On the Streets of Moscow

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During orientation they told us that Russians will know we are Americans even if we don't speak English around them because we use such different body language. So, in my attempt to fit in, I have been trying to mimic how Russian women walk. They generally have very good posture, usually keep their eyes on the ground, and always have a serious expression on their faces when they are not with friends. I seem to be able to pass for a Russian now (until, of course, I open my mouth). During the past few days, five different Russians have stopped me to ask for directions.
I always spend a good part of my day walking. Probably at least two hours of every day. Moscow has very good public transportation but one still needs to walk to the metro stations.
I have seen many interesting things walking the Moscow streets.
One thing I have noticed is how fit all the old people are. I never see them with walkers, canes, or wheelchairs. Instead they walk slowly down the street. Since one has to walk a lot unless one has a car, these old people must do a lot of walking every day.
Another thing that one immediately notices is how many dogs there are wandering the streets. The dogs normally keep to themselves. Occassionally I have seem them approach Russians holding out food. Once I saw a pack of seven dogs that looked related all traveling together. The Russians don't seem to mind the stray dogs at all.
I've also noticed that Russian guys take quite a different approach than American guys when they want to get to know a girl. Yesterday I was passing by a couple guys in their 20s drinking at a small outdoor table. One of the guys approached me, said something in Russian, and tried to link his arm to mine. I pulled away, and being rather suprised and embarassed, gave that sort of smile. Immediately I remembered that it is a very bad idea to smile at all in this situation. I certainly had no intention of getting to know the Russian guys. But my brief smile was enough that the guy recognized that I'm American and he said, in English, "Hey baby come over here". I continued walking and firmly said "nyet".
I also realized that I have to get better at bargining. I bought a shawl on the street today. Originally it was going to cost 500 rubles ($20) but I bargined it down to 400. I gave the women a 500 ruble bill and asked for my change. At which point she denied that we ever agreed on 400 rubles. I really wanted the shawl so I bought it anyway. But next time I'm giving the vender exact change.
Tomorrow I'm going to go with my class on a trip outside of Moscow. We're taking the train for three hours and are going to see a small town and monastry.

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Comments

[Steve]

Hey Genna! it sounds like you're having a great time in Russia (except for that whole not smiling thing; that sounds like it would be really hard)! Anyways, i got your facebook message, and i had a cord that came with my camera that let me put pictures onto my computer, and once they were saved to my computer, i could go to photobucket.com or shutterfly.com and put them on the internet, and from there i could either put a link to them or (in the case of using photobucket) put the actual pictures up for view on my livejournal. Hope i can see some soon!

[Jen F.]

It's interesting that in Russia there are lots of stray dogs; in Italy there are stray cats all over the place.