Originally posted by MrRiplEy[H]
I'm really wishing that our neighbour giant will be one day a place where I can go to visit cool places and shopping without fear of being bullied by a corrupt police force or the mob.
Been there. Twice. Didn't get robbed. The taxi drivers didn't screw me very much. Police didn't pester me. The locals, once they found out I couldn't speak Russian, left me alone.
Russians were very wary of us foreigners. They didn't have the fake smile so often found in the West, where we try to sell *whatever* to someone. They weren't openly hostile and they weren't unfriendly. Most of the time. Some were absolutely amazing to hang around with. And gender roles differ a lot from what I am used to in Scandinavia. They also must eat something other than what we do here because physically, the young women were more fit than in the west. The men is a totally different story however.
At the DZ, I got a very good look at the social stratification in Russia. I can tell you this: the bridge between the have and the have nots is enormous. There are basically three layers: the ultra rich (who could afford to skydive - even in Russia it costs a lot of money, even for a northern European), the ordinary people who don't have much but get by, and immigrants, who get by on a sh|t on a piece of paper. Same with the elderly.
Whatever misconceptions I and others may harbour about Russia and the Russian people, you will find that there is a great deal of people who, materially and socially, were better off during Communism. Ratting on your neighbor, risking being sent to Gulag and deprivement of basic human rights were just things you had to pay for that.
I will tell you one thing though: Russians, as a people, are incredibly resilient and tough. They may come off as laconic and depressed to some, but they can take an amazing amount of crap and keep going, and they need very little to do so. Underestimating the Russian people is common in the West; from my personal experience, I think Russia will grow again because its potential is incredible.
Just an example: three years ago, the dropzone had a tent. And three big AN-28's and a military Mi-8 helicopter. Two years ago, they had a run down bunkhouse and a manifest as well. A year ago, they added more buildings as well as two packing tents. This year, they had cafeteria, a restaurant of sorts, showers, 20 new bunkhouses, a new aircraft and were paving the runway.
All because one Russian dude had an idea and acted on it.
