Sunday, March 23, 2014
Sunday 3/23
Russia never fails to surprise. Thursday, Dr. Bobarykina mentions that she and Valia are going to make a trip to a big-box store to stock up on some items for a Fulbright informational round table they are having next week. This office provides all the strategy and planning for these endeavors AND basically does catering on top of all that. So, coffee, tea, things to eat, napkins, etc need to be appropriated. I was not aware that there were big-box stores in Russia! Anyway, I'm invited along in case I might need anything that can be purchased there. As I am living the bachelor farmer existence and my wife and her friend Laura are arriving in Russia in the next couple of weeks, there are things like sheets and so forth that I'll need.
We order up a car and driver from the Institute's motor pool, spend a half hour waiting for that to materialize downstairs, then we are off for an exciting trip to the outskirts of Saratov.(Pictures to follow!) I always get the front seat on these excursions for various reasons.
Saratov is developing at a pretty good rate.....huge luxury apartment blocks going up all over the place. Looks just like the DC suburbs. Not my thing, but progress is progress.
Anyway, we roll up on the store. Looks like any number of these places in the US. Name is "Lyenta", open 24 hours a day. I take a bunch of pictures outside. It isn't that crowded. No Wal-Mart traffic yet. I sense that Russians like their little daily visits to the grocery store. Surrounding area is like any other suburban industrial sprawl in the US. Indoors it is a little more like a Shoppers Food Warehouse and less Wal-Mart. Huge shelves, beeping forklifts, again not the suffocating traffic you'd have in the US. Natalia and Valia get busy tracking down the various catering supplies. I snap off a few pictures of the shelves and layout----I do have to show my loyal readers the inside of a Russian big-box store!
So I am basically pushing the cart around and trying to stay out of the way and-----there is a female security guard asking me something unintelligible. I do as I usually do, ask her to slow down. Tell her I speak very little Russian. To no avail. She isn't happy and I am in some kind of trouble. This is a fairly common occurrence here. Russians tend have a way of doing things and when you deviate, voices are raised, explanations are few, and it is guesswork sorting out your transgression. I finally resort to pointing at Natalia and Valia and saying...."I'm with them...." Security guard has more gold teeth than a James Bond villain but is not really at all threatening, just insistent.
She and Natalia have a short conversation. Natalia says to me...."have you taken pictures inside the store?". Yes I have as a matter of fact. The security of the store has seen this on video camera and scrambled their assets. The security guard is even slightly apologetic, but this is forbidden in Russia. Apparently competitive espionage is something to be feared. Could I please erase the photos? She is asking very nicely at this point, smiling, asking my forgiveness. I out of honor, do so. There is no verification of this, but I am true to my word if people are pleasant . Goodbye indoor photos dear readers. You shall have to use your imagination.
The ladies help me pick out some sheets and cleaning supplies and we go to checkout. Big discounts here if you have a membership card and the prices suddenly become 40-50% lower when we present ours.We pass my security friend and I say Dos Vedanya, and she gives me a big smile. All is forgiven.
We go out to the lot--a random cabbie obliges when we ask him to snap a photo or two. Our driver honks to announce his location, and we are back to the Institute downtown in time for a late lunch and for my 3pm class.Needless to say, this allows for some good classroom discussion. Russians by and large are very accepting of things that I find to be strange----the students are surprised that this is allowed in most cases in the US. More on the sheets I purchased later.
We order up a car and driver from the Institute's motor pool, spend a half hour waiting for that to materialize downstairs, then we are off for an exciting trip to the outskirts of Saratov.(Pictures to follow!) I always get the front seat on these excursions for various reasons.
Saratov is developing at a pretty good rate.....huge luxury apartment blocks going up all over the place. Looks just like the DC suburbs. Not my thing, but progress is progress.
Anyway, we roll up on the store. Looks like any number of these places in the US. Name is "Lyenta", open 24 hours a day. I take a bunch of pictures outside. It isn't that crowded. No Wal-Mart traffic yet. I sense that Russians like their little daily visits to the grocery store. Surrounding area is like any other suburban industrial sprawl in the US. Indoors it is a little more like a Shoppers Food Warehouse and less Wal-Mart. Huge shelves, beeping forklifts, again not the suffocating traffic you'd have in the US. Natalia and Valia get busy tracking down the various catering supplies. I snap off a few pictures of the shelves and layout----I do have to show my loyal readers the inside of a Russian big-box store!
So I am basically pushing the cart around and trying to stay out of the way and-----there is a female security guard asking me something unintelligible. I do as I usually do, ask her to slow down. Tell her I speak very little Russian. To no avail. She isn't happy and I am in some kind of trouble. This is a fairly common occurrence here. Russians tend have a way of doing things and when you deviate, voices are raised, explanations are few, and it is guesswork sorting out your transgression. I finally resort to pointing at Natalia and Valia and saying...."I'm with them...." Security guard has more gold teeth than a James Bond villain but is not really at all threatening, just insistent.
She and Natalia have a short conversation. Natalia says to me...."have you taken pictures inside the store?". Yes I have as a matter of fact. The security of the store has seen this on video camera and scrambled their assets. The security guard is even slightly apologetic, but this is forbidden in Russia. Apparently competitive espionage is something to be feared. Could I please erase the photos? She is asking very nicely at this point, smiling, asking my forgiveness. I out of honor, do so. There is no verification of this, but I am true to my word if people are pleasant . Goodbye indoor photos dear readers. You shall have to use your imagination.
The ladies help me pick out some sheets and cleaning supplies and we go to checkout. Big discounts here if you have a membership card and the prices suddenly become 40-50% lower when we present ours.We pass my security friend and I say Dos Vedanya, and she gives me a big smile. All is forgiven.
We go out to the lot--a random cabbie obliges when we ask him to snap a photo or two. Our driver honks to announce his location, and we are back to the Institute downtown in time for a late lunch and for my 3pm class.Needless to say, this allows for some good classroom discussion. Russians by and large are very accepting of things that I find to be strange----the students are surprised that this is allowed in most cases in the US. More on the sheets I purchased later.
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