In general, Russians are a tough lot, men and women. The conditions of life for the ordinary Russian, coupled with the hardships they experienced in decades past, have made them that way. Generally, they don't believe in complaining, as it shows weakness. The toughness is both of mind, and body. On one of my earlier visits to Russia, and before I'd begun to live there, I traveled with heavy luggage. I had two bags packed to the (then) legal limit of 70 pounds (32 kg). My host, a middle aged, Russian woman of modest proportions grabbed those two bags and all but ran up five stories of stairs with them to her apt. I followed, trying to keep up. I mentioned, earlier, that Russian machismo is more well developed than what you encounter here, in Mexico. Russian men typically will not allow themselves a show of any degree of physical weakness. I've been embarrassed on more than one occasion while doing such things as- digging a car out of the snow; digging bucket after bucket of potatoes out of the ground; chopping down trees to clear a field, digging and pulling the resulting stumps, by hand; and, of course, while drinking vodka with them. All of these things are great fun, done in moderation, but Russian men seem not to have a physical limit (at least not one they will admit). Russian women, who are also tough, feel that if they take on a man, he'd better be prepared to solve all their problems for them, or he's not really a man. Russian men, who love their wives, take this obligation very seriously, and knock themselves out to do just that, considering it their manly duty. In return, the women can be very fond of their old man, crowning him with sayings such as, "A husband is like an old suitcase, hard to throw out," which, said in the presence of their friends, provokes a laugh, all around. _____________________ These characteristics, which I find common in Russian men and women, can lead to an unfortunate result if a Russian woman marries a "westerner" who has learned to share his feelings, and to confess his inadequacies and fears; who expects his wife to be as active as he is in taking care of things important to both; and, who is, perhaps unable to repair the blender....
@V: My friends uncle "introduced" us to alcohol. Now, this was an order from our moms... Just to teach us :mnm: Lets just say I didnt touch vodka for nearly 10 years after my trip... What I LOVE is that even though the uncle and his family were struggling(by Swedish measures...), the hospitality and generosity was incredible. Yeah, the machismo in Russia is not comparable to anywhere I have ever been, including Greece. He would not let us enter the kitchen while his wife and daughter were preparing the food - we had to sit and drink beer and watch hockey So down to earth these people, incredible. My step dad actually returned to buy a car, the famous(infamous?) Lada. What a rock that car was! NEVER broke down, ever. Uncomfortable like hell, but hey - didnt use much gas and required no maintenance whatsoever. We went by train several times, all the way from Stockholm, up north, crossing over to Finland and entering Russia through Karelia(my moms side of the family are from there and had to flee when the Russians invaded). One interesting thing at that time was that we had to "sign in" when we crossed the border into Russia. They also required us to state what date and exact(!!) time we were exiting. On return, the guards would check the lists that we signed and either let us pass or "detain" us if we were +5 mins later than we had written... It only happened once however, and was solved as the train driver took the blame for a measly 6 min delay... :icon_wink: We would also bring stuff from back home, everything from Swedish currency, toilet paper, baking accessories and basic stuff. This was given to the young border guards or policemen - they work their behinds off, many hours a day, regardless if its +25 or -40 degrees outside... In return they would allow us to take photos of stuff that regular tourists were not allowed to I NEVER saw any crime, and I assume its due to the repercussions one would face... What also amazed me were the apartments: On the outside they looked like sh*t, but once you stepped indoors, they were very nice. My grandpa used to tell me about the war before he passed away. He remembers the day when the last war finished: It was announced on the radio and the first thing they both sides did was to drop their weapons, run towards each other and meet and greet - the men fighting each other in that area were old neighbors...
Rawkus, your post made me smile, bringing back fond memories. I lived for two years not that far from Karelia, in the Komi Republic. Famous for its gulags under Stalin, it was my first home, there. I was based in Syktyvkar, and the apartment I lived in looked out on a hill where captured French soldiers had been housed, following their defeat in 1812. They were some of the unfortunate remnants of the Grande Armie of Napoleon who had marched triumphantly into Russia and into Moscow before the Russian winter, and Russian defiance, began to defeat them. A part of the work I did there took me into about a half dozen of the 23 remaining prisons from the Stalinist era, some of them "Strict Regime" prisons where the most serious offenders were housed. All of these prisons were far north, but one of them I visited lay above the Arctic Circle. There was something about being in prison in such a cold climate that made the thought of it especially distressing to me, though my visits were of a rather shorter duration than the other guests. Many of the people I met in the Komi Republic had been sent to those same prisons at the end of WWII, accused of collaboration, even if they'd done nothing more than, for example, work in a bar where German Officers liked to relax. There were many things that captivated me about Russia and the Russian people in the early days, among them were the fact that most of their easy chairs and sofas converted into beds, allowing for the convenience of staying overnight should the talking and drinking be prolonged. Another thing that charmed me was the sight of snow falling softly through the light cast by the streetlights, with police patrolling four abreast, making families returning home late at night a very safe thing to do. There wasn't much to do as far as entertainment went, so people visited each other in the evenings, no invitations given or required. Doors were often left unlocked, so safe was it. The apartments themselves reminded me of an earlier era in the U.S., when I was a boy and America was not so rich, generating an odd kind of nostalgia even though I was eight times zones from home, and in a foreign land. Many of the people there were Old Believers, or had adopted some of the practices of the Old Believers; so, if you wanted to "fit in" you had to be prepared to greet men with a kiss on the lips, making the Mexican "abrazo" seem very standoffish. In those families, men and women didn't eat together, men ate first, the women later, and it wasn't considered manly to be too sociable with womenfolk, just as Rawkus alluded to in his post. Most of the people in the countryside lived in rather large, log houses, well designed to keep the cold Russian winters out: within the house was an area into which the farm animals could be brought, to shelter them from the cold arctic winds, and children slept in a space above the hearth, enjoying the warmth retained by its thick walls, all night long. I've been treated well here, in Mexico, and given many opportunities I didn't deserve, but I've never been treated, anywhere, as warmly as I was, those days, in Russia.
Somalian pirates One of the truly amazing things to have going on in the 21st century is piracy, on the high seas. It's a real problem, both near the Horn of Africa, and in the far east. The Horn of Africa has been in the news, more. Pirates from Somalia, using fast small boats, overtake and board oil tankers, mainly; then demand ransom, often in the tens of millions, to release the ship. The pirates have been allowed to go free, after receiving the ransom, in most cases. The Russian Navy entered the scene, not that long ago, with a different agenda. One of their tankers was recently seized. A Russian commando unit boarded the tanker and engaged in a shoot out with the pirates in which one was killed. The surviving pirates have not been seen, since. Russian Government spokesmen say they were put on their little boats, and sent back home.... I don't imagine anybody in Russia believes it.
Basically any FM document will do. I won 't be here for five weeks starting June 5, yet they want to see me, even knowing I cannot go on adventure tours. Cancun needs meet and greet people and tour people, etc. Any F'ing document can have an added funtion, especially when the tourist industry desperately needs it.
Zina, I suppose you were responding to Cancunscopio's inquiry, rather than commenting on what it takes to deal with Somalian pirates. I don't know how desperate they are: they haven't been knocking down my door. :cry: I suppose it helps that you have a Russian name, and ancestry, as well as other qualifications for the work.
Without incurring any expense to speak of, you could get the name and an email address for the head of Fonatur off the web and send him your CV, by attachment, letting him know you'd be prepared to come to Cancun to act as a guide. They are most interested in people who could accompany groups on extended tours in Qroo and Yucatan, neither of which Zina nor I can do without considerable inconvenience.
