Decrypting

Although Moscow as a city did not feel that alien at all, there was something about being there that made me feel rather out of touch. It was the first time I found myself in a country where I was -for most intents and purposes- illiterate. In all other countries I had been to so far I had at least been able to read the language, if not to translate it. The cyrillic script was a whole new experience. At first it looks like complete gibberish but pretty soon things start to make some sense. Two high school years of struggling with ancient Greek (and many years of mathematical formulas full of Greek symbols) really helped as the alphabet contains a whole range of familiar symbols:

Others only begin to make sense in a certain context:

The real eye-opener was the moment when the symbols fell into place enough to form words oddly familiar to these Dutch ears and eyes. For legal advice you go to an адвокат; your medicine is bought right here:

and the most disturbing moment was when somebody announced it was time for кафе пауза, which may not look very Dutch but sure sounds it! Easy stuff, this Russian.