(July 7) -- Wherever she goes, Michelle Obama's wardrobe seems to be a magnet for attention, whether she's wearing a designer frock or expensive tennis shoes. But not in Russia, where the first lady traveled this week with the president and their two daughters.
Russians are much more interested in dirt -- specifically, the dirt in the garden plot at the White House. All the buzz in Moscow over Mrs. Obama is more about her vegetable patch than her clothes or her sterling resume, The Washington Post reported.
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"The current cover of Ogonyok, for example, a weekly magazine focusing on politics and culture, carries a candid photograph of the first lady dressed in a burgundy windbreaker with her hair pulled back, working in the garden with students from Bancroft Elementary School in the District," the newspaper said. "The cover line reads: 'The Queen of the Fields: Michelle Obama and her husband can overturn our understanding of America.' It's accompanied by an extensive story about gardening culture in the United States."
Gardening is a big deal in Russia, The Post noted, because home plots were an important food source during the Soviet era.
This is Mrs. Obama's second trip abroad as first lady. In April, she visited western Europe with her husband, winning praise for holding her own with France's fashionable first lady, Carla Bruni-Sarkozy, and raising eyebrows by hugging Britain's Queen Elizabeth.
The Russia journey is low-key in comparison. The first family arrived on Monday, and on Tuesday, her itinerary included a visit to an orphanage in Moscow. You can read an account of that event from ABC News.
President Barack Obama is visiting Russia in an effort to reshape its relationship with the United States. During an address Tuesday in Moscow, Obama said the two countries share compelling interests.
"Let me be clear: America wants a strong, peaceful and prosperous Russia," he said. The Associated Press has the latest.
