2016: the good, the bad, the mundane

It's been noted that 2016 wasn't a great year for the world - take your pick of natural disasters, wars, terrorist attacks, or elections as an illustrating point.  However, I've decided to end on a good note by writing down some of the highlights from my year, starting from the last post.  So, before it's too late, my 2016:

- My friend, Brendan, came to visit from Connecticut and found my 10 tips super useful.  We had a cultural tour of Moscow which consisted mainly of food, but also included museums, parks, and a visit to the Bolshoi where we saw the opera Katerina Izmailova.

- My translations for an exhibition at the Jewish Museum in Moscow were published in a bilingual book! And my name was printed! I did not buy the book.  It was expensive.  Instead, I took a picture of the book.

- I went on a field trip to a cheese farm run by an American guy and his family.  There were over a dozen kinds of cheeses, wines, and meats, and I got to befriend the goats!

- There was the annual America trip with the traditional food, New York stop, beach time, and shopping.  Also the Olympics!

- I voted in the presidential election.  It was a really complicated process, but it was important to get done.

-  I finally had the opportunity to travel to Sochi in October, at first for work and then for play.  I spent a day in the botanical gardens, made friends with a monkey, and jumped off of a boat into the Black Sea.

- After that, I got to travel to Kazan twice, this time to train FIFA volunteers ahead of the Confederations Cup in 2017.  I saw the sites in one day and spent the rest of my trips eating Tatar food.

- I had a very American Thanksgiving in that there was an all-you-can-eat buffet with every traditional dish, and eat it all we did.

- There was one weekend where I was without my phone, and I first realized, then accepted, that I am rather useless without it.

- Last weekend we celebrated Christmas together, and it was nice enough to make up for my having been sick with the flu for the past week.

So, 2017: here's to more interesting projects, more laughs, more learning, more love!

In memory of Gene Wilder, a great man and a personal friend - we will never forget you or your kindness.  

Life on the edge

If you're not already aware (ie if you don't read the news ever), the ruble and the Russian economy are going through tough times - the word "crisis" has accurately been used to describe the situation.  To give a brief summary, the ruble is at its lowest rate against the dollar in its history, inflation is rising in Russia, companies are unable to pay back their foreign debt (held largely in dollars), and it's only getting worse.

Why? Partially because of Western sanctions against Russia for its actions in the Ukraine.  Another significant cause is the huge drop in oil prices - while this seems like a good thing because it results in cheaper gas prices for those of you back in the States, it's terrible for oil exporting countries, most of whom rely on the price of crude oil being somewhere around $100 a barrel (to give a rough average) to break even.  It's now fallen to around $60 a barrel and shows no immediate signs of rising.  

What does this mean in real terms, for people living in Russia? Because of inflation, it means that the prices of everything from food to medicines to clothing and electronics have gone up.  To give a real example, I bought medication today for 766 rubles that only 28 days ago cost 750.  Grocery bills are quietly going up 50, 100, 150 rubles more than you expect based on what you're used to paying.  

Because of sanctions, a lot of food items are simply not available.  The most noticable for me is imported cheese, as I find Russian produced cheeses to be fairly bland and plastic-y, and therefore lived on English cheddar and Italian mozzarella. Other items have gone the same route and will continue to do so as existing stock is sold.  

Because of the combined effects, going on vacation to either the US or Europe is simply no longer an option for many people, as the exchange rate vastly decreases their purchasing power.  When I first arrived in Russia two and a half years ago, the rate was around 30 rubles to the dollar; now it's around 70.  Luckily I planned my New Year's trip to Bishkek, so it won't be as bad.

While people are certainly worried, some are also finding some humor in the current situation. 

Unfortunately, things aren't slated to get better any time soon, but for the time being there's not much else to do besides sit, watch, and hope for the best.