A Moscow secret

Day 3 in Moscow.

I awoke early and had a Chassidish start to my day. Mikvah (amazing how much it is missed when on shlichus), I leined for the early Minyan (7:00), got an Aliyah (being the only Levi there), and FINALLY said the Hagomel blessing.

I was supposed to meet Peter Order (the other sponsor) at Minyan, and I even arranged a pair of Tefillin for him, but he went to a different shul, thinking that was where we had made up to go (or maybe I went to the wrong shul).

If anyone ever visits Moscow, put this on your list of things to do, of little Moscow secrets. Breakfast in the Marina Roscha kosher restaurant is a bargain and is delicious. For 250 rubles (about 9 bucks), you get an all-you-can eat buffet with everything you can imagine, plus good juices, tea and coffee.

As well, there are two tables on the sides, and behind each of them a woman stands. One on table there are all kinds of vegetables and salad dressings, and a woman with a knife will toss up a salad for you based on your preferences on the spot.

The other table is for eggs, and it is full of spices, cheeses, etc. You can have a lady fry an egg any way you like or get creative.

Lunch and supper, on the other hand, they need to work on.

Anyway, from there I went to buy kosher baby cereal which can only be bought in Moscow. This will relieve some pressure off Chayale, who needs to make everything from scratch in order to feed Chaim.

It was odd to realize that an ordinary store in Moscow is equivalent to Stavropol's largest food shop.

Russia is so different in many ways from the US and Canada, but one way which stands above all is how everything is sourced to Moscow. It's like every province is a slave to the main city. This means that all the best food from Stavropol winds up in Moscow. Since no one really cares about the smaller cities, especially since that's not where all the money is they wind up at the far back of the line.

Thank G-d we have Metro.

Now if only we can get a normal shopping mall and some normal stores.

Rant over.

Anyway, I then went to finish sorting out the meat, which is another problem. I have to pay for the meat, AND for the driver to drag it and bribe the busdriver to take it with him on the trip to Stavropol.

I made a huge order.

One thing really impressed me about the Bolshoi Bronnaya shul.

At the entrance after you get through security you are immediately greeted by a smiling Rabbi with a pair of Tefillin in his hands asking how he can help you.

Of course, if you don't have a Kippa, he hands one to you. And if you haven't put on Tefillin, he'll wrap some on you.

Luckily I went to Mikvah or he may have stripped me naked.

They also have an awesome Fleishig restaurant on the 5th floor. Real classy, yummy food.

Peter soon dropped by and we chatted for awhile about personal issues. I'm going to get him a pair of Tefillin, and he will be sending 3 computers fully equipped to Stavropol to help us start our office.

The I had to rush back and pack up. My cab driver didn't know the way, and what was supposed to be a half hour drive turned into an hour and a half. When I got to the apartment I was staying, the other cab was already there, impatient.

Boruch Hashem I made it to the airport, hauling my 52 kilo bag behind me (full of kosher food and books).

In an hour my plane flies. I gotta get to my gate.