This one definetly deserves an answer:
Originally posted by Siaf__csf
Gee I don't know which part of Russia you traveled in, Moscow?
Well, Moscow is not "Russia". It's believed to be a country inside country. The biggest European city, a financial and cultural centre - it's believed to be different from the rest. But IMHO it's highly overestimated. I travell around quite a lot, and cities like Samara or Volgograd are nice places to live.
The parts I've seen were in an amazing state of decay and the people fought for survival.
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If you go to a village 400km from Moscow and 100km from Tver - you'll see almost prehistoric conditions. People there just survive without any attention from authorities, having electricity, one phone per village and one store with bread delivered weekly. I wish I could live like that. In Western Caucasus I saw villages in the mid-90s where they didn't see new money at all, have no radio and enjoy this state. They grow vegetables, exchange brerad for some goods and go hunting with rusty three-line bolt action rifles from Civil war times that they dig from the ground.
Damn, Svans, an Orthodox nation living at the Grand Caucasus didn't ever see a wheel until the first Soviet plane landed there in mid 30s...
Originally posted by Siaf__csf
Happy they were not. In St.Petersburg for example 90% of the people on the streets were drunk and drinking openly in public.
This is the most funny thing I have read here. Several years ago me and my friend were standing near an underground station, talking and drinking beer. When we needed another two bottles we came to a nearest booth, bought and opened beer, and heard "Look, they are drinking without even hiding bottles in paper bags!" in pure English. "This is our city, and we don't need any paper bags here" we answered. An American couple looked as if they saw a talking monkey
Listen: I drink whatever I want, I smoke wherewer I want, and it's MY problem. I don't start street fights, I am polite to the others, so - just go your way and don't teach me how to live. If you think that I have drank enough alcohol to kill a horse and I am still sober - you have to rethink your experience. Some problems just can't be solved without a halflitre.
Originally posted by Siaf__csf
This was around 1999. Roads were in such a bad condition even in the city that the car we used was caught from it's bottom several times and ended up having wheel damage as a result of a huge hole in the asphalt.
"There are two problems in Russia: roads and fools". It was said 200 years ago, and it didn't change...
But how does it come that Western cars are so popular here, while, as you said, only 4WD jeeps can survive at Russian roads?
You just have to learn driving. We also have extremely hard lamp-posts and very thick trees that will turn your car into a scrap metal if you hit them at 60km/h.
When I was in the US in 1989 I was surprised that the roads are not better then what we have here...
Originally posted by Siaf__csf
I have a couple of friends with girlfriends / wives originating from russia and based on the stuff I've heard from them and their families who we visited (witnessed first hand), it's no song and dance. While we were visiting the city, the St.Petersburg news had an article about a residential area next to a park. The park had radioactive waste buried in it for years and was only discovered after mysterious illnesses in the surrounding buildings.
Another fairy-tale. I have a good view on a nuclear reactor from my work window, so what? Do you know how much radiation you should be exposed to to get a "mysterious illnesses" of some sort?
We have some strange places here, for instance Kuzminki chemical weapon test ground, abandoned in the 30s is now inside Moscow, and is in fact a recreational park, but I don't know if anyone was hurt or poisoned there. BTW, in mid-90s a T-34 was found in a park lake several kilometers from there, also inside Moscow, absolutely working condition, so what?...
Originally posted by Siaf__csf
Crime rate is exceptionally high and a western tourist must really look out while moving down there. The whole community is corrupt - you can't even trust the police. In fact, most of the tickets dealt benefit the policemans cash fund directly. Very illuminating is that during the timeperiod omon - the police force fighting organized crime - arrested, tied and laid down a whole nightclub in st.petersburg. After the customers were released the club was robbed empty. The chief of police gave 'no comment.'
Hehe, how much drug dealers did they arrest? The club was rpbbed empty of what? MJ and cocaine stock?
You really can't trust our beloved militia, this is true. Road police are bloodsuckers, and it's well known. It's up to you - if you were caught driving drunk you will wish to pay as much as you can so they will not take your driver's licence and try to bribe them. There are almost always two ways to solve your problem with militia: according to the law or by an agreement based on some money. I hate this state of affairs, but it's the way it goes here. The only way to stop it is probably to hang all our "grey friends" on trees, but it will never happen, you understand why...
Originally posted by Siaf__csf
For me going there was a big culture shock for which I wasn't prepared even though I heard many stories beforehand. All in all it left the impression of being very unsecure not least because of the corruption. I decided never to enter the country again and that decision has stuck so far..
Welcome to real life.
I feel absolutely secure in my city. I have already written here that I felt very uncomfortable in NYC, much worse then in any proletarian "gangster block" in Tekstilschiki.
I think that you are either an always-frightened person getting all the horror-stories from the media very seriously, or your hosts were ordinary loosers who miss the relative security of Soviet times.
I just remember one episode in StLouis when I was there in 89: I was told by my hosts that we were about to be robbed, but I didn't understand it, the guys who wanted to rob us heard that I am from USSR and started asking me questions, they have never seen a Soviet before
Just don't be afraid of everything you don't understand.
Hehe, when our American friends saw Kremlin guards and I explained that "GB" letters on violet shoulder straps mean they serve in KGB - they were frightened as hell
Frightened by 19-year olds who are out in the city from barracks to eat ice-cream and pick up girls
