So far so good...

I arrived in Moscow yesterday and am happy to report:

1. I haven’t been arrested
2. Everywhere I’ve been has had t.p. (p.s. I discovered that Charmin has mini rolls to go!)
3. Perogies are great, borscht is decent, blinis and caviar is not really my thing

No seriously, my first 24 hours have been great! One of the Russian fellows I knew in Germany picked me up from the airport and took me and another American fellow on a tour around the city.

Most interestingly, yesterday was Victory (in WWII) Day, the most important holiday in Russia. The entire city celebrated ALL DAY LONG! A variety of music stands were set up, hammer and sickle flags and Russian flags abounded and soldiers from WWII wore their medals and carried flower given to them by passersby. There were fireworks in the evening, but alas I was pooped! Speaking of which, notice that in the picture taken from the airplane, the sky is completely cloudy and in the picture of me in front of the Kremlin there are blue skies. How could that be you ask? It's because the Russians dropped silver oxide into the clouds to get them to dissolve so the weather would be nice for the holiday and the fireworks...no joke!! Also notice the ribbon I'm wearing--everyone was wearing them so I was trying to blend in.

I’ve seen the Kremlin and St. Basil’s Catherdral (Tetris anyone) but only from the outside. Saturday and Sunday will be the big sightseeing days.

A couple more thoughts:
1. it is great to be speaking German with the Germans and Russians again, though I also feel compelled to speak German to random Russians because it is the only foreign language I speak.

2. Many buildings have air conditioners that can be seen from the windows. This is in striking contrast to Germany and very similar to the US. This and other observations have me thinking that the US and Russia were developing quite similarly during the Cold War even though we were sworn enemies and each liked to think of itself as superior.

More later, watch this space☺