Picked up my visa this morning in Philadelphia. Though I’ll return much earlier, according to the papers, I can legally remain in Russia until the 20th of January, 2008. Basically this document is glued to a page in the passport–fastened so tightly it can never be removed. It allows the bearer one entrance into Russia within the specified period. The holographic seal features the Kremlin and is rather sharp looking. Filed somewhere at the Russian embassy in New York and the Ministry of International Affairs in Moscow are copies of my visa application, as well as several passport sized photos.

Ah, paper trails.

I should explain the post title, Mockba. That’s the word Moscow in Cyrillic.