Saturday, November 2, 2013

A Horrorshow Halloween

Thanks to the Marine who mistook Molly’s Taylor Swift costume for A Clockwork Orange, Molly and I decided that our second round of Halloween would include our own rendition of Burgess’ brilliantly effed up masterpiece. For those of you who haven’t read this book, it’s one of my favorites, and uses an invented slang that is a cross between Cockney and Russian. As we were going to be attending a Halloween party hosted by a Brit in Russia, it seemed appropriately inappropriate to dress up like the malevolent and murderous teens from the novel.

Ready for a bit of the old ultra-violence
Despite the fact that a Russian guy recently told me I should stop taking gypsy cabs as I am “likely to get shot,” Molly and I decided to take one for the short jaunt across the river to our fete. However, I am now firmly against gypsy cabs, not because they might be dangerous, but because the drivers usually rip me off. Having taken the reverse route in a real taxi last Saturday night for only 290 roubles, I was highly incensed when our gypsy cab driver charged us 500 roubles and tried to say that was the normal price. Luckily, Molly dragged me away before I could start attempting to argue with him, as that would have been a surefire way to really get us shot. I resolve to only take licensed taxis henceforth, even if I find the prospect of calling a taxi dispatcher more daunting than getting into a stranger’s car.

Our American and Russian droogies
The party was a lot of fun, and we danced the night away with friends and other costumed club-goers. It’s nice to be settling into life in Moscow, but I’m a little terrified by how quickly my time here is passing. If not for the fact that the Russian government really would arrest me if I tried to overstay my visa, I might never leave. 

7 comments:

  1. I'm still waiting for an explanation of gypsy cabs. And pictures.

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  2. I'm firmly pro-gypsy cab. I've never really felt unsafe (or more so than with some legit taxi drivers). As for not getting screwed, you just have to have a firm agreement before you get in the car about how much your paying. If not, yeah you'll definitely get screwed! And it helps to have exact change so you can just throw it at him and jump out before he overcharges!

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    1. Excellent, I'm not writing them off yet then! (I'm so fickle.)

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  3. I don't understand how you haven't made friends with a gypsy cab driver yet. You seem to be making friends with everyone else!

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  5. Bay Area 2014. Are you forgetting the plan??

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  6. You gave me my copy of A Clockwork Orange! :)

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