Studying Abroad in Russia

[hazybluesky]

I hope to be heading over to Moscow for a semester sometime in the next two years, but I'm super worried about how I'll manage a healthy, balanced vegan diet while I'm there. I've heard from a few websites that it is very difficult. Has anyone here had any experience at surviving in Russia on a vegan diet? Or have any tips in general?

[bringsMore]

I live in Moscow and I have already survived almost five years on a vegan diet. Please PM me if you have any questions.

[Uncle_Pasha]

Travellers to Moscow, Russia may find this compilation useful: www.unclepasha.com/vegetarian_moscow.com Not that I would advise vegants to travel here but if you have no choice I hope my humble effort will make your trip a little less miserable.

[Annie M. Green]

Yes, it's a great site you've got there! I'm a Moscovite and I spend about 4-5 months a year there. Thanks to the site I found a few new places that I didn't know of, especially appreciated the Vietnamese market - I live nearby and would never have known about it without you! Thanks very much. And the 'Attempting to communicate your vegetarian or vegan preferences in Russian' page just cracked me up lol

Yes, being a vegan in Russia is very tough, I agree. You can obviously survive on veggies, pulses and grains. Soy milk and tofu can only be bought in a few shops. Eating out is very difficult, too. I've only been to one veggie restaurant (Avocado),it's a pretty nice place, not ridiculously overpriced and they usually have a few vegan things. Lent is a glorious time for us vegans, though. It's become pretty popular in the recent years, so many cafes and restaurants do lent menus and you can even sometimes find tofu and soy milk and things in regular supermarkets. Another problem is that with many things in shops you can only assume that they're vegan.
And also most people will think of you as a total weirdo (usually not in a good way) just for being vegan.

But oh well, I stand for what I believe in, no matter how hard it is to maintain my lifestyle.

[Uncle_Pasha]

Encouraged by your commend I'll keep my vegetarian pages up and even upgrade them once in a while. Please note my for the time being largely virtual cafe and watch for announcements of receptions.

Pasha

www.unclepasha.com/vegetarian_russia.htm