Got Milk?

If you listened to me complain long enough about the Nigeria you probably heard me complain about the milk, or lack thereof. We had only the UHT milk - that stands for ultra-high-temperature. It is uh . . gross, especially there because it is imported as powder, mixed up and then ultra-pasteurized. I finally found one brand that I was able to drink, but only in skim. Good old, Oldenberger. When I say drink, I mean barely moisten my cereal and nothing else.
Here in Moscow we have basically 3 milks to choose from. Babushka brand UHT milk, which I buy for Leah because it is about $1.25 for one liter and you can stock up and leave it in your pantry so much less likely to run out. She thinks it tastes great. I also try to cook with this kind. We tried another UHT brand, but it wasn't as good and Babushka. Babushka is not the real name, but if you call it that everyone knows what you're talking about.
Then we have Valio milk. It comes from Finland. It is pasteurized, but not UHT so I call it "fresh" milk. It tastes almost as good as American milk. This one liter box costs about $2 - $2.50. It isn't sold at all grocery stores so you have to sometimes go to a more expensive grocery store just to get your milk. Then go to a cheaper one to do the rest of your shopping. Luckily for us, we now live at the Embassy and the Commissary sells it so no hunting for it. The Valio milk is my milk. Levin claims not to care about the taste difference so he was drinking the UHT stuff, but then he had Valio once when we ran out . . . and I can't help but notice he hasn't had the babushka milk ever since.
FYI: They do sell other brands of fresh milk. I once accidentally bought some with a cat on it - DISGUSTING. As Napoleon would say, it tasted like the cow got into an onion patch . . . or like it was cat's milk. Then I found fresh babushka milk which was cheaper than the UHT . . . but tasted grosser than the UHT. Valio or nothing for me.
Oliver still gets formula. Yes, I buy it here, though have ordered some from America too. Yes, he is over a year old, but depending on the day I can get formula probably almost as cheaply as the cow's milk and he hates the cold milk. I mean hates it. He loves his formula and screams until I give it to him. I already prepare it with the coldest the tap water and today started adding some babushka milk. I figure there is no reason to turn him onto the more expensive Valio milk. Slowly but surely we can trick him into liking cold babushka milk and hopefully into liking more real food so that he doesn't drink so much milk anyway. I vowed that the last 4 cans I just ordered were the last 4 I'd ever buy for him.