Shopping

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You can buy just about anything cheaper in Moscow than you can buy it in the States. It is just a matter of knowing where to find something. It isn't hard to find very expensive clothes but it is far harder to find inexpensive clothing.
But I have been in Moscow for 2 months and by now have figured out where to buy things.
Yesterday I went to Garbushka, Moscow's largest electronics store. I read that a mere 10% of what is sold there is legal. But that really isn't too different from any other electronics store-pretty much everything is pirated in Moscow. You can buy newly released American DVD's for $5. Newly released computer games like Heroes 5 sell here for $10. It is actually very difficult to find software that hasn't been pirated. But then who would buy Heroes V for $50 when they could find it easier for $10?
I went to Garbushka mainly because I wanted to find Russian movies with English subtitles. On the streets it is just about impossible to find movies like that.
I ended up buying two. They were likely pirated even though they have the official stamp on them. The stamp is supposed to signify that it isn't pirated but the vendors just copy the stamp so no one can tell.
On the way to Garbushka I stopped at a market. I have been wanting to buy some landeree and it seemed best to do so before it gets any colder. You can buy the cutest embroidered bras in the markets for $2. You just have to know where to go. In the stores the same bras sell for $40. I bought a really cute pink bra with embroidered black and white flowers for $2. Women, I highly recommend that you stock up on bras if you are ever in Moscow. They are imported from China and cost hardly anything.
My host mom also told me of a place at the end of the gray line on the twelth floor of a hotel where all the vendors buy the things they sell. The hotel rooms on that floor have been transforme into mini shops where you can buy things for dirt cheap. When I get back from Ukraine I'm going to go there with some friends. She told me that I can buy a jade neclace there for less than $4.
Tonight I take the 14 hour train ride to Kiev. I'm going to be sharing a small room with three other people, so I'm hoping that they'll be pleasant. Once I'm in Kiev I'll be staying with Lilya's cousin's wife's family.
Goodbye for now! The next time I write I'll be able to tell you all about Kiev.
Check out my previous entry though-my father updated it with pictures.

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Comments

[mom]

THANKS!!!
You were the perfect translator and tour guide!!! Dad and I were so impressed with your ability to communicate in Russian, not only on the street, but also with in depth conversations translating our words to Galena Nickolaevna. We had such a wonderful visit, from the moment we arrived at the hotel, with you waiting, radiant and confident, to wisk us away to the Kremlin tour with your classmates, to the amazing metro rides, Christ the Redeemer Church, Red Square, and Ivmalovsky Park. I can't imagine ever traveling to Russia without a guide, and you were the best! Our thoughts and prayers are with you as you travel via night train to Kiev. May the good Lord bless you and keep you, and set His protecting angels round about you.