store, so prices were just a little higher than back home, but not too bad. We've since located a slightly cheaper store, plus markets for our fruits and veggies.

Speaking of open markets, B went out to one yesterday with Steven. Several babushkas gave her grief about bringing him there (apparently, this is a cultural taboo we weren't aware of), but they had a good time, and came home with some fresh potatoes, cucumbers, mushrooms, and oregano. We had a nice fresh spaghetti sauce last night with hand-picked sauteed mushrooms, fresh oregano, and minced lamb. Yum!

By the way, our baby boy is now 6 months old! We made a little video about his first six months with B's family, so here's a link to it: Link To Steven Video. Sorry about the quality of the whole thing, we had to reduce it to a lower bitrate to get it online. Big thanks to the Vonks for helping us edit this.

Anyway, that's it for now. We're planning a touristy-style venture sometime this week, so maybe next post we'll have a picture of Red Square or St. Basil's for you. Thanks for your thoughts, especially as we hunt for a place to live.