A Time of Thanksgiving

Today was a very interesting day. We celebrated Canadian Thanksgiving today (almost a week late) because two of the other teachers are Canadians. We had a great party with an abundance of food, dessert, homemade buns, and so on. It was delicious. I always say that I eat better (and more) in Moscow than I ever have before. Today was no exception. The only things missing other than the turkey and stuffing, was cranberries and pumpkin pie -- we wanted to find and make these both very badly, but cranberries and pumpkin are unique to the west, and Moscow's stores do not have them. Regardless, the meal was delicious. I ate until I was stuffed... I still feel stuffed a few hours later!

In the spirit of thanksgiving, I realize I have a lot to be thankful for. Security is definitely one of these things. Last night, at 2:45 AM, someone rang the doorbell to my apartment. Just the day before, I read about how a man was mistakenly stabbed to death because his murderer had the wrong apartment. My flatmate also heard of someone who was shot through his door while investigating who was there. This is a very crowded city, and it definitely has its share of crime, especially agaist those who don't blend in -- the rich, the foreigners, dark skinned people, etc. All megacities do have their crime though. Be glad if you live somewhere safe.

Another unnerving event happening today was when I got on the Tram (bus on rails) and sat down. Right across from where I was sitting was a large, brand new baby stroller -- it looked like it had never been used -- and no one was standing near it, it was just sitting there, with its wheels locked. Inside it was not a baby, but a small, new looking suitcase. This seemed very suspicious, especially in light of the fact that two days earlier, Nalchik, a SW Russian city was raided my extremist Muslim militants. I made a very fast exit at the nearest stop. This might have cost me an extra 40 cents, but it was a wise choice.