Quote Originally Posted by Sir Krist
gifts to bring chocolate, toys for kids, fine tobacco,hats, army knives.

They make it sound like you're going to be trading with Indians or something. Maybe you should bring some shiny beads and they'll sell you Moscow.
Chocolate: Nobody dislikes chocolate, but there's PLENTY of it in Russia.
Toys: Kind of vague. You need to know what kind of children you're going to see, otherwise a bit difficult.
Tobacco: Uhm. Don't know much about this. I assume it's about like I said regarding chocolate -- and I'm not sure what sort of customs regulations that'll put you up against.
Hats: Not so much. I took a baseball cap to someone and they seemed pretty underwhelmed -- and didn't see many of them on the street.
Swiss army knives: Probably the only good suggestion IMHO. My host bro loved mine; I ended up giving it to him when I left.
Posters would be good (the flat kind that are folded into fourths or whatever--not the tube type, a tea mug with local stuff on it...small jewelry items (like name bracelts with the little blocks or whatever) for girls...FOOD is awesome. Try to bring a meal or two thats American (whatever that is), Italian or Mexican to prepare. You'll have to use your head -- beef is something that's easily found -- taco seasoning not so much. So bring a packet or two and pack of flat tortillas or whatever, and you'll be in good shape. And chocolate chip cookies. If Kennedy had sent Khruschev chocolate chip cookies, there would have been no Cuban Missile Crisis. It would have been called the Cuban Cookie Fadango.