I once received a cup as a birthday present that read "Some people make the world better just by living in it" and now I feel like "some people make Moscow better just by living in it" too. We met some of those people out last night and I have another feeling that this year is going to be an exceptionally good one.
When it was winter in Grahamstown and you begrudgingly had to take your coat into Friars, you would have to stash it under a table or tie it to your bag. I love that Moscow has coat rooms that they actually use. These coat rooms usually come with a very helpful and patient "coat check man" (as Maree just very cleverly termed it). Except if you try to mess with his system, as Jackie attempted to do last night.
At the first place, the "coat check man" put the coats behind the curtain and only HE was allowed to be or see behind it. He didn't really appreciate Jackie trying to curiously see what was going on back there. Sometimes it's nice to not be able to understand because we think he reprimanded her...or...he could of just been saying something like, "There's magic back there that can only be discovered if you're a coat check man." Either way, don't mess with the system.
The first drink to be had with our lovely new friends was called a Zombi. Now, we don't exactly know what was in these drinks but we do know that A)they were delicious B)they were served by Jackie's new bestie-barman named Illya C)they were probably the most expensive drinks we've ever had and D)they were set alight before they were handed to us. Amongst many funny and awesome things that happened at this bar, the funniest thing that has to be shared was that Jackie was wearing the exact same shirt that the waitresses were wearing. That's what you get for shopping at Pull and Bear. Haha. But she did manage to get a free shot out of her bestie-barman so there's that. At this point I feel I should quote her when she said, "Alcohol is definitely much stronger in Russia."
People are also so interested to hear about South Africa and why you chose to come to Moscow of all places. It was so great to chat to people (in English) who are from a completely different place and that consider this life in Moscow as normal. It's also very surprising to hear what people know about this place and to compare stereotypes. We told our new friends about the cliche of Vodka and Furry Hats of the Russians and I was called Springbok about 100 times by a man who clearly loves rugby. However, we felt so accepted by all these different people and felt like we could revel in our "South African-ness" even though people joked that SOME of us were slightly crazy...I won't mention names in the fear of being tickle-attacked by said person but I'm just saying, there are only three of us here and it's not me. Obviously.
We then found ourselves drinking German beer (which is very tasty) and eating America Burgers in the next spot while meeting more people along the way and singing to our old time favourites. This place was exceptionally amazing to me because it had an upside-down lounge on the ceiling. So, when you're washing your hands, you have chairs and a table above your head so that you feel like you've stepped into the novel of Alice in Wonderland. I stood here for a while just staring, feeling baffled and mostly just thinking, "Wow."
In the "city that never sleeps", we only actually got to sleep at about 6am after eating Sushi for breakfast at 4 in the morning. The taxi drive home also made for an interesting event as I tried to use my four Russian words that I know to make conversation with the driver.
What is this life that we are living and can we please live it forever?
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