Back From Russia - II

[Guest guest]

Howdy y'all,

 

> Test message, loud and clear. Welcome back. Lynn

 

Thankee ma'am ... good it is to be back in Turkey. I missed the

daily fresh fish and green veggies. Things not found in the interior

of Russia during the winter. Turkey has fresh fish daily as we are

surrounded by water .. but the Russians get only salted or smoked or

dried fish in the winter. Those along the Black Sea coast can get

fresh fish but getting them inland is tough due to a system of roads

that require a bit of upgrade. There are a couple of varieties of

fresh water fish they get through bored holes in the ice but they are

not very tasty.

 

But .. at the same time I even now miss some of the Russian foods that

I became accustomed to .. things that are impossible to find here in

Turkey because the ingredients are just not available. Some, like

mushrooms that are pickled and are delicious .. are only found growing

wild in the forests of the Ural Mountains. And .. super great pork

sausages. ;-)

 

> Hi Butch! ~Waving~

>

> You got thru--welcome home. Serra

 

Thankee ma'am .. and I did get thru .. thru to the list and thru

Russian Customs & Immigration. Both were not all that easy. ;-)

Turkey is home .. for the last 19 years .. and for now. But in the

next 70 days or so .. the USA will be home again.

 

> Yippee!!!! You're back!! You're IN! Dale

 

Thankee mucho .. surprised I was that my previous post made it to the

list because I was not able to get in for some time now. As for

getting into Russia .. its pretty easy if one knows how. There are 4

types of visas .. tourist (the worst kind), student and business

(where one will always be sponsored) and invitation .. which is what I

always use .. and its the best .. though not the easiest or fastest to

acquire. Getting in when one has a visa is easy .. getting out if

one does not know all the requirements for filling out forms and

registering with the cops when they go in .. can be difficult. I knew

the requirements .. and I came out of Russia to Turkey and then

returned again to bring my family out ..and though I knew the ropes,

it was still a bureaucratic hassle.

 

Howdy Georgene,

 

> Good to see you're still around and doing well, Butch.

 

Thankee ma'am. I reckon I'll be around for a good while longer .. but

I plan to try to settle on one of the big lakes back in the USA ..

either in GA or TN or NW Arkansas .. and then the amount of time I'll

be around might well be dictated by the fish. ;-) Of course, my

company in Maryland will continue to function.

 

> I sent an email to Anatolian Treasures about some rose oil and never

> got a reply. Guess I'd better follow up on that! Gotta have that

> rose oil!

 

I still have some Rose Otto left .. flat sold out of the Rose Hydrosol

but the long awaited Rose Wax is in now .. couldn't get near as much

as I was promised .. got only 30 kilos, so I won't be selling it in

kilo sizes. I'll be contacting the folks on our waiting list soon ..

still trying to get the international and domestic shipping costs ..

and customs processing humma-humma together .. don't have all the

documents in hand yet so I don't know my actual cost.

 

Please send the message again. My system (its probably my server ..

though they deny .. and are known to lie) is really screwed up. Many

posts I send are not received .. many sent to me are not received ..

and none of them bounce .. they are just eaten.

 

I went to Russia in late November .. while there I received many

business related posts and was able to reply to them using an

antiquated dial up system .. twas very slow and not reliable. Also

received a number of routine posts and had intended to reply to them

when I came back to Turkey (which I did for 12 days) .. then went back

to Russia. When I returned to Turkey and began to download all the

saved posts from the server post office .. the system ate them SLL ..

and it ate ALL of my files. I have an external back up system .. so

some fellers tried to retrieve the files. They retrieved from 1999

through early 2004 .. but those through late 2006 are still missing.

The files are in the back up system but these fellers don't know

enough about Netscape to be able to retrieve them .. so they'll stay

in the back up system until I hit the USA.

 

So .. if any of you have sent mail to me and I did not reply .. please

send it again. Use my normal address .......... ButchBsi

 

> Safe home and happy new PC. Georgene Lockwood, here, in Arizona.

 

Thankee ma'am .. the new PC is gonna happen after I get to the USA ..

this one will be dumped in the garbage after I extract the hard drive.

Its not really all that old .. just a bit over 10 years. ;-)

 

Howdy Lynette,

 

> Welcome back Butch - you were really missed.

> Namaste, Lynette of Terralyn - Bath, Body, Spirit

> Reading Terminal Market

> Philadelphia, PA terralyn27

 

Thank you ma'am .. appreciated are the kind words of welcome. :-) I

found a lot of foods in Russia that were quite similar to those I used

to chow down on when I worked at Drexel Univ. in Philly .. on 32d &

Lancaster .. like Kielbasi, Head Cheese .. and something like

Scrapple. Folks in Russia are like folks down home in the SE USA.

They eat everything on the hawg ceptin' the squeal. They throw that

part away but we can it and send it up Nawth to the Yankees and they

include it in their Kielbasi. ;-)

 

Howdy Diana,

 

> You got through.

> How was Russia?

 

Not a place the average American would want to live. Maybe more on

the trip later .. for now I'll just say that if I tell the whole truth

my butt might be hanging out when (if) I go back .. like I said above,

the Customs/Immigration folks there can turn a very difficult

situation into an impossible situation if they want to. ;-)

 

Russian folks are necessarily into denial of reality because its the

safest way to survive. Hardy folks the Russians .. good folks too. I

guess one can say everything is relative to how it has been or could

be .. they get by fine but they have to be wise spenders to do this ..

no homeless folks and no unemployment for those who want to work ..

but " capitalism " is just a useless word they learn in school .. its

not practiced .. there is no support for entrepreneurs but lots of

problems for those who wish to walk on the thin ice and try to turn an

idea into profit. Almost impossible to get ahead .. to improve one's

lifestyle .. there is little " hope " .. stay in the rut .. keep your

nose clean and your mouth shut and you survive. Nobody is poor but

its damn near impossible for honest folks to become wealthy .. and by

wealth I mean having more than one needs to get by.

 

What is missing in Russia is a Middle Economic Class! What is not

missing in Russia is the money or the technology to make life easier

... its not the government's inability to improve the conditions for

it's citizens .. its a lack of desire .. perhaps a lack of concern ..

to do this. Squeaky wheels do not always get greased .. sometimes

they get replaced .. so the smart wheels run quiet.

 

The few words I have used here to describe conditions in Russia are

kind words .. and certainly not the whole story!

 

There were many good times .. and I met lots of great folks .. ALL of

them very hospitable and kind. The system needs lots of repair .. but

the folks there accept it .. there is no other choice. Russians are

very nationalistic people .. very proud of Russian traditions,

history, etc., and those of you who are familiar with Russia's defense

against the Nazis will agree that they have many good reasons to be

proud of that piece of history .. I met some of the folks (both

ex-military and rifle toting civilians) who pulled it off. But I met

not one person who associated the USSR with Russia. Most of the

discussions I had were with educated folks .. and they do not want to

go back to the old times even though they know times are not so hot

now. Those older folks who lived .. better it is to say survived ..

the reign of Stalin .. don't want to go back either. But there are

many who were born after Stalin (in their early 50s now) who saw

better times under the USSR.. There is no question in the mind's of

those who can compare, that the conditions (other than economic) in

Russia now are far better than they were under the USSR .. its a

matter of relativity. But .. all considered ... few Russians would

immigrate if they had the chance .. they are happy to stay with

friends and family.

 

What holds the Russians together are the same things that hold the

Turks together .. traditions that are shared and honored .. and

strong bonds of kinship and friendship. I met and ate and drank with

Slavic, Tatar, Chuvash, Kazak, Jewish and other Russian nationals ..

civilians, military and police .. and they sincerely accept each

other. They are all in the same boat .. nobody is trying to keep up

with the folks next door because the folks next door live as they live

... be they president of the university or the driver of the president

of the university .. they will live in the same size quarters and

there might be a miserable difference in their salary. Of the 99 + %

of the Russians who are not farmers .. probably 99% of them work for

the government. There are a few (less than 1%) who made a killing

after Yeltsin took over and sold government enterprises for $15

million or so and then turned around and bought them back for $20

billion or so .. but few of those few live in Russia now .. those who

didn't hang around long enough to have their ill gotten possessions

nationalized flew the coup to the USA and Europe.

 

I've visited Russia three times .. this trip I passed through Moscow

without stopping .. see it once and that's enough. Hit the streets at

night there and you are often in harm's way .. not so in the city of

Magnitogorsk (where I stayed). It is relatively crime free .. or at

least the type of crimes that are perpetrated are not the kind where

one would be likely to become victimized if they were out after dark.

I saw Ufa, Chelyabinsk, Magnitogorsk and Ekaterinaburg .. and stayed

in a village for a week .. times had not changed in that farming

village since Stalin was stomping over the folks. Sugar and salt

and coffee and tea are about all those folks need to buy from the

city. I met many aunts, great aunts and uncles and grandmas .. and

cousins and friends of the family .. had dinners with most of them and

lots of talks goes down when folks are shooting Vodka and/or Samagon

... so I was able to learn a lot about how they " really " think. Not

that I was in the dark in that regard as my wife is Russian .. but its

great to get it from folks on their own home ground whilst throwing

back a few shots. ;-) And I found that they were interested in

knowing what I thought about world events .. most of them had never

met an American. One cousin is a police inspector .. his family

invited us to dinner along with two of his comrades (one a Slavic

Orthodox Christian and the other a Tatar Moslem) .. they knew I was an

ex-cop and were interested in discussing law enforcement in the USA ..

and we (including the Tatar) had fish and lots of goodies for dinner

... to include alcohol and roast pork. That was not surprising because

I have no Turkish friends or acquaintainces who don't drink .. or who

would turn down a BLT or a pork chop .. the difference is, the Turks

(like the Suthran Fried Baptists) will not openly admit it to many

other Turks .. but the Tatars don't give a crap. Their families also

lived through the times of Stalin's terrible reign .. during the days

of grass soup flavored with a pig's ear if you were lucky enough to

be able to acquire one.

 

All Russians I met truly like Putin. He is a charismatic nationalist

... a young, relatively handsome feller .. a silver tongue devil who is

an ex-KGB Officer and holds a 7th degree Black Belt. And if one

compares him with his predecessor, Yeltsin .. or with all those who

preceeded Yeltsin (except maybe Gorbachav .. who was good but had very

bad timing) then he comes across like a breath of fresh air. I will

not express an opinion of Putin .. except to say that he runs the show

without interference. He is a master of political intrigue who has

been able to defend against challenges by skillful use of political

patronage to reward his supporters .. and use of other means to dampen

the zeal of those who don't support him. ;-)

 

> I bet it was cold?

 

Like a witch's dug in a brass bra in a snow storm at midnight in

January around Helena, Montana. Averaged 15 below 0 C. the whole time

... maybe 26 below a quarter of the time. I did not see the color of

the streets, roads or fields the entire time .. it snowed almost every

day. And the little old ladies with their shovels were out and about

daily removing it.

 

> Did you learn any words in russian, like privet

 

I already spoke a pretty fair amount of Russian .. but yep .. Privet

to you too. ;-)

 

Y'all have a good one .. and keep smiling. :-)

 

Butch http://www.AV-AT.com

[Guest guest]

And how are Tanya and the Great One? I suppose Alexander is now speaking

russian/english/Turkish fluently and is almost ready for the Marines? :-)

 

K

 

 

On 2/22/07, Butch Owen <butchbsi wrote:

>

> .

>

>

>

 

 

 

--

Cheers!

Kathleen Petrides

The Woobey Queen

Http://www.woobeyworld.com

 

 

 

[Guest guest]

Great post, Butch!

 

As a born Russian living part-time in Russia and part-time in the US I

happen to disagree with a lot of what you had to say. I do however

deeply admire your ability to observe, to ask questions, to look for

answers and to report your findings in a very clear and non-judgmental

way. Most of my disagreements are due to the fact that I live in Moscow,

and life and the perception of the Russian politics and economics are

very, very different here from the rest of the country. I would be happy

to comment on the post but I since I don't think it would have anything

to do with AT I don't want to clutter the list. Those who might per

chance be interested may freely contact me off-list to discuss. Or I can

reply on the list, if that is what the majority wants.

 

Butch, the pickled mushrooms you mentioned - although I won't promise

you the ones that come from the Urals, I am a dedicated mushroom hunter

both in Russia and in the US and I promise to send a jar of my special

home-made pickled mushroms when both you and I are safely moved back to

the US.

 

Cheers,

Nika from Moscow

(Soon to be from Akron, OH)

 

Butch Owen wrote:

 

> <snip> <terralyn27%40verizon.net>

>

> Howdy Diana,

>

> > You got through.

> > How was Russia?

>

> Not a place the average American would want to live. Maybe more on

> the trip later .. for now I'll just say that if I tell the whole truth

> my butt might be hanging out when (if) I go back ..<snip>

>

> ,_._,___