Last year
Me and a mate of mine decided to get out of the hustle and bustle of Moscow for a couple of days and head to a quiet town named Suzdal. To get to Suzdal you need to go first to the city of Vladimir. So, as according to the ways of neccessity we did just that. We arrived fairly late and, after finding a hotel, we decided to have a wander around and see what there was to see.

Along the main street there was a church. If anyone here has been to Russia before you'll know that it's not entirely unheard of to find a church at the side of the street. However, this one was intriguing for two reasons. Number one, it was in the middle of a snowy field. Number two, singing could be heard from within. So, my mate and I slide across the field to said church, and curiosity takes the better of us - we decide to have a little goosey gander within. We enter the church and are delighted to discover that there's a service going on. Neither of us are particularly religious, but it is always entertaining to see old Russian guys chanting ancient verse while waving incense around so we stuck around. After a couple of minutes I became aware of several nearby babushkas giving us slightly angry looks. Nonoplussed we were, as we weren't being noisy or taking pictures - we were simply watching. So, I surveyed the scene a little closer. Suddenly, my mate and I realised what was wrong.

The predominant religion in this fine country in which I have chosen to live, is Russian Orthodoxy. Like all religions, there are certain rules that need to be kept when one is in a place of worship. One such rule is to keep the head covered if you are a female.

I had upon entering the church removed my hat, and had for the last several minutes been standing there, blatantly flouting this rule and openly (but, dear readers, unknowingly) disrespecting the Russian Orthodox religion. I now had two options:

1) Realise my mistake, put my hat on, make a totally insincere but apologetic sign of the cross and placate the babushkas,

2) Inexplicably panic, shout out "SHIT!" (for the record, there is a Russian word which is strkingly similar which means almost exactly the same) in the middle of a crowded church before scrambling to put hat on and dropping it in the process before making a hasty exit.

Guess which one I did?
(judeski walked on water and ran through fire, Fri 20 Mar 2009, 22:03, Reply)