Big Mac Moment of Weakness

So I have to confess to a very un-Russian, all-American moment of weakness yesterday. Katie, Karlie, and I were all hanging around the hostel and noticed that our diets have consisted almost entirely of carbs. I for one was craving a big hunk of meat (hi, my name's Marie and I am a carnivore...) and a little taste of America. So we decided to go to a Russian McDonald's for "the full Russian experience" as one of my friends quipped. A happy meal and a coke? Yes, please! Better than all of those carbs, for sure...

I think we made up for our un-Russian evening today, though. Maksim came over this morning to supervise making blinis, a dish so Russian that it has its own national day! It's called Масленица and to my understanding it is a celebration roughly equivalent to Mardi Gras. Just add some jam and sweet milk and we were in business, Russian-style! Tonight, Miles made our group another traditional Russian dish: borsch. This cabbage, beet, and carrot-based soup is surprisingly filling. Between the 2 dishes, I felt that we counteracted our American moment of weakness. And, really, the Russians like McDonald's as much as we do, though they seem to think that it is the sole restaurant that defines the US.

Between the two days of food, if I continue to eat this way, I'll probably wind up being the size of a house. And next to all of the tall, thin, beautiful Russian women, too...hmm, salads from now on, anyone?

пока!