There Are No Rules In Russia...

...and other curiosities.

Want to ride your horse down the sidewalk? No problem. Go for it!

That is not a street to the left of that parked car. That is a sidewalk. No need to look for parking. Just park your car anywhere you please!

Now, its hard to see from this photo, but that lady in our "water closet,"is checking our water heater. Now you'll need to use your imagination a bit, but just picture that old lady from the Hansel and Gretel story. Babushka and everything. Even the crooked teeth. Then you'll have a good idea of what this lady looked like. She's very pushy and demanding and you'll tell her 18 times in Russian that you don't speak Russian but she'll continue to talk to you like you do. The only one in our family who wasn't a little freaked out by her was Emily. I think she was entranced by her sparkly gold replacement teeth. 

Here are some observations I've made on my daily walks around town:

• Even though it's 20 degrees out, no adult wears gloves. My hands are freezing in my double layered mittens, how do they do this? Is this so you can easily chain-smoke?
• It's totally cool to leave your 7 year old in the drivers seat with the car on while you run into the store. 
• All the babies here sleep so well in their strollers. How do they do this? Emily has a freak out after 10 minutes unless it's her nap time. 
• Rules of the road are totally optional.
• If you walk up to an elevator (or escalator, entrance, etc.), don't be surprised if someone from behind just nudges their way in front of you to get on as soon as the doors open. Doesn't matter if you have a baby attached to you. You are not special enough to get on first! 
• Stray dogs are very good at crossing the street and avoid getting hit by buses and cars.
• There are two car speeds in Russia. Fast and Stopped. I've never witnessed a car slooooow doooown. It's go as fast as you can and then SLAM on your breaks at the stop light/pedestrian crossing. 
• The babushkas here have got grillz y'all. Lost your teeth to decay? No worries! There's plenty of gold teeth to go around to replace them!