Year: 2011

That Kiosk and Market World We Live in Called Russia…


The world of Russia at times seems to be nothing but a whole bunch of Kiosks and markets. Scattered all over the place. What is a Kiosk? Glad you asked…

Kiosk: is a small, separated garden pavilion open on some or all sides. Kiosks were common in Persia, India, Pakistan, and in the Ottoman Empire from the 13th century onward.

In the Western hemisphere and in English-speaking countries, a kiosk is also a booth with an open window on one side. Some vendors operate from kiosks (see mall kiosk), selling small, inexpensive consumables such as newspapers, magazines, lighters, street maps, cigarettes, and confections.

An information kiosk (or information booth) dispenses free information in the form of maps, pamphlets, and other literature, and/or advice offered by an attendant…

Okay well that is close enough to what we have in Russia. Except in Russia anything and everything is sold in a Kiosk. The picture above and to the right is a chicken Kiosk. It sells that yummy delicious rotisserie chicken that I have written about before…

The next picture to the left is a Doughnut/Beer Kiosk. This is a very common sight around Moscow. Grab a doughnut and a beer and be happy… 🙂

The third picture in the center of the page farther down is a Bread Kiosk. It has fresh baked bread that is still warm when you buy it. The smell is heavenly around this kiosk…

People are lined up like you see in the picture all day long and it does not matter what the temperature is outside. They will be here and it could be -30 C. No – there is no lack of bread in any store. It is just that people want fresh baked bread right out of the oven. I like it also…

In Russia a Kiosk is very important but we also have another way to buy things that is just as important. The market…

In Russia you have what you would call in the West – Gypsies Markets. They are everywhere and they are an intricate part of society. There is no better way to shop and buy. When I first came to Russia I did not like these markets. But I have grown very fond of them and now I put the Russian market above stores such as a Walmart. Just like today, Sveta called me and told me that she picked up a new pair of jeans from a market on the way to work. These markets are located to catch people getting off train stops, bus stops and metro stops. It makes life very convenient and simple…

Here below is a picture of a market that is near our train station…

In this market you can buy anything from fresh fruit and veggies to a new coat for Winter…

Also do not think flea-market like in America! These Russia markets are name brand and new items. Think about these markets as the same as a name brand outlet malls in America and you would have the correct products available, only much less sophisticated and plain ugly at times. Yes that woman in the left of the last picture is in a real fur coat. Yes that is very common in Russia…

In Russia practicality overrides stupidity anytime. So wearing a fur coat when the temperature plummets is just good survival sense. Sveta will be wearing her fur coat before long. If I remember correctly it is made of lambs wool and she just loves it. I know that it is very warm. Another practicality is that Russians see no reason to make a business look nice on the outside or inside for that matter. Though the inside will get the beauty treatment, if anywhere does at all. Russians look over the run down exterior and lack of eye candy on a business. Like I said practicality is more important…

Now you know a little more about Russia and you see why I just love Russia. It is a wonderful fun place that everyone should enjoy. It might be a little rough and the people hard to understand at times. But life here in Russia is honest and true…

Lets hope that never goes away…

Kyle Keeton
Windows to Russia!

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Finger Pointing has been Turned on the West…


Now isn’t this cool? I realize that this is very superficial at this point right now, but it is a start and it is a reality. I have made many expressions that the East is getting really tired of the Western worlds flagrant disregard for law and order. I understand that nothing will happen to Blair or Bush but the simple fact that we have attempted to put in motion the gears to prosecute the scum politicians is a wonderful thing in my eyes…

Watch the video and it will explain about what is happening in the War Crimes Tribunal in the Malaysian capital…

I suspect that we will see a lot more politicians being brought up on charges before things are going to change. I realized when Russia blackballed a whole bunch of politicians from America that we are seeing a new era starting. This War Crimes Tribunal in the Malaysian capital is just another step in the right direction of the East and her thoughts centering on the West…

I also see by comments that people in America are like big deal who cares what other people think. We will do what we want and no one will stop us. Everyone needs to stop and think a moment because times are changing and the power balance in the world is shifting. The East is rising as the West is falling. I really never thought that I would see this happening in my life time…

This (War Crimes Tribunal in the Malaysian capital) is really a wonderful thing that has happened and I hope that the world realizes how important that this is to start pointing a finger (No matter how tiny!) at the West and making the West start to face the facts that corruption, greed, bribery, lying, cheating and War are not the answer. I realize that we spend our time in the West trying to point fingers at the East and keep the populace in the West thinking about the evil Eastern World and how bad it is.

But as I say all the time: We the West need to look in the mirror and correct what is happening there first and foremost…

Kyle Keeton
Windows to Russia!

PS: It is like a snow ball rolling down a hill. It gets bigger and bigger and bigger, over time…

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Egypt Screams Once Again: The voice of the people is the voice of God…


Vox populi, vox dei – the voice of the people is the voice of God. ( Allah )!

Well, the puppet Egyptian military rulers have over-played their hands! And rightly so, the people want them out! Ever since the beginning of the Egyptian revolt, the American government had been trying to ‘manage’ the outcome!

Luckily for America, the Egyptian army had always been in the pocket of the Pentagon, ever since Mubarak Hosni was in charge of Egypt! The military helped twist things the way the American government wanted it …

But only for a while! The zeal and youthful enthusiasm that went into the last Egyptian revolt had been wickedly betrayed. The youth had no choice but to go back to the streets and oust those who have hijacked their revolution!

Once again America had stepped in where she does not belong and we created more enemies looking for us all over the world…

Vox populi, vox dei – the voice of the people is the voice of God: The American people need to think about those words as they stare at the USA government and wonder why our politicians do the bad things that they do. Those words also fit the form of God I believe in, not just Allah…

Kyle Keeton
Windows to Russia!

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Russia Warships Going to Syrian Territorial Waters to Protect Syria…


Russian warships are due to arrive at Syrian territorial waters, a Syrian news agency said on Thursday, indicating that the move represented a clear message to the West that Moscow would resist any foreign intervention in the country’s civil unrest…

Source: http://www.haaretz.com/news/middle-east/report-russia-warships-to-enter-syria-waters-in-bid-to-stem-foreign-intervention-1.396359

Time to take a stand as I understand possibly 10 Warships have been sent to Syria. These warships are nothing to mess with…

I hear Rumors that China will send warships if needed?

I was wondering when we would see a line begin to be drawn in the sand…

Now we just need to watch and see who blinks first…

Russia is correct by what she is doing. It is time that the West had someone stand up to her that has a little more firepower than the average country. The West is right now instigating the scum in Syria to revolt and it has already been proven that Britain is in Syria talking to the opposition and egging them on…

Britain in Secrete Talks with Syrian Rebels…

Kyle
Windows to Russia!

PS: I have to say with all honesty that the Western Empire is a pathetic pile of horse manure. The Western war drums are being beat 24 hours a day now and from what I see, the arm chair warmongers are so excited that they are wetting their pants with joy, as we stumble into a significantly counterproductive situation straight into World War III…

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In Russia it is Easy to Eat Healthy…


Many many years ago, I use to watch foreign exchange students come into America. The first thing that they had to deal with that was interesting for me to watch was their internal bodies reaction to the American food. Very sick and usually for two weeks was the norm…

The exchange students would finally adjust and then the weight gain would start. A once thin young person would become pudgy. This was a 60+ percent of the time occurrence. Now since I was in food service it was a challenge to me to discover why this was happening…

To make a long story shorter: I had amassed the evidence and was all but ostracized in the industry for years because I dared to even think that food served in America was unhealthy. I had research papers and even wrote several publications. These publications were blacklisted and I was threatened with my job…

Now we all know this is true but we do not know what to do about it. How you going to get food healthy for you if the system is against you doing that?

Well now I have seen the other side of the equation. In fact I am living the other side of that equation. In Russia the food is so much better than in America. You eat fresh fruits, fresh vegetables, fresh milk, fresh anything and everything. The reason why is that fresh food is available on every street corner. In fact many times you will find a fruit and veggy stand in the middle of a neighborhood. Just waiting for you to come and buy some beets, potatoes, cabbage and or what ever. Then if you look around the odds are that you will see a rotisserie chicken place nearby and they have the most fantastic chicken you will ever buy, already cooked. They are whole chickens and you can stand there and watch them cook in front of your eyes, as they turn around and around on their rods. Then you look at the next corner and you have fresh butter, fresh milk and fresh cottage cheese sitting on the tailgate of a truck waiting for you to buy it. Then you have fresh homemade bread being sold and baked on the next corner. Then to top all that off you have fresh baked cabbage pies and meat pies on the next corner that you come to. Little kiosks of food everywhere and everything is wholesome and fresh…

Food in a Russian grocery store is much like food in an American grocery store. But the difference here is that we do not have to buy that processed food from a store. We have a choice and that choice is not a 30 mile drive to get to a farm. The farm comes to you, even if you are in the heart of one of the largest cities in the world. It makes it a lot easier to be healthy when you can walk down the street and get a delicious apple almost anytime of the day…

So now I have a new problem that I am happy to have. After 5 years here in Russia, I have without realizing it until today, have become unable to eat processed foods! I become sick if I eat processed foods like preformed patties of beef and chicken, diet sodas or any bottled carbonated drinks, processed cheeses and dairy products (like American cheese), margarine and hundreds of other items that you take for granted. You have to understand that Sveta likes to eat only fresh items and she was raised to buy from local markets. I have been eating what she eats and have been acclimating to Russian food…

Now when I try to eat something like a preformed beef cutlet – I get plain sick and my body rejects such food (I will throw it up!). I drink diet soda and my body gets sick from drinking it. I have lost all my years of build up to resist terrible factory made food…

It gives a whole new light on what the kids went through coming to America and having to eat that cafeteria food that we serve them and call real food…

Damn I am really lucky… 🙂

Kyle Keeton
Windows to Russia!

PS: We also have fresh made doughnut places that smell heavenly. They fry the doughnuts as you wait and they are so Yummy! But that is not really food that is good for you, but I had to bring them up because when Boza and I walk by them our mouths start to water…

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Putin and his Russia don’t deserve the bad rap…


Putin and his Russia don’t deserve the bad rap.
In the right light, we see Russia and Putin have taken some undue heat. Here’s a look at some of the most serious accusations leveled at Putin and his Russia.

One of the rare good articles that came out of the Western Media. In fact as the comments on the article say:

Unexpected source of objective and truthful information about Russia…

One of the few decent articles about Russia…

Can’t believe that this comes from a person with an anglo-saxon name. What about a good old cold war spirit?

I totally agree with author. Only true facts and no russophobic fiction. Thank you for this surprising article!

Of course there is the regular dictator trash comments that always appear as if by magic…

But I was thinking the same thing as many of the comments and kept waiting for the finality of hate to appear. It never did appear and it was actually a good article…

I could not believe that someone got it from the Western press and even from the “The Christian Science Monitor”…

Who would have thunk it?

Kyle Keeton
Windows to Russia!

Article: Putin and his Russia don’t deserve the bad rap

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Russia is Tying the Korea’s By Gas…


Russia has been quietly working on a solution to the Korean peninsula. This solution is not involving heated discussions of threats and war as the West seems to like to induce. These discussions have been about gas. You know that lighter than air gold that fuels the world but is overshadowed by its brother – big oil…

Now this is not new news in Russia and I have been following it with personal interest. I have lots of articles about it in my news blog but I decided that today it was time to do some coffee thinking’s over the subject. So with that great cup of coffee, I have come to the conclusion that Russia has pegged a good deal on this situation with the Korean peninsula…

It has become fact now that Russia has procured the plans to build a $6 billion pipeline to South Korea. It of course will go through North Korea. That makes North Korea a transit country. This is a subject that was born when Kim Jong-il  and Medvedev had a pow wow back in August of 2011. Gazprom had already made a trip to the Korea’s to get the ground work laid and that is when a month later Kim Jong-il made one of his famous train trips to Russia. South Korea has also approved the deal and North Korea has clapped their hands in happiness at the money to be made by being a transit country…

They say that it is worth several hundred millions of dollars for North Korea in cash that North Korea just has to let the gas flow and do nothing else. South Korea is needing Russian gas, (like real bad and right now) it (gas) is being delivered by ocean tankers in the liquified form. Not the best way to do vast volumes of gas…

This is a huge step forward in the North/South relationship. This ties the countries with a strong financial bond that will hopefully see a pleasant change in working conditions between the two countries. Russia will front the money to build the pipeline and the several years of construction of the pipeline in North Korea will stimulate the economy to boot. Then all North Korea has to do is let the gas flow and collect the fees. So what an incentive the North will have to be good. With a annual gross product of around $10 billion, the North can use several hundred million more a year in dollars…

Kyle Keeton
Windows to Russia!

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Russia Still has Soviet Airspace Controls in Effect…


Russia intends to cancel fees for foreign airlines using the airspace over Siberia, so that flights from Europe to Asia become cheaper…

So that is why I see European countries fly around Moscow instead of flying a straighter line to where they need to go. Did not realize that until today…

Russia is the only country that charges airlines for its airspace, which mainly affects the cost of flights from Europe to Asia. Many experts say that this rate reminiscent of the Cold War days, when the Soviet airspace was closed and foreign airlines could be used only if specific payments were made to the state…

This is a common issue in Russia for many things, not just airspace. The vestiges of the Soviet Union die hard at times…

Then after looking more closely I realized that this is only really happening because of the WTO. Other words if the WTO was not involved it would not happen yet. The incentive is not strong enough otherwise…

I also spotted a tidbit of information that any flight landing at Moscow has a special fee incurred. Just a little money extra to pad the wallet it seems… 🙂

It is said by the whiners of doom, that Russia will lose 15% of total revenues that Airports have to have to survive on…

I have something to say about that: It looks to me like if Russia removes the fee and or fees, then the increase in airline traffic from Europe would jump tremendously in volume. For right now European traffic is intentionally routed around the usage of Moscow as a regular stopover…

Kyle
Windows to Russia!

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Speed Cameras, Radar Guns and Alcohol Detectors in Russia…


About 6 months, ago Svet’s son Misha received a ticket in the mail addressed to him from the police. It seems at that time, if my memory serves me correct that he was caught by a camera out near where Sveta and I live. I remember telling Sveta about a week before he was caught speeding that there is one of those speed cameras that they have all over Europe and America. Now we will not talk about how fast or slow he was going because this article is not about right or wrong speeds. So I have thought about him being ticketed that way here lately, because everyone is in an uproar about what the Russian government is doing. Well at least everyone who drives…

It seems that many countries in the world the governments have decided that using a speed camera is a good way to get extra money because it sure does not slow anyone down around Russia. I remember several speed cameras in Florida and I had to go fight a ticket in court many years ago around Jacksonville Florida. I won because there was no photo at that time to back up the case when I went to court and the judge threw it out. I realized that if I had paid like they said for me to do I would never have known that I could beat the charge. I am sure that it is different now because that was when cameras were new to trap people with. I am not sure about how Russia is going to make everyone pay…

Sveta and I see them all the time now all over Moscow and they are prevalent at all the police stations as you travel Russia…

Another thing that we see all the time now is radar guns. The police are well armed now in trying to ticket you with their new modern speed guns…

They also have a new alcohol detector that is suppose to work as you are even driving by the device. I am not sure how accurate it would be, but I have seen them around…

The police in Russia are making more money and have lots of new toys. They also still have their AK-47’s to play with if you get out of line. I still love it when I see police standing at there traffic stations and they have a AK slung over their shoulder. Seems that has a tendency to make you obedient when they wave for you to pull over… 🙂

Sveta and I drive with in the limits and try to stay away from these new toys. Sveta is not a back seat driver she is a front seat driver who reads all the speed limit signs and makes sure that I know what the speed is… 😉

So that is what is causing drivers to get riled up in Russia. Russians do not like to have anyone get in their way when they drive.

Even if it is a camera…

Kyle Keeton
Windows to Russia!

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Coffee and Shopping in Moscow…


This morning that cup of coffee (chicory) was wonderful and I thought about a billboard that Sveta pointed out while driving around Moscow. It was about chicory and how chicory is the new taste sensation for hot beverages in Russia. I had to smile at that. I guess I am just ahead of the times and the brand I use most often is the photo to the right  >>>>>>

Well Sveta and I made a trip this weekend to Auchan. I have written before about Auchan in Moscow and made it clear that going to any Auchan in Moscow is like going shopping after Thanksgiving in America. But in Moscow it is 365 days a year…

This Saturday was no exception. We fought a couple of hours of traffic to travel 10 km to Auchan from our flat. Then found the parking lot almost full. We finally found a spot that allowed us to at least see the building in the distance and were happy to get that spot…

The first thing you have to do when you get to an Auchan is eat. No – I realize that you ate at home but it has been at least 3 hours since you left home and most likely longer and you have at least 6 to 7 more hours to deal with shopping in Auchan. Unless you just leave after eating, then you still have several hours to get home. Why – you will stand 2 hours in the check out line at times. So running in to Auchan and grabbing one item is out of the question. So just stay and shop and always plan on a whole day trip to Auchan even though you live only 10 km away from it… 🙂

Like McDonald’s in Russia is the busiest in the world, so are Auchans some of the busiest in the world. They (Auchan) are a site to behold while shopping. I was able to get a few pictures and I took them because all the xmas stuff is out. Now to be fair it is not xmas here in Russia but New Years. But still I was shocked at the xmas stuff everywhere and it reminded me of America. Skip Thanksgiving and get to xmas in November. Except Russians do not have a Thanksgiving to skip and New Years shopping has definitely not started yet…

That is my sweetie at the lower left corner of the photo above. I was able to get a picture taken when everyone left the vicinity and I snapped a quick photo of the xmas items being set up all over the store…

This next photo is of a swarm (as I call them) of people that are like bees flying to flowers to get pollen…

At one point right after this photo above it got so bad and crowded with shopping carts and people that I started laughing. It looked like shopping cart mayhem and death to anyone that would fall. I can not explain it but Russians drive shopping carts like they drive cars and that is scary. I come home with bruised heels and shins every time, from people running into you with their shopping carts. A babushka is deadly with a shopping cart. By the way as I have said before this is one of the largest stores I have ever seen and it is packed like this from one side to the other. With the exception of minor lulls such as the first photo above…

Sveta and I ate at Auchan, as I said that you must do to survive. So I have to talk about a new place to eat. At least for me and to Sveta also. It is called Quick: Quick is a French chain of hamburger fast food restaurants. It is one of Europe’s largest restaurants chains. In recent years, its worldwide expansion has accelerated. Quick is similar in theme to McDonald’s. In 2007 it was “nationalized” by the French government through its investment holding company CDC.

This is the first one (Quick) that I have seen anywhere in Russia and it was really good. I can honestly tell you that McDonald’s will be in trouble against this company in Russia. The burgers were fantastic and delicious…

As we were eating, it dawned on me that Quick was a French company and Auchan is a French company. It looks like from the information that I was seeing around the store that Quick maybe in a partnership with Auchan or possibly more. So it looks like Quick will be located in all the Auchans in Russia and that will be a lot of stores…

Oh by the way! Wait until New Years shopping really starts here in Russia. Maybe Sveta and I can go back to see the crowds?

Maybe – because a 8 to 9 hour shopping trip is a little too much. We can get all that we want within walking distance, but it is fun to see what the crazies are up to once in awhile… 🙂

Kyle and Sveta
Windows to Russia!

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