The Cost of Nostalgia

On Saturday I was doing the grocery shopping - that's usually my job for Saturday, so it wasn't unusual.  Yulia had already picked up a lot of the groceries, so I only had potatoes on my list of produce.  I bagged up a few kilos of the usual potatoes and then saw some nice new potatoes in the bin next to it.  I decided it would be nice to make new potatoes and white gravy with peas for the kids.  That was a favorite of my Grandpa Jack Crane. He liked it in the early summer when he had fresh new potatoes and peas from his garden.  I had to make do with canned peas, but I was willing to do that to give my kids a taste of my childhood.

New potatoes in the bag.

It wasn't until I was at the checkout counter that I realized that the peas were VERY expensive.  I knew that the cost would be higher, but not as high as it was.  You can see the price on the bag - 6305 tenge.  That is $19.00!  It turns out I had bought new potatoes from France!  They are illegal in Russia because of the counter-sanctions and we assume that each of the potatoes got to fly first class in its own seat to get here.

New Potatoes and white gravy with peas.

I made the meal and it was a hit with the kids and with Yulia and my mother-in-law, Ludmila.

This is why Yulia always sends me shopping with a slight sense of trepidation!

Moscow Sheremetova Airport - April 24, 2016

During the last week of April I flew to the United States to give a talk at Coastal Carolina University.  They arranged the travel, so I flew on Aeroflot to the US and American Airlines from NY to South Carolina (two separate carriers, two separate trips and itineraries).  Normally I fly Lufthansa and United through Frankfurt, but I was through Moscow.

On my way back through Moscow, I had a 12 hour layover at Sheremetova.  I hadn't been there since we visited Krasnoyarsk in 2012 - while I was writing my dissertation - and I had never spent that much time in an airport alone (we did that much time in Istanbul on our way to KZ (see post here), but that was with the family).  The University paid for me to get a hotel, so I checked into a little mini-hotel right in the terminal for eight hours.

My micro hotel.

My micro hotel after I'd used it for sleeping and was getting ready to go wait in the terminal.

While I was out wandering, eating and reading and waiting for my flight, I ran into our friend from church and co-worker who was also on his way back to Astana.  He was on the flight an hour before me.  It is a small world when you live in Astana.

Anyway, I took some fun pictures at the airport to commemorate my time there. Enjoy!

I saw drinking fountains in Russia for the first time - and they were being used as garbage cans....

This pigeon was just chilling in the terminal - it was quite empty that late at night!

I wonder if the signage was always an upside down Ukrainian flag, or if it was just a delicious irony.

I am amazed at all the adventures that we are having living on this side of the world - even the small ones.