Why Did the Chicken Cross Queens Boulevard?

Why, because it had a death wish, of course!

A few months ago, I published what--I hope--was a humorous piece about navigating the street of Taiwan. So now that I am in Moscow, I felt a comparison was in order.

Unlike Taiwan, Moscow has, thankfully, discovered sidewalks. One is not, generally, forced to walk in the streets except in a few places where traffic lights are far apart and crossing does not seem possibly except by jaywalking. A couple of people have told me this is best avoided, as Russian drivers will, literally, chase jaywalkers back onto the street. But on the street where my school's central offices are located, there doesn't seem to be much other choice, a lot of the time.

Sidewalks aside, the streets of Moscow have some other interesting features. Major throughfares abound in underground passageways called perekhods. In many places, the street is simply too wide for pedestrians to cross in a single turn of a traffic light, so underground passageways have been installed. Queens Boulevard, take note.

Also ubiquitous on Moscow streets are stalls known variously as produkti or ryenoks. These serve much the purpose that gas station convenience stores serve in America and 7-11 serves in Taiwan, although they are less convenient. Making a purchase at a produkti requires asking for what you want from someone behind a class screen and waiting for it to be handed to you. Some of these also operate inside of perekhods. So you are never very far from that Coca-Cola or bottleof kvass you are craving.

Other aspects of the streets in Moscow are more infuriating. One is the way street signs (don't) work. Everywhere else I have ever been, street signs are placed at the corners of intersections. Here in Moscow, that kind of street sign seems not to exist. But at least in central Moscow, there are streets telling you that a different street or site "of interest" (perhaps nothing more "of interest" than a McDonald's) is to be found in X number of meters.

Another irritating aspect of streets in Moscow is the system of tram and trolleybus stops. Surface transit in Moscow takes three forms: the bus, the tram,and the trolleybus (a vehicle that gets it power from an overhead wire like a trolley, but does not run on tracks). Bus stops are clearly visible and marked shelters. Not so tram and trolleybus stops, which are usually nothing more than a sign hanging overhead from the wires holding up the trolley wire. This makes finding a tram or trolleybus stop difficult in some places where trees have become overgrown. Another reason I will probably not make much use of the trams.