McDonald's: looks the same inside as a nicer American McDonald's. Yes, you have to pay for the ketchup (ten rubles, about 40 cents), but it is American ketchup rather than Russian. Yes, there are "local-market" foods, at least at breakfast, and they're blinchiki. Yes, there are Happy Meals, and they appear to come with the same toys as American Happy Meals. I don't really know how much McDonald's costs in the U.S., but here, my Egg and Cheese McMuffin, hash brown, ketchup and coffee was 122 rubles, or $4.91.
It was pretty McTasty.
For big-city folk, McDonald's seems pretty run-of-the-mill, though (as my Petersburg host mom said) perceived as classier than it is in the U.S. But for many Russians it's apparently still a novelty and a big treat, since a tourist agency ad I saw on the trolley today offered three exciting attractions on its trips to Novocherkassk – a visit to the cathedral, admittance to the museum of Cossack history, and – a stop at McDonald's!! Same for tour agencies in Vladivostok advertising trips to Harbin, China, if I remember correctly.
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An American's (former) life in Taganrog.
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- Leslie
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4 comments:
PS - The first person to tell me what the title of this post means and why I chose it will win an attractive Taganrog-themed prize! (It doesn't count if you're Russian or have spent significant time in Russia. Offer void where prohibited.)
No fair! :-)
Glad you enjoyed McDonalds. Georgia did as well in Beijing, due to lack of one in Vlad... Sounds like a sin, doesn't it? Eating McDonalds food in China...
I'm going to guess it's the McDonald's slogan, on the basis that "chto" is the one word in Russian I think I know (it means "what," doesn't it?) and "lyovlyo" might mean love? "That is what I love?" or something similar to "I'm lovin' it?"
Correct! It's acutally "lyublyu," not "lyovlyo," in case you were trying to hone your Cyrillic skills. Do you remember the word что from when Nat used to say it in a funny voice? :)
Lisa also guessed right, via email, but since I didn't post anything saying so, you can both have prizes! I don't think I know your address anymore, though, so you'll have to email it to me.
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