Sunday, December 14, 2008

"So you're moving to Moscow..."

"...Idaho or Maine?" is what a colleague asked me last year when I said I'd be moving to Moscow. So I had to explain... 'No... Moscow... the Russian one.' Turns out, though, that the computer-dashboard-weather feature on my computer defaults to none of the Moscows I had previously been aware of, but Moscow, Arkansas (for alphabetical reasons, I assume). The other day I called up "dashboard" on my computer so I could use the calculator and there by its side was the weather - six days of sunny skies? what? WOW! I got really excited about the week to come, maybe being at work and having it actually seem like daytime... just the idea of all this LIGHT...


...but then, I paused, and thought... 'that's too good to be true, it just can't be right.' In my heart of hearts, I didn't believe it. So I clicked on the 'information' icon, changed it from Moscow, AR to Moscow, Russia and...


...there you have it. Just like that. The Truth. And the rest of the truth is that Moscow is NOT a terrible place to live. I like it for a lot of different reasons, but the constant rain and darkness is not one of them. What are the reasons it's not a terrible place to live, then, and where are THOSE photographs? good question. My job is great, and living in such a big city where I can't really communicate is infuriating, hilarious, and will never be boring, even when (if) someday I can speak Russian and have a 'normal' life here. But those photos... that need to be taken... someday will be taken. Actually a photo editor recently proposed a really good project on the topic... more to follow in subsequent posts.