I Made A Beet...

Well...I cooked a beet, rather. I have started embracing the art of cooking. I am a self-proclaimed "terrible cook". It used to be, if I was making you dinner, we were having pasta or rice...something you can boil and call it good. Before a couple of weeks ago, I wouldn't even touch raw chicken! When we moved to Russia, Mark and I decided that I would try to do most of the cooking since he works all day. My goal is to shop and eat like the locals...for the most part. Another goal is to learn to cook and eat fresh and healthy. We have some options to buy imported items that we are used to but you definitely pay a premium for them. Surprisingly the produce here is very nice and if you buy local, it can be very cost efficient. Beets are one of the things that are very readily available and very cheap.

I had never eaten a beet before. I once tried the pickled variety, usually served on salads, and stayed clear of them after that experience. So, I wasn't even sure if I would like eating beets. Beets are known to be very good for your health. Check out  www.whfoods.com to see just how good they are. Since I had never even eaten a beet before, I had to do some research about how to cook a beet. Luckily, Google is my friend. I searched "How to make a beet" and I found this website that gave me step by step instructions. www.tipnut.com Here is how it turned out:

Step 1. Prepare the beets. Done.

I had planned on cooking the beet in its entirety...root and greens. But the greens froze in our fridge and they didn't look very good after that.

Step 2. Boil the beets. Done.

They took 45 minutes to boil but I went an extra 5 minutes for good measure.

Step 3. Plunge the beets. Done.

Step 4. Remove the skin and cut the beets. Done.

I used a rag that I was going to dedicate to beets since I planned on it being stained after this little experiment. To my surprise, no staining. Not the counter, not the cutting board and not even the rag.

Step 5. Serve the beets. Done and YUM!

We just ate them with a little butter, salt and pepper alongside chicken tikka and basmati rice.

I have to admit, they were pretty easy. They cook just like a potato but their texture is more like a carrot. Their taste is definitely unique. And to my surprise, they did not have any "dirt" taste whatsoever. Needless to say, this may just become a staple in our diet.

Language Barrier

We knew the language barrier would be difficult. We had no idea it would be as difficult as it has been. Using our experience in Doha, and information received from current colleagues before we arrived, we knew that getting around, and shopping and general life in the city would be a challenge. But, Mark expected life in the office to be a little easier, as the organizing committee is a bilingual environment.

However, Mark quickly learned that the office environment is primarily in Russian. Meetings, presentations and email communication are almost all in Russian. He uses Google Translate constantly. He has to copy and paste them into the program to translate them from Russian to English. If there is not a colleague nearby who can translate for him in meetings, he sits there and tries to figure out what is going on. He can request a translator from language services, but in the environment he’s in, meetings sometime happen quickly and he has yet to settle into a routine that would allow him to request the translator 24 hours in advance, as required.

So, why is it so much harder than we expected? Well, a number of things contribute to this. In Doha, nearly every server, cashier, attendant or any other service oriented individual was an expat. Usually, they were from the Philippines, India or Nepal. They went out of their way to do their best to learn and speak English to expats, because we stood out. We didn’t dress like local Qataris and we didn’t look like them. So, when we entered a store or restaurant, they immediately knew we didn’t speak Arabic, and the English conversation ensued. In the office in Doha, expats were the norm. Whether from the US, Australia, the UK, Italy or Greece, we all spoke English, not Arabic. As a guess, maybe only ten percent of the organizing committee in Doha was local. In Moscow, however, of the 600+ employees of the organizing committee, 18 of us are expats. Many of Mark’s Russian colleagues speak very good English. Yet, understandably, when the audience is predominantly Russian speaking, it is easier and natural to speak in Russian. All presentations are in Russian because the time and cost of having it officially translated is not efficient. Cyrillic does not translate to English directly. Even using Google, often times words are left out or added and the message is not clear. Thus, an official translation is necessary to be sure the correct message is sent; and as already mentioned, this is not possible for each and every PowerPoint or timeline produced. So, Mark is left to spend A LOT of time asking questions of his bilingual colleagues in Logistics and translating emails, documents and presentations. Mark has spent the majority of his first three weeks reading policies and operating plans; mostly through translating the documents. Some things are bilingual, but the majority is not. As far as getting around the city, we fit in very well…until we open our mouths. People approach us in stores and speak Russian to us because we look just like two of the 142 million+ Muscovites who call Moscow home!

It is completely understandable that many locals do not speak English. The only problem is we were given the impression that many in Moscow would speak at least some English and few would speak English in Sochi, or anywhere else outside of Moscow. The reality is few speak English in Moscow, or they are unwilling to speak English and expect us to speak Russian. This has made getting around difficult. Shopping has been an adventure. We use apps on our phones constantly. We enter words into the app so we can see the Russian translation to make sure what we’re looking to buy is milk; not yogurt, cream or some other dairy product. Also, we make sure the meat we’re buying at the shop is beef; not horse! Yeah, we figure we’ll try horse eventually. But, we want it prepared right and the horse that is in the canned meat section is certainly not going to be the first horse meat we try! Many in the shops do not speak English and getting assistance has been difficult. We do our best with our phrase books and translators, but it is not enough to bridge the gap.

Ultimately, we need to learn Russian. We are getting by, but every day is a struggle. The office environment is taxing due to the communication barrier. Life in the city is trying for the same reason. We started our first Russian language course TODAY, 13 June. Hopefully, things will get much easier as we begin to assimilate into the community. But, up to now, every day has been challenging. As always though, there have been many, many individuals that have gone out of their way to help us. We have found that many locals speak very good English, but they are self-conscious of their ability and feel uncomfortable speaking it. We have had people, young and old come to our aid when there was a problem or disagreement with things. Danielle had a woman help her order at a restaurant when Danielle's broken Russian from the phrase book just wasn’t cutting it. Another time, an older gentleman who we see almost every night (we'll call him our friend), helped us when another man was unhappy about us being in the park with the girls. In fact, when we saw "our friend" a couple of nights later, we tried to thank him for his help. All he could say was "I don't speak English. I am a communist." This one statement helped us realize that people are not giving us grief because we're Americans and they are Russian. They are giving us grief because they are assholes! It has nothing to do with Nationality, communism or capitalism. Some people are nice and helpful. Others, are not.


The point is that there are countless people who have gone out of their way to help us. The majority of individuals we have dealt with are great. Mark’s coworkers are also great. It is just difficult to communicate with them at times. We have only been here for three weeks and things are already getting better. However, more work is required on our part to make sure we are putting forth the effort to communicate in Russian. Our classes will help with that. So, if you’re looking to come and visit for an extended period of time, do yourself a favor and learn a few basic words or phrases. Это не так сложно. просто нужно время! 

Leavin' on a Jet Plane...

We planned on leaving for the airport with plenty of time built in for the usual last minute packing, running late and traffic. Mark’s mom met us at Danielle’s parents’ house and we all, with Danielle’s parents and brother, were heading to LAX to meet Mark’s dad and sister. We made it to the airport with plenty of time and we checked in with minimal problems. Aeroflot Airlines (Russian partner with Delta Airlines) has some interesting requirements when it comes to carry-on baggage. Typically, a passenger is allowed a carry-on bag and a personal item. We each had small, carry-on suitcases and a backpack. Apparently, our backpacks were too big for what they considered a personal item and some last minute repacking had to be done. Even with the repacking, we were required to check Mark’s carry-on. This just added to the already critical budget problems. Then came the time to get the girls set-up. They had both been doing a great job walking around the airport and taking it all in. They were a little nervous, but all things considered, they were taking it like champs! The attendant at the check in counter had little knowledge about processing the girls. She had to get her supervisor to help with the process and we actually had to help walk them through the process. Finally, some of our planning paid off! We had to remind them of a number of things that would be required by security, separate from the check in process. Everything was finally done and a concierge, of sorts, was assigned to escort us and the girls to be screened by security. The concierge, however, spoke little English, but he didn’t speak Russian either…probably Hindi, if we had to guess! The girls’ crates were screened and we gave the girls one last hug before securing them in their crates. We were assured by our concierge that he would be with the girls until they were loaded on the plane and, we think, he promised that they would be indoors, in a temperature controlled area, and would be the last to be loaded on the plane. We were quite nervous, as we were still more than two hours before scheduled take off and a lot could happen in the meantime. We sucked it up, took a deep breath and tried to regulate our energies, in an attempt not to upset the girls. We feel we were surprisingly strong, but once the girls left us, we thought we might lose it! Luckily, not even a whimper from the girls and they were off to take their first plane ride, just the two of them in the cargo area :)

We went back to the check-in counter to get our boarding passes, baggage receipts and to pay for luggage. With a little creative documentation, the supervisor who had been helping us, made it so even with the extra bag we had to check, we paid less for baggage than we would have originally. You’d be surprised where your support system will come from. But, as we said, you will need help with an adventure like this. We took care of the last of the “check-in” process and went to adjust our repacking job and take a seat before saying good-bye to family and getting into the security line. We still had a couple of hours, but the security line was backing up. So, after a brief rest and chit-chat, we said our final good-byes to family and, of course, the tears were flowing. That’s what moms do, right? While standing in line, we realized we hadn’t eaten all day and started to feel it. We made it through security and Mark stopped at an exchange window to get Rubles for once we arrived in Moscow and Danielle went to the gate to see if she could see the girls get loaded. We waited and looked and never saw the girls. We were in the long line to board when Danielle finally went up to the counter to, for the first of many times, remind the crew that we were traveling with our dogs and to make sure the whole world knew the girls should be on the plane with us. Danielle was assured everything was fine. We boarded the plane, reminded a couple more flight attendants to tell the pilot and ground crew about the girls, and we were off.

The flight path was interesting. We flew northeast, after a U-turn over the pacific and passed within about 30,000 feet of Boise, maybe a little west of it, at least. We continued that direction and, basically, flew right over the top of the world. The graphic that shows the flight path on the TV monitor had an arcing, shadowed area over the map to indicate the change from daytime to nighttime. Our path took us so far north that it never got dark. We actually flew OVER night! Mark tried to sleep a lot but was uncomfortable the whole time. Danielle watched a couple of movies and tried to keep busy. The twelve hour flight was made harder by the constant worrying about the girls. Every little bump of turbulence we hit, we could not help but think about how the girls were doing.

Upon arriving in Moscow, we were met at the airport by a driver that had been reserved for us by the Organizing Committee. Before we made it to the driver, however, it took a little over an hour to get everything together to get through customs. We made through passport control and headed to the baggage claim area. Our first priority was to find the girls even though our flight’s luggage was already on the carousel by the time we made it down the escalator. We grabbed two carts and started to look for the girls. We looked around to no avail, and finally asked someone. They finally understood we were looking for “собака”. They indicated we should go the excess/oversize baggage area at the end of the terminal. We went that direction, and just like it was scripted, a man came through the door with one of the crates, followed by the other. We were still half way across the terminal and we wanted to run to the girls. We got to them and they seemed to be in good spirits. We let them out briefly to say hi and to give hugs. But, they hadn’t been out to “potty” in more than 14 hours, so we were in a bit of a hurry to get them back in, get our bags and get through customs. All of our stuff was there and we made it through customs with no issues! There was no vet check, no one to check the girls’ paperwork and no one hardly even gave us a second look going through customs. We found our driver and finally made it to grass where we could let the girls out. This was no easy task, however, because our driver spoke no English and he was less than helpful with navigating all of our luggage through the terminal and across the street to the parking structure. We made it work, let the girls out and got the vehicle packed…barely.

We got on the road and we still had no idea where we were going. The driver could not tell us, all he could do was hand Mark his phone. On the other end was Mark’s colleague, Maxim, who had been helping us in finding housing. Up to this point, we still did not have a flat secured! Max told Mark the he would meet us at our flat. We didn’t know that the terms to the lease had been agreed to, so this was a surprise to us. It turned out, they hadn’t.

Max, along with two other colleagues, met us at the flat to help with our bags and help get us settled. We went upstairs to our flat and were met by a welcoming party. The real estate agent, flat owner and the flat owner’s “muscle” were all there; in addition to us and Mark’s three colleagues. Now, keep in mind, we had just spent about 19 hours in airports, in the air or in Moscow traffic and we were wiped out at this point. As we have mentioned, our budget was shot and the final question that hadn’t been answered was whether or not the landlady was willing to defer the deposit until Mark received his advance. None of this had been discussed and we’re not exactly sure what the agent had been doing for her commission all this time. But, that may be another topic (are we seeing a pattern here?) Again, with a lot of help from that support system we talked about, we got it done. Mark’s colleagues were ready with a loan for the very expensive taxi ride and had made arrangements for one of Mark’s allowances to be advanced. They also helped translate and negotiate our lease after they dismissed the agent to just get rid of her. After some tea and snacks, a lot of talking in Russian and smiling and nodding, we were left to get settled. We looked at each other and had no idea what to do. The only thing to do, really, was for Mark to get ready for work the next day. We spent the night on the floor. The bed had not been assembled yet and in its place was a very thin mattress on the floor. So, there we slept. Mark woke up the next morning, very sore, to no hot water for a shower. More accurately, he found cold water and colder mud. The “water” that was coming from the faucet more resembled Willy Wonka’s chocolate water fall than actual water.  That began the next chapter in our first couple of weeks involving housing. Stay tuned…

Visas...Part Deux

After nearly two months of couch surfing, we finally received our official invitations to apply for our visas. We were originally told to expect the invitations on 23 April. About a week prior to this, Mark received notification that the invitations would not arrive until 27 April. We planned to get our visa from the San Francisco consulate, as Danielle has family in the Bay Area who were gracious enough to allow us to stay with them. Delaying our trip to San Francisco by a week was easy enough. The calls were made for arrangements and everything seemed to be going smooth. A week delay in the grand scheme of things did not seem too bad, but little did we know...

Beginning in mid-April, the Russian Consulates no longer accept visa applications directly, at the consulate. They were in the midst of transitioning to utilizing a visa processing agency, as many other consulates do. However, the new system they were implementing was having technical difficulties. The Washington D.C., New York and Houston consulates had the new system up and running by the time it came for us to get our visas. However, the San Francisco and Seattle consulates were experiencing delays with the new technology and advised to check the website daily for updates to see if the new system had been implemented. It should be noted that each consulate has its own, separate website. The information on the website is different and the processes vary depending on location. So, we checked, checked and checked again. By the time we were ready to apply; the website had information of partial changes and advised the new service would be implemented 1 May. The site also had an automated form to schedule an appointment. It was very clear that no visa applications would be accepted without an appointment. It also stressed that each individual visa request needed separate appointments. This meant that we had to schedule two appointments and were not guaranteed they would be back to back. However, try as we might, the form did not allow for the user to request the San Francisco location to schedule appointments. Did this mean the new system had not been implemented in San Francisco? Or, maybe it was implemented, but they had no availability for applications. As the days ticked by closer to the day we were to head north, the site still did not allow for appointments in San Francisco. So, we weren’t sure which, of two locations, we were to apply to once we arrived in San Francisco; the consulate itself, or the processing agency. This may seem manageable and somewhat relieving that we would be able to get the visas one way or another. On the other hand, did we mention that 27 April was a Friday and the invitation didn’t actually arrive until Saturday, 28 April? Or, that Monday and Tuesday (30 April-1 May) were Russian holidays, so the consulate/agency would be closed until Wednesday, 3 May! We made plans to drive north to the Bay Area so we could go apply first thing Wednesday. We thought, one way or another, we would figure it out. We had to, after all, our flight had been booked for weeks now and we were set to leave 16 May!

We arrived in the Bay Area Tuesday night. We had time to catch up with family, plan our “attack” and get to bed at a reasonable hour. Our plan included taking BART into the city and then walking about 8 blocks to the agency, not the consulate…as every indicator suggested this was the place to go. Everything went as planned; we arrived at the agency (which was actually where we were supposed to be!) and began the waiting process, the same as the one for Seattle. No number to take. No stanchions to queue behind. No rhyme or reason. Being a seasoned vet at this and knowing how it worked, Mark asked out loud who was last in line. A couple indicated they were. We found a seat and waited.

The fees associated with the visa application vary. The standard fee is $170 for six day processing. The expedited fee is $280 for three day processing. When Mark was in Seattle for his first visit, timing relegated him to the expedited processing. He paid for three day processing and was told to come back the next day to pick up the completed visa. Mark saw numerous people apply for standard processing who were told to return in three days to pick up their visa. Armed with this information, we thought, “Hey, it’s only 2 May. Our flight leaves in exactly two weeks. Standard processing should be fine. Even if it takes 6 days, we’re still money”. That’s what we get for thinking! Our turn at the window came. We approached and supplied all of our paperwork. We provided the payment for standard processing. The attendant took all of our “stuff” and did her thing. She typed, clicked, shuffled and so on. She then pointed at a calendar on the wall next to her and indicated 16 May. We said, “yes, this is when the flight leaves”. She shook her head, and in her best English (which wasn’t much) said this is when we were to pick up our completed visas. Mark very nearly blew a gasket. The stress and waiting during this whole process was coming to a head.

We were able to decipher that there was ANOTHER holiday on 9 May. This is Victory day in Russia, commemorating Russia’s victory over Nazi Germany in WWII. How could we have missed this?!?! Well, it wasn’t included in the information on the website, it is not common knowledge in the US and, we guess, we just had a few other things on our mind and didn’t expect nearly the entire first half of May to be taken up by holidays. If 9 May was the only day that the consulate was closed, it wouldn’t have been as bad. But, the holiday spans three days. This cuts our two week time frame in half right off the bat! The problem is multi-faceted. The agency (and consulate for that matter) requires cashier’s checks, or another form of secured payment, for the application.  We went to the bank in Southern California and got all of this taken care of before we left. We explained to the girl that we only had the payment for standard processing. She indicated that, conveniently enough, there was a bank downstairs where we could get cash to make up the difference and we could apply for expedited processing. We had no choice to pay the extra $110 (PER VISA) for expedited processing and thought, if nothing else, this allows us more time because the visa will be done by the end of the week. It seemed reasonable to think that two days to process a three day, expedited application would doable, considering the coming holiday. Surely, steps would be taken to “expedite” the application…right?

Mark went down to the bank to get the cash, because he could not sit any longer and Danielle was afraid he would lose it at any moment. At this point, it is important to note that we were out of money. Every bit of planning, researching and cushioning for contingencies had been exhausted and we now were dipping into money that was to be used to secure housing once we arrived in Moscow. Mark returned with the money. The girl behind the window did her “thing” again and then pointed to the calendar again. This time she indicated 11 May! At this point we were beside ourselves. Originally, we had paid for six day processing and were going to get them in seven business days. Now, we were paying way too much for three day processing and will get the visas in five business days! With Mark’s experience in Seattle, and the timings of visa availability, we are convinced this “agency” is nothing more than a way to earn more money. And, of course, there is the agency fee…on top of the visa fee…PER VISA APPLICATION! Money makes the world go ‘round we guess. We went to the next window to pay and were provided with a receipt.

So, beyond angry, out of money and having to figure out how we were going to make all of this work, there was nothing else to do but find the nearest Starbucks and drown our sorrows (thankfully we had a couple of gift cards). However, a pitcher of beer (or twelve) would have been preferred. We gathered ourselves. More accurately, Danielle kept Mark from imploding. There were still multiple hurdles. We had to be back in Southern California for the girls’ vet appointment for their international health certificate (that will be another blog topic all together!!!). We had to finish packing. We still had family to visit with before leaving for more than two years. We could not stay in San Francisco for ten of the 14 days we had left in this country! We developed a plan, as we always do. We had to lean heavily, again, on family and we found a way to make it work. We confirmed before leaving the processing agency that we could have someone else pick up the visas. We were assured all that was needed was the receipt and anyone could pick them up. We made arrangements for family to pick up the visas which helped us feel a bit better about the situation. We went to the post office and prepaid so that, once picked up, the visas could be sent to us, overnight. With our families support, once again, we knew we were in good hands.

So, out of money, out of patience and on the verge of losing our minds, we spent a couple of much needed days visiting with friends and family in the bay area. To ensure that the stress and frustrations did not consume us, we made sure to take in a few sights and wineries in Napa and Livermore, and enjoy the time we had before heading back to Southern California. We finished a whirlwind tour of visiting with loved ones and the visas arrived in the mail, Saturday 12 April…four days before leaving.

For those who are looking for information and are considering a similar move, what can we say?

o    Whatever time and money you think will be ample for your situation, add twenty percent to that…at least!

o    Make sure you make the move on your timeline. If your employer is insisting, pressuring or even suggesting you need to be in country sooner than you are comfortable, make sure they are making arrangements and paying for all of the incidentals, as well as flights, visas, accommodations, etc. But, as first mentioned, don’t do it unless you’re ready and comfortable.  We had a suggested start date and, after all of the delays and waiting, we purchased tickets prior to having everything in order. This was only done because waiting until the visas were secured would have nearly doubled the airfare. Again, we could have waited and then the employer would have waited. But, we lost focus and got anxious and paid for it because we had to wait on others. The original timeline was acceptable and we were comfortable with it. However, after multiple delays and having to depend on others, we were “forced” into acting before we should have, instead of resetting our timeline. Make sure you are comfortable with everything and don’t get tunnel vision on a date or a process that makes you lose sight of the bigger picture…your happiness. However, don’t forget that a big move like this is hard and you will probably be “uncomfortable” for a number of reasons. If you wait until you are comfortable with the entire situation, then you may never leave. Each person/family will have to work hard to identify the difference.

o    We were caught in a tough spot because of the first two points above. We planned with cushions in place, both time and money, or so we thought. As we hit roadblocks and hurdles, we spent more time without income. This, in turn, meant we spent more money, as being without a home base and nomadic, costs money. The combination of extending the move and decreasing the bank account is what made things more difficult than they had to be. Set your thresholds. Know what you are comfortable with and know if, when and how you are willing to pull the plug on the move. We never got to that point and don’t regret our decision. But, it’s important to know all of this before you start.

o    Have a support system. Loved ones, colleagues, anyone you can lean on for a shoulder, an ear or just information. You cannot do this alone. No matter how strong you think you are. :)

o    Know that your support system will be strained. If you are moving with a family, know things will get beyond difficult. There is no way to put into words how difficult this type of thing can be and each individual handles stress differently. If you are single, you will still struggle. You may have less stressors than a family, but you will still struggle. Be ready to persevere and come out stronger in the end.

So far, we have had struggles. We have had moments of asking “what did we do?” But, we had those in Doha too. We think that is inevitable. However, we have already seen and done things we would have never dreamed of. This is not easy. But, the rewards are seemingly endless. You WILL become stronger. You WILL grow. You WILL be sad. You WILL be happy. You WILL be amazed. You WILL meet incredible people. You WILL have fun. You have no choice. Who’s coming next?!?!

Couch Surfing

On March 30th, our lease was up and we officially moved out of our house in Boise. Our first night "homeless" was hectic, to say the least. We decided to stay in a dog-friendly hotel and get some much needed rest. We ended up staying in Boise another 10 days, couch surfing with close friends. Our last days in Boise consisted of re-packing, tying up loose ends, re-packing, spending time with friends, re-packing, eating at our favorite spots one last time and a lot more re-packing.

April 10th, we got on the road later than planned (of course) and drove down to California. On the way to Southern California, we met Mark's family in the Mojave National Preserve for a couple days of camping. Being out, away from civilization, was just what we needed after the couple of weeks we had prior. After a couple of days in the desert, we were overdue for a shower. We continued on our way to Danielle's parent's house where we would call "home" for the next month-ish.

Honestly, the only way you can get through a move like this is if you have an awesome support system. We have the best friends and family in the world and to anyone who helped us through this process...whether with an ear, a beer or a bed...THANK YOU!!!

If you are reading this post for informational purposes and are looking to move your life across the world temporarily, I will tell you one thing; have one home base where you can leave your life. We have some of our life in two 10x10 storage units in Idaho, some of our life at Danielle's parent's house in California and the rest we packed in 6 suitcases and brought it with us. We did the best we could keeping everything organized but it gets a little crazy not having your own "place". As grateful as we are for all of our couch surfing hosts, if you have just one "home base", it will make the process a lot easier. 

In the desert, like a turtle, with our life on our back.

And We're Back!!!

Well, this is our first blog in nearly 3 months and it's been a ride. This post is to let everyone know that we (us and the girls) made it safe and sound. We have a place to stay, internet and most of the necessary creature comforts. We are back into blog land and will be posting regularly because boy, do we have a lot to say! Stay tuned...