It is past midnight here and I am a complete insomniac. There are no dishes to wash, no clothes to wash, no babies to tuck in and no hubby to kiss goodnight. I believe that I have read all of the books that are in the house. I am reading through Russian Tales at this point. So, when I have the chance to be on the internet...I am a junkie. But, I will try and stop after this one for tonight :)

Margaret mentioned about not knowing what to wear here. Good question. Contrary to misconception, people do wear jeans. But, no tennis shoes with jeans. All I see is black shoes with jeans. For kicks and giggles, I will do a David Letterman style Top Ten Reasons Why....countdown for everyone...

Top Ten Reasons Why Russians know that you are a Tourist (especially American)

(10)You forget to take off your shoes in a Russian home....
(9) You have a backpack on your back.
(8) You are looking at everything with your mouth wide open.
(7) You ask for directions in English and when they respond in Russian, you speak louder in English.
(6) You have a Fanny pack on...
(5) You are wearing any other color than black, except in Spring..(green, red, and possibly pink is ok)
(4) You want to have your picture taken with a Russian Guard
(3) You talk, breath or move on the Metro..
(2) You are wearing bright white tennis shoes.

AND THE NUMBER ONE DEAD GIVE AWAY THAT YOU ARE A TOURIST IN RUSSIA IS......

(1) Smiling..... Our tour guide from the last trip said that Russians think that those who giggle and laugh and smile all of the time out in public are thought of as crazy and lunatic.

So...there you have it my friends. That is just my take on what I have seen so far. As far as fashion goes. I give up. I am not a size Zero, so....for the ladies younger than 60...they are very tall and slender and wear tight fitting clothes. The older woman might have a little more meat on them and do not have a fashion sense. Some of them do mind you. Nice hats...but, most of the babushka's (grandma's) look like they could beat my butt any day of the week. Out of everyone here in Russia...they scare me the most. Very serious.

Do not pack much, bring a pair of blank pants, jeans, and possibly one other pant. The way that it works here....is the tops. Wear the same bottoms over and change the tops all of the time. I can see why now. The washer is very small and you have to hang up your clothes to dry. Very hard to do a lot of laundry. That is if they even have a washer. Not everyone does. Black boots, or black shoes are good. Make sure you wear something VERY COMFORTABLE on your feet. I cannot tell you how much you walk everywhere you go. Did I mention, everywhere????

I will try and take pictures of just regular everyday people so you can get an idea of what a day in the life is like. That will surely put me on the Top Ten list. But, hey...it is for a good cause!!

On a completely bizarre note.. I cannot tell you how many times I have been asked from the people who live here if I am from Germany. I had one Russian ask if I was from England. Hey... I have been to both places and they are great. I love it!. But, I am very proud to be an American and I think I look like a ringer for an American. Go figure?

I will talk more about clothing, packing, and what not....also, feel free to write me in the comments section and I will surely write you back about anything you want to know and then some :)

I leave you with some pictures that B took at the Tomb of Unknown Soldier.



P.S. This was taken in March. So, no, it is not snowing right now. But, I saw the same guys today. They still look the same...just no snow. :)