My Russians

People have been asking me if I still like Russia and the Russian people despite what is currently going on with their domestic and foreign policies. The short answer is: Yes! I do still like Russia and the Russians. I look at what has been going on inside Russia (ie the anti-homosexual laws, the invasion and occupation of the Ukraine, etc) as a dark blemish on a very interesting people, culture and country. All countries have a bad side to them. That is a given. Anyone who says they love everything that a country has done, is doing or will do is a liar.

While I don't have to support or even like all aspects I still respect and am intrigued with things Russian (I'm a Russophile.) It's funny to me when some people take one comment or aspect of what I say and run it into a completely wrong direction. This happened just recently when someone who only writes me every few months didn't bother doing their "homework" and reading or understanding what I had written/said. Then when I questioned them and asked them for historical fact to back-up their response they weren't able to give the facts and tried to move the debate someplace else to cover that "fact" up. I called them out on that and they responded by "unfriending" me. That is funny to me because it shows that people don't always have a clue as to what is going on and merely want to hear themselves just to be heard rather than saying something that has a basis in truth.

I remember the first time I went to Russia (and didn't speak a word of the language.) Everything was dark and bleak: the sky, the buildings, the clothes, the people. Strangers, including old women, push and shove their way on-to/off-of public transportation. No one seemed friendly. Every building had a distinct urine smell with paint peeling off the walls and almost no lighting. I remember seeing, smelling and experiencing these things and thinking "How soon can I go back to civilization again?"  By the end of my first stay, while those things I mentioned above were still there I started to catch a glimpse just under the surface. People still only wore black or grey clothes and push and shove and seem mean in public, but once you start talking to them you saw a different side - which in my later travels I would fully recognize that once a Russian considered you a "friend" you were in for life. If they invited you to something then it wasn't just being polite as it is in the US - they meant what they said. There is a definite double-side to a Russian: their outside "face" they give to strangers, co-workers and officials and their inside "face" they give to friends and family. Their buildings still smelled like urine and had peeling paint, but once you walked into an office or an apartment they were bright and smell-free (unless something was cooking.) You wouldn't have been able to guess from looking at the outside just what you would get when you went inside. It was also in Russia that I was made to feel like a king - because I was a foreigner (from the West.) Random people would invite me to their homes for lunch or a snack and when I accepted - I was told it was very rude not to - they would introduce me to their mother, father and any brother and sister and even though I wasn't expected I would soon get a table-full of food that seemed to take hours to make and yet came out of no-where. When I wasn't invited to someone's house I still got invites to just "talk" - regardless if they could speak English or I Russian. It wasn't only the usual questions of "Life in the US" or things like that but about everyday things. It was a real shock when I came home and no one treated me like that anymore.

I could go on and on wit a bunch of examples, but I'll stop it here. In closing: I don't blame ordinary Russians for what their government does (just as I would expect other people not to judge all Americans by what our government does.) Of course I would like to see Russians get more involved in things around them rather than keeping their head down and say: "We will wait and we will see" - I heard that quote more times than I can count. I also would love to go back to Russia to travel and/or live. I hope this wasn't too "politically correct."