Desi's Academy Awards of Russia

Okay, its early yet, but I keep making up these lists in my head and decided I should share some with you...

Dumbest thing I did yesterday:
Go to the archive with my laptop without my plug shape converter.

Smartest thing I ever did in relation to this trip:
Buy a second battery for my laptop. This thing gets almost 8 hours of type time with 2 batteries.

Maybe the dumbest thing I did today:
Buy a bottle of Moldovan wine for 86 rubles ($2.75) Maybe? Maybe not?

Things I wish I had here:
1. A colander - I'm sure I could buy one for the apartment somewhere
2. Virginia wine
3. A secret camera hidden in my bag so that I could take pictures of the really funny things I see without bring unnecessary attention to myself
4. My pillows from home
5. An answering machine for the phone
6. A really good girlfriend

Something I have here that I didn't have at home:
A garlic press!

Things that really suck:
1. A yogurt explosion in one's bag. Ick.
2. Centralized, city-wide heating. I will be cold in my own apartment until mid-October
3. Half-ripe bananas
4. my Russian feather pillow that weighs 100 pounds
5. Having to see really elderly people begging for money on the streets everyday. This is not something that I will ever ever get used to here.
6. Bureaucrats

Things that I do here that I never did at home, or never would have imagined doing
1. Drinking tea everyday. Tea? Everyday.
2. Jumping jacks
3. Watching "The Princess Diaries" dubbed in Russian. Yes, I'm doing this right now
4. Not showering everyday. Its just a pain in the ass sometimes. Sticking my head under the faucet usually fixes the bed head.
5. Buy a cabbage
6. Wear really expensive hoochie-mama jeans

Strangest thing I saw yesterday:
A 3-star Admiral (or however that translates in the Russian Navy) riding the Metro

The strangest thing the Russians saw on Wednesday:
Me jogging at 8am, in the rain, in SHORTS

Things I love about Russia:
1. Sour cream. Everywhere.
2. Russian Hospitality
3. Russian women who take pity on me and befriend me
4. Walking down a street and, hey look! There's a building that was built in 1582!
5. Watching women walk down the street in pink vinyl lace-up calf-height stilletto heels
6. Cheap beer, good beer