Domestic Care in Moscow

Over the years Jesy and I have collected various pieces of art from our travels around the world.  I doubt any of them are worth a lot of money, but looking at them gives me great pleasure and that's really all that matters to me.  There is one item hanging in my house that might just be my favorite and every time I see it I really get a good laugh.  This little sticker is hanging in the basement bathroom:

Let me explain.  I have a pink bathroom in the basement.  Yes, you read that right.  The walls are not pink, but the accessories and towels are all pink and white.  And I love it.  When we moved to Iowa I decided to make the basement bathroom pink, and I did the same thing in our house in Moscow.  I love it and Jesy does not go to the basement much, so it's a win-win for everyone.  Last year we had some type of issue with the toilet in the basement, and the workmen came to fix it.  They did fix it, and they left this little sticker as a reminder of what not to throw down the toilet.  I get some of the items, but the one that looks like a face mask and the fish bones really cracks me up.  Seriously.  There have been quite a few times that I have been deboning a tuna in the kitchen and I have thought "I should just throw this in the toilet downstairs".  But thank goodness, I remember my bathroom sticker and I properly dispose of the fish bones.
The toilet issue reminds me of some other funny domestic issues here in Russia.  There are two things I will admit right away.  One- I do not do a lot of cleaning here.  I have decided cleaning is for the birds and I love having a nanny.  Two- Jesy and I do not fix stuff in this house.  If anything breaks (even if a light bulb goes out), I have to call the office and they send the maintenance men.  Funny story- when we were in Romania a fuse went out one night.  I was really panicked and felt bad that we were going to have to call the owners of the house.  I woke Jesy up and asked him what to do.  His answer was that perhaps we should just get out of bed and hit the switch.  What a novel idea!  (Our fuse box here in Moscow is locked and I have to call maintenance anytime a breaker goes out.) 
Anyways, I have had to call the maintenance men for some pretty interesting issues over the years.  Just yesterday I had to get them over here because my kids broke the light fixture in the basement by repeatedly kicking a Sochi soccer ball at it while I was putting away laundry.  Fun.  But my two favorite stories are this:
Jesy and I have very long thick curtains in our bedroom.  Remember in the late spring and summer months the sun comes up at 4:30 and sets sometime after 11.  You need thick curtains. The kids think the curtains were put there to swing on, and one day Amalie and Kathleen pulled them off the wall.  Not just the curtains- everything.  Curtains, rod, and screws, all in one clean sweep.  You should have seen the faces on the men when they came over to fix it, and then it got better when my nanny described to them in Russian that my children were swinging on them.  I don't think they believed us and most likely thought it was Jesy and I swinging one night that brought them down.
We have a beautiful black Russian cat named Anastasia.  I love her dearly, but she is most likely mentally unbalanced.  It's hard to describe how our windows open here, but when you do open them, Anastasia loves to get in between the window and the screen and just hang out there.  She also likes to hide around corners and jump out at the kids, which Jesy and I find hilarious.  But that's a story for another time.  One time I opened the window in my bedroom and then I went to take a shower.  My bedroom is on the third floor and it's pretty high up.  When I came out I found Anastasia sitting in the window with no screen to protect her.  She had knocked the screen out and it was sitting down in the garden.  I was pretty freaked out because I was worried for her safety, and I also was worried how we were going to explain this one to maintenance.  I had my nanny just pretend we had no idea what happened, but these guys were pretty smart and knew right away who had knocked out the screen.  Perhaps it was because they saw Anastasia sitting in one of the other windows as they walked up the stairs.  But here is my favorite part of the story: I told my Russian teacher about this crazy cat who likes to sit in windowsills because she was a cat lover also.  She was completely nonplussed by the situation.  As she told me, Russian cats fall from balconies all the time and they are fine.  Well then.
Time is running out for us to have visitors in Russia.  I believe John Deere is calling us back to the mothership.  But, I do have some advice for anyone who wants to visit this country.  Eat as much fish as you want, but for Pete's sake use some sense and do not throw your fish bones into the toilets of your hotel.  Or my house for that matter.  Do not swing from the curtains of your hotel room.  There are plenty of other ways to have fun in the city.  And finally, take great care while walking the streets of Moscow.  You never know when someone's indestructible feline may be falling from a balcony.  And if I have learned anything these past two and a half years, the cat will win!

Bali- Christmas and New Year's 2013

My sister Tara was an expat in London, so she was my go-to gal when we were deciding whether or not to move to Moscow.  She did warn me that while the perks are nice, the person that is working will work an extraordinary amount.  A LOT.  But still, after 2 1/2 years into this experience, it still amazes me how much Jesy works and travels.  The traffic, the long hours, the different culture- working in Moscow is not for the faint of heart.  And it is because of this that I am willing to make an over 15 hour trip with four kids to the island of Bali.  Bali is worth it.  It's just so easy, and so nice there, and it is so good for our family.
Last year we staying in the more touristy part of the island.  Which was wonderful.  This year, though, we decided to be different and we went three hours north to the town of Lovina.  This was a great vacation- the house was amazing and we were right on the beach.  Of course we did some activities, but we also did a lot of swimming in the pool and walks on the beach.  It was a fabulous vacation.  And I will mention right at the beginning that we did have some sickness on this trip, but it was at the end, so it did not ruin our vacation.  John got swimmer's ear and an ear infection, and then was allergic to the antibiotics and threw up all night.  After a few visits to the clinic we got him feeling better and then Jesy got food poisoning or a stomach virus the night before we were leaving.  I felt so bad for him.  Colin started throwing up halfway through our 11 flight from Singapore to Moscow.  It was horrible and I had to be a really bad mom when we landed in Moscow.  I was afraid if they looked too closely at Colin they would not let him in the country.  Time in a Russian hospital- no thank you!  Jesy and I had to repeatedly fuss at Colin to stand up straight, smile, and not look sick.  Not one of my best moments.  And then after being home for a day, Amalie got the same virus.  So, the end of the trip was not easy, but it did not take away from wonderful Bali.

After two long plane rides and a very long car ride through pretty rice fields, we arrived at Villa Aparna.  This place was amazing. 

The beach was right after the backyard, and we enjoyed many walks there and fireworks on our last night.  It was a bit rocky and we had to wear shoes to get in the water.  But once you got about 5 feet out, the sand became smooth and we were able to swim.

Can you believe that look from John?  I cannot remember exactly what happened, but most likely Jesy or I told him that he could not do something that one of his siblings was doing.  And that is his mad face at us.
As I said before, we spent a lot of time at the pool.  There was a dolphin float (look familiar Collins family?) that the kids could not get enough of.  I also taught the kids how to play errors and we had great fun making teams and playing in the pool.

This house was amazing, but it was a nightmare with a small child like John.  That's why I like the photo of him locked behind that door- we were always putting him somewhere!
Santa made a small visit to Bali on Christmas morning.  The kids were very happy that he had not forgotten them in Indonesia.

Aren't those bags super cute?  I had them made by a German woman here in Moscow that sews lovely items.  The girls just love them and I think it is a great souvenir from Russia.
After we opened presents, we decided to spend Christmas afternoon at a waterpark.  It was fairly close to the house and a very popular place for local families.  The big kids loved the slides and John was quite happy to swim in the pool.  Jesy and I had to laugh, though.  We were the only people there applying sunscreen. 

I love the look of torture on Kathleen's face in the first photo.  Can you believe we took her to such a place?  She gets better by the last photo.
A few days after Christmas we went to a Buddhist temple (or perhaps it was Hindu, I cannot remember) and then we hiked to a waterfall.  Both places were beautiful and at both places we were approached by families wanting to take pictures with our children.  I don't know if anyone else has had this issue.  In Bali, Egypt, and in Greece we were approached by families who want to take photos of themselves with our blonde children.  (Blonde children is their term.)  We always say yes because they are quite offended if we say no.  As an American, it's just a bit odd for me.  My kids don't see a lot of black people in Russia.  So can you imagine me stopping an African American family in the US and asking for a photo with them?  That would be very weird.  But, when in Rome I suppose. Anyways, the kids really enjoyed walking around the temple grounds.  It was a lovely sunny day and the kids were quite happy to just run.  Oh- and we saw some very large bats.  I was a bit afraid!

 

The hike to the waterfall was not very difficult and we loved it there. 

My favorite activity in Bali was the early morning dolphin boat ride.  I have gone on dolphin rides before, but usually you are lucky if you see one or two dolphins.  Not this morning- we saw dozens.  It was amazing.  We left the house at about 6 am and the boat picked us up right at the beach beyond our backyard.  It was so quiet and peaceful on the water, and my kids picked up on that and were very quiet and peaceful also!

 

 

 

This is also the morning that I saw something I never thought I would see- a fish punched to death in front of me.  Yes, you read that right.  Now, before everyone gets all animal rights crazy, I will explain.  Our boat captain/guide was also a fisherman.  He has a line from the boat and he hopes to catch fish for his family or to sell when he does these tours.  He did catch a fish and he told us we could buy it.  Well, you cannot decide you want the fish at the end of the tour.  We had to make the decision right there in the ocean.  And you cannot put a big tuna in a small boat with small children and not expect it to thrash around and cut little feet.  So, you have to punch it.  As long as I live though, I will never forget turning around in the boat and watching this happen.  (I was sitting right in front of the captain so I had the best view.)  The kids missed this show (probably for the best); but they did get to see our tuna have one or two last thrashes on the bottom of the boat.  Nothing like National Geographic at your feet.
Because my children are demented, they were very intrigued by our cook cleaning and gutting the fish once we got to the house.  Jesy even talked John into bringing me the fish head- it was a very proud moment for both of them.  And do you see Kathleen trying to hold the fish?  That sucker was heavy!  She could not hold it on her own.

The kids also enjoyed watching the New Year's Eve pig be carved up.  I stayed out of the kitchen, but Jesy and the older kids watched it live.

I love to go snorkeling.  Seriously- it's one of my favorite activities.  So, I was pretty bummed that I could not go on this year's snorkeling trip.  John could not go because of his ear infection and Kathleen decided to stay home and keep my company (that's my girl!) so Jesy could take Amalie and Colin.  They got some great underwater photos.

My other favorite activity in Bali- getting pedicures and massages.  It's so cheap there (less than $10 for Jesy and I and even cheaper for the kids) and they do a really great job.  The girls and I got pedicures at the beginning and the end of the trip, and we all love the massages.  Except for John.  I cannot picture that child sitting still for over five minutes, let alone an hour massage.  This is one of my favorite stories from Bali:  I made an appointment for Colin to get a massage one day.  He complained bitterly.  He doesn't like them, why do I have to bother him while he is playing on the Ipad and reading his book, etc.  You should have seen him walking up the steps to get his massage- it was similar to an execution walk.  Guess what he said to the massage therapist after it was over?  Can you come back tomorrow?  Ha- I knew that kid would like it!

What a trip!  Bali truly is paradise.  And with all that activity during the day, you may wonder what we did at night.  Watched movies and played on the Ipad, because mommy and daddy were too exhausted to do anything else.



 

Bye Bali!