I'm walking down the street, and this old babushka-like lady stops me and starts talking to me in Russian. I protest slowly and clearly in English that I don't speak Russian, but she continues to talk and talk in Russian!

WTF? I know I do have a bit of the dark slavic look (as opposed to the blonde slavic look), but I wasn't making any effort to look ethnic today - I was dressed like a teenager in oversized jeans and an undersized t-shirt, with my hair long and tangled. I can maybe see how someone could make that mistake, but you'd think once I replied in confused English that I didn't understand (and surely most immigrants and tourists know how to say "I don't understand" in the local lingua franca) she'd get that I don't understand. Weird. Maybe she had alzheimer's or something