Dearest Family & Friends:
I know we are behind on our updates. I'm sorry. I just got behind on things here in Moscow during the months of January, February and March because I ran away. I ran away from winter in Moscow because it was harsh my friends. Much harsher than I thought it would be. I thought I was ready but I wasn't-so I ran. Not anywhere tropical really. Just places that weren't Moscow: Ukraine (almost Russia but the 'lighter', nicer version), Austria, Italy and Florida (ok this one is tropical just not while we were there). In search of stories David went to Ukraine twice, Siberia twice (he is there right now) and also made stops in Kaliningrad and the Islamic militant region of Southern Russia-Dagestan. Also not tropical. David spent four days covering the over-throw of the government of Kyrgyzstan. He got his first taste of urban warfare and anarchy-I was just thrilled.... But we still managed to travel for fun a bit by celebrating David's 34th birthday in Egypt and we also stopped by Tallinn, Estonia. Our travel during the last couple of months was a mix of work and traveling with brother Joey Previte as he explored Europe. The places in the world that you can get from Moscow are amazing!
Since we miss and love you all we thought we would make you appreciate wherever you are today by telling you a little about how winter was for us in our new country. I know all of you in America are beginning to see spring and think that you survived the worst winter ever. But you still have no idea what winter is. So I thought that by sharing a few details about our first winter in Russia it would make you all appreciate spring even more. In the process you will get the idea of how we are doing....
David and I arrived back from Barcelona around December 7th. That same day I put on long underwear for the first time in my life and I didn't take it off until the beginning of April.
We did not see the sun for the entire month of December. It was grey all day and then it was completely dark by 4:00pm. For two straight weeks it was -17 degrees Celsius. There were no school delays or closings. They didn't even talk about it like it was an issue. Trust me, it was an issue in the Previte/Greene household.
In January the sun started to come out. I looked out the window and thought the worst was over. But it turns out that the sunny days are actually colder than the grey days-who knew? They tell me the clouds are actually keeping the little bit of warmth we have in and without the clouds it was really, really cold. If we saw the sun in January I knew it was below zero outside. When it is below zero in Moscow every part of your exposed body hurts. If I took my hands out of my gloves to answer the phone for example, my fingers were in pain within minutes.
Snow. It snowed and then it stayed. It didn't melt. It just started to melt a couple of weeks ago and there are still a few patches left outside the city center. When it first started to melt a little the sidewalks started to flood with water because of how much snow was all of a sudden melting. Then it got cold again and the water froze and the sidewalks were COVERED in ice. Not just a little-pure ice. The Russians do not believe in putting salt on the ice. After a few days of record numbers of broken wrists they threw dirt on the sidewalks-that was supposed to make it easier to walk. Now remember how the snow melts a little some days? Yep, then you are walking through rivers of water full of mud-awesome Russia, awesome.
I fell a total of three times-never broke anything-just bruises on my bum. David only fell in Ukraine. Mother Russia brought us to our knees, literally.
In addition to the floods of mud, let me tell you about the other dangers of a Moscow thaw-icicles. The first thaw we experienced seemed like a break from the sub-zero temps. For days David and I faced the cold, snow and melting mud water-we walk as much in Moscow as we did in New York. But our already difficult winter walks started to get more difficult because all of a sudden whole city blocks were blocked off with caution tape. For a moment it seemed the Russians might have been working on the infrastructure in the middle of winter-silly me. For days, all over the city we kept experiencing these blocked sidewalks but never saw anyone putting up the tape to ask about its purpose. So instead I walked around cursing the city for making me walk in the snow covered streets until finally I looked up. Above me were icicles that looked more like huge stalactites hanging all over the buildings. Apparently lots of people die every year because huge icicles fall on their heads. So Mother Russia was trying to be nice to us after all and save us from walking under the icicles of death!
Every day is a battle of some sort-just to get around. But this place is also full of contradictions. Some days Mother Russia is kind and some days she beats us down. But she sure is making us stronger. And honestly the place is growing on us. We just need to know that winter is not the only season they have here.... And it looks like the end might be near (see attached photo). We are putting away the fur hats and the winter coats! I have earned the fur coat that I will buy for next winter but for now David will have to deal with temperatures above freezing again. He always gets sad when winter ends.
We will be travelling the entire month of May and some of June-mostly in the U.S. so we hope to see many of you!
Much Love-
R&D
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| The first green I saw in Moscow and proof they had more than one season. |
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