Peesha Nasha

So, what do I think of Russian food so far? Well.. there's a Russian saying, "schee i kasha, peesha nasha" (or "cabbage soup and porridge, our daily meal"). That's pretty true, there's alot of both those things and in general everything is pretty boring - bland, oily, and heavy. Traditionally, the two biggest meals of the day are breakfast and supper, which I have provided at the apartment. Breakfast is always sausage, cheese, bread, blackberry jam (one of the tastier things!), yogurt, kasha, an omelet, and tea. Almost enough to get you through to dinner! Everyone drinks tea here with their meal, when I asked for a glass of water at my first meal here Mila gave me a weird look and afterwards asked me if I was an athlete, because only athletes drink water here! Instead it's tea, beer, or vodka, but not water!
Dinner's usually simple - some kind of meat (chicken or beef usually), some kind of carbs (potatoes, pasta, or rice), and the omnipresent salad of cucumber, tomatoes, and salt. To liven it all up, there is smetana, or sour cream, used on just about everything! And unlike Canada, where it's a choice between wussy 14% fat or wussier 7%, all sour cream seems to be 30% here, and the milk is like drinking cream, really! I was almost excited when Mila said she was making "spaghetti" for me one night, but it turned out to be just plain spaghetti noodles with a bottle of ketchup beside! So much for that.. Meals are so huge, I think she's made it her mission to fatten me up. There's a chance I'll actually put on weight here, though just like me, I'd say the chances are slim!
For lunch, I'm on my own. Usually I go out with friends from class to the stolovaya or a nearby restaurant. There's a good and popular vegetarian restaurant nearby - definitely a rarity in these parts! I dont think vegetarianism has quite caught on here, especially amongst russian guys - there doesnt ever seem to be more then 1 or 2 guys in there ever. Yesterday I went to Blin Blin Doughnut. It's like Russia's knockoff of McDonalds (tho of course they have that too), serving fast food borscht, blini (pancakes), and even cute little chicken kievs in cardboard takeout containers. It's a strange fusion - it really looks just like McDonalds inside, except that you can order Baltika or Nevska beer with your meal and instead of Ronnie plastered on the walls there are murals of healthy looking peasant women harvesting grain.. bizarre.