VODKA AND SAUSAGE. RUSSIA'S VERY OWN FOOD GROUP

Did i say that my little grocery adventure was supposed to revive my spirits? Because i believe i reached a new level of exhaustion that i have never felt before. Not only was i boggled at all the different types of food, but i couldn't even translate to labels to help me figure out what this strange solidified meat substance is! Upon entering into the sausage isle which was just full to the brim of just about any form of sausage you can think of, as well as what looked liked sausage, but i don't think had an ounce of meat actually in it, I'm not sure if i wanted to just laugh or cry.

 I found what looked to be a tube of fat with floating bits of meat and vegetables inside it. I made a mental note to never use a recipe that called for the "tube of mystery." Just in case the alcohol store down the street didn't satisfy your drunken taste buds, 1/3 of the store is reserved just for you and all  your alcoholic needs. I just discovered that what we call tomato sauce, they call spicy ketchup. (i got a bottle, so fingers crossed!) Located between the frozen balls of what looks like meat and large bins of Russian candy they have whole dried fish as well as a glorious pile of fish heads (thank goodness, i would hate to have my fish without eyes!), which i hear make a fantastic fish stock as well as room aroma.

And if the fish heads put a damper in your air then freshen it up with some.....(drum roll)....scented toilet paper! That's right folks! We got daisy, raspberry, ocean waves, tangy orange, strawberries n' cream, or my personal favorite green apple! I think it's safe to say the fruity scents have won in this competition.

I gave a little squeal and skip when i saw my first cow tongue! At least i think it was cow....or a whale...either way, it was HUGE! Observe:

Here you are! Vodka filled chocolates! Yup, we are DEFINITELY in Russia.

We're given 4000 rubles a month for our grocery's, and my immediate thought was, "let's feast!" Wrong my friend! 4000 rubles equals out to about $120 dollars. 30 rubles = $1, are with me? So it definitely took some adjusting to not grasp my heart, shrivel up and die (okay, maybe a bit of an exaggeration) when i would see the number 87 next to a bag of pelmeni (Russian version of tortellini). I had my very first horrific language barrier experience when i was purchasing my groceries (oh! and we actually have to pay for our own grocery bags, that kinda tickled my fancy) and the clerk just started rambling off in Russian pointing at me and the money that i had just given him, so i just did what any other confused and helpless American girl would do and just shoved more money in his face. Turns out he just wanted to know if i had five more rubles so he didn't have to give me a bunch of change. whoops!

So this is the result of my first Russian grocery shopping extravaganza! It's funny how you swarm to the food familiar to you, hence the pizza, pigs in a blanket, eggs (which still had a little dirt on them and i believe one still had a feather stuck to it), oatmeal and bananas (chocolate syrup costs an arm and a leg so i guess ill just have to learn to eat bananas the healthy way). I didn't have an once of energy left in my body so i just slurped some strange fruity jelly substance through a straw sitting in our 10 x 9 kitchen apartment until i was given permission to pass out.