Neither cold, nor bullets, nor nuclear radiation…

…is able to penetrate through the numerous layers of the average toddler’s winter outfits here in Russia. Seriously, as we walk around town, we see these kids with so many layers of clothing on that they can’t even bend their arms or their legs. It is quite funny to watch, because these kids who are in strollers or are waddling look like little mummies, with their arms straight out in front of them, as if rigor mortis has set in.
Speaking of funny incidents regarding clothes, today as I was walking home from shopping, I ran into a guy who was walking towards me with a beer in one hand (which is always a bit of a dangerous sign, because you never know what kind of person—and more accurately, how SOBER of a person—you are going to encounter. Anyways, as I got nearer to the guy, I looked at him with my now normal, stoic Russian face. It melted into a smile, however, when I saw that he was wearing a S.F. 49ers’ wool cap on his head. They happen to be my favorite team (which is a tough thing to admit right now, as they are currently 2 wins and 12 losses for the season!), and it was just too odd to see someone here wearing their logo. I thought to myself, “Well, I am sure that they didn’t envision this (a drunk Russian) when they marketed their product!” Of course, the man who was to some extent inebriated, didn’t like me smiling at him, and so he glared an evil glare. I quickly realized why he was glaring, which, of course, only made me laugh even more, right as we passed each other. Not wanting to find out if he was following me, I just put my head down and started walking—pretty confident that he couldn’t keep up (which, it turned out, he wasn’t.)