[momraine]

What shocked you the most when you went to Russia?

[TweetyMom04]

I didn't really have any idea in mind of what Russia would look or be like.

I remember spending lots of time looking around, taking in all the sights, smells, sounds, etc. We were recently in St. Petersburg and the smell is something you never forget. The same stench we smelled in Moscow and Siberia. Burning Coal, boiled cabbage, boiled meat and spoiled milk hung in the air.

What shocked me the most: how people lived (in the region we went to). Middle of winter, people living in small huts, no electricity, no running water, no hot water and having to go outside to use the toilet. After 21 days I don't take for granted anything.

[votemom]

the difference between moscow and the outer regions is stark. i can't even really find words.

when i spent 3 weeks in siberia living with a russian family, i felt like i had experienced the real russia.

[PollyG]

What shocked me the most?

How I felt I'd been dropped down into the 1930's in Siberia. Very surreal - with all the old wooden buildings and dirt tracts...like time traveling.

The other thing that shocked - and saddened me, were all the stray dogs running the streets, dodging traffic and sitting huddled in any spot of sun they could find in December. I don't know how they survive in such cold....and many didn't as I saw several dead dogs as well.

In Moscow and in Siberia it seemed people walked everywhere. I saw people, young and old, walking long distances with bags of groceries etc, from shopping areas to their apartment complexes. I realized that owning a car is out of reach for many there and there didn't seem to be much public transportation.

[Ebadge90]

I was also surprised at the condidtion of the large cities, especially in region. In a city of 600,00 there was no drinkable water when we were there for trip 2. That was shocking. I think the standard of living was overall shocking.
Equeally as shocking was the condition of Moscow. But in a totally different way. We were shocked at how "Westerized" Moscow was. Parts of the city looked like Times Square there was so much neon.

[GCS]

The poverty in the smaller towns was surprising to us. I always tell people that we can not imagine living like this - that there is no comparison here. And the winters were so cold. To live without heat in small shacks and no running water. It was shocking.

I remember at first being angry that my son was abandoned on a cold (19 degree) day on the street at only 2 and a half and poorly dressed. But after understanding how poor the outlying areas are, I have to believe his first mother did the best she could for as long as she could. It’s hard to understand it until you see it. So I am glad I know this now and I can be sure that he understands later in life how hard she must have worked to keep him safe and healthy those first years.

Also surprising to us was the pollution. We walked the town a lot and we would come in with grit on us from the air. We walked over a creek and a river and both were filled with debris. That was very sad.

Lastly, we were surprised at how impractically the young women dressed. Very high thin heeled boots in the winter on those terrible roads. And they walked everywhere in them. I could not do that and I am a heel wearing girl.

[Jessi_76]

Just overall how third-world Russia is. We thought it was similar to the Dominican, however we didn't expect anything like that before we traveled. It was really very sad to see the poverty, the lack of hot water, the tiny run-down huts, the dogs being pegged with rocks by kids, the undrinkable water, the old school cars, etc. etc.

[Shark01]

Easy.....how beautiful and well-dressed the women are. During the cold war, Soviet women were always portrayed as ugly and fat, wearing burlap sacks.

Wow, what an eye opener.....Western women could learn a thing or hundred......yes, I'm a guy

Other than that, it was as expected......but then again I have traveled internationally pretty extensively.

[MamaChinch]

I agree with Shark, I have travelled extensively and lived overseas growing up and as an adult, so I knew and was prepared for what I'd see as far the third-world"ness" of Russia......yes, what was surprising was how well-dressed and beautiful ALL the women of all ages were! Spikey high heels, even in snow.
What how tell people is that it was EXACTLY like you would think it be....and that what was the shocking part. You can often intellectulize how a place might be and it ends up being very different. But Russia was just like I thought it be, but in away, I had thought it would end up being different.
That said, I had a wonderful expereince there and cherish every moment of both trips. (okay, not getting fat lip in a car accident) But the rest, yes!!

[Sally26]

Holes in the floor for toilets, Holes in toliet seats where women stood on them in their high, tiny heels.

How many super model beautiful women were everywhere.

How many every day women wore next to nothing.

How pretty the Russian language is to hear. I didn't expect it to be soft and flow so well.

Hearing duh all the time and it not being rude!

[kretzklan]

I was shocked the most by how scared people in Russia are of getting sick...and the way they think they can get sick is not even true. The complete bundling up, the sitting only on cardboard - never on concrete. I just could not believe how frightened they seemed. I guess healthcare is not good or very expensive, but I would hate to live in such fear.

[MamaChinch]

Ah yes...the sitting concrete thing WAS a new one on me! he he!!
And....no server...would let me order cold apple juice for DD !!!! One sever didn't even let us order rice for the girls! She insisted they have buckwheat! It was interesting how everyone seemed to be an "expert" about what the kids should eat and how they should dress! One of our translator told another famiy that her dd had a cold because she was in sych a flimsy dress!

[becky26]

I was shocked, and even more angry, when I saw the wealth in Moscow. We stayed in an apartment on Novy Arbat. So many people attended the casinos to gamble. DH and myself saw more Bentleys, Ferraris, and other classy cars than anywhere in the US. We looked through realtor magazines and saw apartments costing $30,000 per month...

When we drove to our daughter's hopsital two hours outside of Moscow, we seemed to be in a different country. Her bed was broken, no diapers (at 8 months!), huge clothes held together with rubber bands. I am still angry thinking about this disparity!

[Shark01]

Originally Posted by becky26

I was shocked, and even more angry, when I saw the wealth in Moscow. We stayed in an apartment on Novy Arbat. So many people attended the casinos to gamble. DH and myself saw more Bentleys, Ferraris, and other classy cars than anywhere in the US. We looked through realtor magazines and saw apartments costing $30,000 per month...

When we drove to our daughter's hopsital two hours outside of Moscow, we seemed to be in a different country. Her bed was broken, no diapers (at 8 months!), huge clothes held together with rubber bands. I am still angry thinking about this disparity!

A good and true observation, but isn't that capitalism at work? The disparity of rich to poor is even greater here. The foster care system here is a mess. OTOH, I thought the baby home workers genuinely cared for the children. We are all making a difference

[pwnort64]

The poverty and third-worldness. They were building a building behind our hotel. In the span of the months I was there for trip one and trip 2, nothing progressed on the building. Occasionally, one person would be there working in the evening using a flashlight.

The traffic. No matter when or where, there was always lots of traffic and the driving was just downright scary!!