the streets

Of course it's typical for a major city to outshine smaller or more rural towns. But the stark differences between Moscow and cities in regions to the east are depressing.

View at WTC Moscow.

Moscow State University


Now, here are some typical neighborhood streets in Russia:

cyrillic

The Cyrillic alphabet is still somewhat of a novelty to me. I find joy in the most banal of signs or products containing the russian alphabet. Take these three products, for example.

Breakfast, of course, consists of Kosmostars...

and plenty of milk.

Need some vegetables in a flash? Try the Mexicanski Mix.


Spray cans seem to be an obligatory form of street art, but art still unrefined here in Russia. Here, it simply states, "This neighborhood rules!"

What it actually rules, I don't know. I'll post some pictures of the astounding infrastructure in a few days.

There are a few interesting stencils though, like this one that reads, "Furcoats are death."

khokhlovka

Went out to the country yesterday to view a 19th Century Russian village. It was rustic and serene. Even heard some wild birds in the thick of the woods.

out and 'bout it

a classic Russian 4x4. Nice.

10:00 p.m. and the sun's still shining.

closing

Rough Translation: Happiness is not far away.

permanant art

One of my favorite things to notice in Russia are the abrupt angles. The abrupt angles are everywhere, from architecture to faces.

stranger in moscow

Traversing Moscow without understanding how to read the Cyrillic alphabet is, well, hard. I was so focused on trying not to look like a foreigner that I unfortunately did not take any photos for the first 4 hours during my first day in Moscow. That all changed when I made it to red square. Everyone seemed to be a model of some sort. I, on the other hand, only took pictures of the buildings. Silly me.

The lady on the left seemed to have stepped out of a time machine originating in the the 1950s. Awesome.

Communist architecture? If there ever was such a thing, that giant building defines it.

Goose-stepping' on y'all

Massive transition underway.

Ended the day remembering the past with an old friend. The world is not small.

last day out

last day in the desert was last friday. sadly i missed a chance to go on saturday evening, but no worries. i always tell myself, "i'll be back." How could I leave this?

Insert the "He must workout" line from Dumb & Dumber here. I'm pretty sure George is checking out his cousin's assets, while Ramesh's son is in the background digging everyone a grave. How metal is that? The last part I mean, not the first part.

Oh, and there was some driving.