Moscow Part One

Moscow Part One

Moscow is having a very, very mild winter. No snow anywhere and my window is open right now.
Natives and other Russian-speakers with the right skills are getting paid much more than they would in similar corporate jobs in the US or Europe; one person today told me it was three times as much.
Just before I got here I had lunch with a woman who emigrated from Russia twenty years ago. Her first piece of advice was "don't get married." I haven't been out of the office much, but I don't feel much at risk.
In fact something about this city makes me feel perpetually under-dressed.
The amount of renovations and new construction is staggering. I haven't seen any part of the city whose looks reflect the fact that Russia is still, in some ways, a developing country.
The fact that Russia has 26 billionaires and is the most expensive city in the world probably helps.
And oh yeah, my tri-band US cellphone works here! Email made the long line at passport control a little less demoralizing.

last modified: 07:41:32 16-Jan-2007
in categories:Other/Travel

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