Night out and Shopping trip!!

I can hardly believe that I’ve already been here two weeks! On one hand it feels like I’ve only just arrived and on the other it feels like I’ve been here for years!

I’ve been having problems with my mobile phone, first the sim card that was left for me was too big and now the new sim card does not work as I’ve not had my phone unlocked!! And getting your phone unlocked is not as easy as it sounds; there are not the 101 phone shops here as there are in the UK. Anyway despite all that, I’ve managed to be in touch with Rebecca, who is out here doing the same thing as me and was very excited when she invited me to hers for supper last Saturday, my first night out!

She was able to order me a taxi and I had a copy of her address on my ipad and so when the taxi arrived I jumped in and showed the driver the address. As we set off I suddenly felt a little nervous! What would happen if we got lost… do Kazan taxi drivers have to take ‘the knowledge’ as they do in the London? I didn’t have a phone that I could call Rebecca on, nor would the internet work, so I couldn’t email. I did however have a photo of my address so thought if we do get lost he could always just take me home again. My fears turned out to be irrelevant as about 10 minutes later I saw Rebecca’s smiling face. The taxi ride was 96 roubles which is about £2.00.  

It was wonderful to have a conversation with someone who understood exactly what you were saying. She was a great help and gave me a map with the instructions of how to get to the nearest supermarket. Apparently I’m only about a 15 minute walk to the city centre and a shopping centre call Koltso. I had a thoroughly enjoyable evening and was filled in on the trials and tribulations of working for Russian families! It's so great to have met someone so nice that is doing the same sort of job, I no longer feel alone in a strange city not being able to communicate with anyone. All I need now is for my phone to work!  

The following day, armed with my trusty map and crossed fingers I set out to find Koltso. I live just above where it says park on the right handside and the shopping centre is by the 'M' .

 

 

 

 

It looked easy on the map, just follow the road round to the bottom and then turn right. But life and map reading is never that simple! I followed the road round and then found a huge pile of snow … it surly can’t be this way so I turned around and tried to see if I could work out where I was by looking at a street sign, just one slight problem, the signs on the buildings didn’t match the ones on my map! As I stood there pondering what to do, a young chap walked past so I stopped him and pointed on the map where I wanted to go, he pointed in the direction of the mound of snow, then he obviously decided  that I’d never find it on my own, gestured for me to follow him, so I followed. (It’s amazing what you do in a strange country that you wouldn’t do at home!!) Anyway we went passed the mound of snow and onto a footpath. As we reached a fork in the path he pointed in the direction I needed to go and then disappeared in the opposite direction. I walked on down the hill past some sort of building work, not a bit of health and safety in sight as I stepped over wire rods and other building materials.

 

After about a 10 minute walk I had reached my destination…Koltso. It was very simple to get to and was just follow the road (or footpath) to the bottom and then turn right, I would be fine to find my way home.

Kolsto is a large(ish) shopping centre, with a supermarket on the ground floor and a cinema on the top floor. The middle floor is full of cloths shops and what look like shops selling beauty product, I guess these are in place of our phone shops! As I made my way down the escalator, to the ground floor I could see into the entrance, I saw ladies putting their hand bags into a clear plastic bag which was then sealed, not wanting to get shouted at for not following the rules I put my bag into a plastic bag and had it sealed, however whilst I was shopping I noticed lots of people walking around with unsealed bags, so made a mental note to ask Rebecca about it.

The first isle that I came to was the fresh fruit and veg, although you wouldn’t know it to look at it. There was very little produce and what there was, didn’t look very fresh. I think we forget how lucky we are with the variety of products we have in the UK. I had the choice of cabbage, potatoes, tomatoes, cucumber, apples and oranges. Although it didn’t look completely fresh it did look like it hadn’t been sprayed with preservatives. I put a few apples into my basket   

Next was a fridge filled with pouches of mayo, so many different varieties! I stood in awe for a few moments. This whole photo is mayonnaise, and there was more, this was all I could fit into the camera.

 

 

 

 

 

 

I then saw the freezers fill with the ravioli stuff I’d seen on my first supermarket experience. I’ve since discovered that it is called, Pelmeni (пельмени in Russian). They are a Russian version of ravioli, and, yes, you do eat them with sour cream!

I also purchased some pasta, yoghurt, grape juice, crisps, and a jar of what looks like pickled baby tomatoes – just to see what they taste like!   

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Shopping done, I had to remind myself not be buy too much as I had the walk home, up the hill and then up all the stairs to my flat. When I got in, put the shopping away and made myself a cup of tea, I felt very relieved that I had made it there and back in one piece and had even crossed a couple of roads. Later that evening I made myself a supper of pasta and pickled baby tomatoes…  on their own, cold,  they are not that tasty, but heated, mixed with pasta and a little cheese on the top they tasted quite nice.