Living in Moscow

From the time of the fall of the Soviet Union, the capital of Russia, Moscow, began to develop at dizzying speeds. Today it is a modern metropolis where more than 15 million people live. Foreigners recently arrived in Moscow are afraid of many things (traffic jams, queues, thieves, illnesses or high prices). RBTH has spoken with foreigners from Croatia, Spain, Mexico, the United States and Australia living in Moscow about the differences in life in the Russian capital and in other cities around the world. From their answers, we can highlight seven advantages of living in Moscow.

1. Moscow never sleeps

Source: Lori / Legion Media
The first advantage mentioned by respondents is the incredible possibility of making any purchase or receiving any service of daily life at any time of day and night. "At two in the morning you can enter a bookstore to buy some novelty, buy a parquet in a hypermarket building materials at 3 in the morning, at 5 you can find flowers for your girlfriend and at 6 to take the car to A tunnel washing ", - comments the well-known American producer Bob Van Ronkel, who has lived in Moscow for more than 10 years.
The only thing you can not buy in Moscow at night is alcohol. From 11:00 p.m., the alcoholic hallways of the shops are closed.
2. Terminals to pay for telephone, internet and community services

Source: TASS / Vladimir Smirnov
In Moscow it is impossible to run out of balance on the mobile phone. Throughout the city, in the most crowded places (shops, subways, restaurants, pharmacies, metro stations ...) you will find payment terminals that operate 24 hours a day. "All you have to do is enter the phone number and the money you want to recharge. This same system works for internet payment. It's something simple and comfortable ", - says Croatian programmer Ivan Vučković. To pay for community services in your apartment you do not have to go to the bank. In these same terminals they accept payments of any type of expenses, taxes and even fines of traffic. In Europe all this is much more complicated. "In Croatia, for example, in order to recharge the balance of the phone you have to buy a special card with a code that you have to enter into the phone at a kiosk. And the kiosk, of course, is not open 24 hours ", - laments Ivan Vučković.
3. Vkontakte VS Facebook

Source: Ria Novosti / Vladímir Treflov
The Russian social network Vkontakte is very popular among foreigners who have many Russian friends. In this social network you can find a huge amount of audio and video files in Russian language. The Mexican Alejandro Ordóñez is dedicated to the promotion of Russian-Mexican economic and cultural relations, for him Vkontakte is not simply a place to communicate, but a platform where you can watch Russian movies, shows and shows, listen to songs in Russian and Study Russian language online in the pages of famous teachers. "Even when I am out of Russia, I still remember the Russian," - comments Alejandro. Foreigners using Facebook point out that the Russian social network has a very important advantage: the absence of spam applications that flood news pages and profiles.
4. Bank Notifications by SMS

Source: Lori / Legion Media
Some foreigners open accounts in Russian banks and there they discover that they can receive notifications by SMS. "In Croatia this means that the customer will receive an up-to-date message on the status of their account", - comments Ivan Vučković. In Moscow, however, the customer receives an SMS each time he carries out an operation with his bank card, so that the owner of the card is always aware of the amount of money he has. This is very effective in preventing scams, as the customer can go to the bank in time if a message arrives at him about an unknown purchase or if another person has taken money from his account.
5. Yandex. Jams

Source: Lori / Legion Media
All foreigners are scared of traffic jams in Moscow, but few know of this online service, which shows you the state of the roads in real time. The app works so in detail that you can know whether or not there is a jam even in the smallest alley in town. "At first I was afraid to see the map of Yandex completely red, which means that there are traffic jams all over the city, although I later understood that this only happens at rush hour. The application is very useful to move around Moscow and to find the best time to get around, "- comments Australian Michael Alexandar, who after three months living in Moscow confesses to being in love with Russia.
6. Over-the-counter medications

Font: Lori / Legion Media
In Russia, most medicines can be bought without a prescription. Antibiotics, hormonal medications, antihistamines, statins, etc. Foreigners think that this is a great advantage, since it is not necessary to waste the time and money on a visit to the doctor. However, it is not entirely correct to classify this as an indisputable achievement, since over the years the number of people who self-medicate increases: to save on visiting the doctor, many times risk their health.
7. The marshrutka

Source: Lori / Legion Media
In places of Moscow where there is more density of people, in addition to trolleybuses, trams and buses, circulate a kind of public vans called "marshrutkas". They usually do the same route as public transportation. The biggest advantage of the marshrutkas is that you can get up not only at the stop, but at any point on your route: just lift your hand. You can also get off at any place where it is not prohibited by traffic regulations. The price of the ticket is very low. The only problem mentioned by foreigners is the large amount of noise, due to which to indicate that you want to get out in one place or another you have to say it almost screaming. "The first time I was terribly scared when my girlfriend gave a shout to the driver of the marshrutka , I was very embarrassed, but later I got used to it and I started screaming too", - laughs Enrique Álvarez.