Russian Women Forum: Trip Reports & Travel Experiences - (Archives)

RE: traveling to Kiev

2009-09-05T16:18:51-04:00

[size=200][b]What is a Genuine Russian Woman?[/b][/size] I wanted to take a moment to re-visit this whole idea of what makes up a [b]?Genuine Russian Woman?.[/b] You have to understand that one of the most important ways to categorize women from a man?s perspective is to know if she is a ?Supporter? or a ?Competitor?. When I describe things at this deeper level we can for now just completely ignore nationalities? Russian Girl, American Girl or Andromeda Galaxy Girl.. makes no difference because the fundamentals are all the same. So, let me cut to the MOST IMPORTANT fundamental thing you need to know.. ALL WOMEN are walking Baby Making Machines? (And if any woman you currently know wants to TRY to deny or de-emphasize this then they are completely full of big dog do do. Try to imagine you as a guy wanting to deny that you have a D*CK! It doesn?t work too well does it?) ?Supporter? Women are completely in touch with this ?baby making machinery? reality. They understand that to make the BEST Babies requires the BEST Husbands with the BEST Loving Environment possible. When you read a common Internet agency or Dating site profile on any number of Russian girls how often have you seen the phrase, ?I want to make a happy family?. I?m willing to bet that you?ve seen this or a variation of it quite a few times. Now .. does it get any more obvious then this? These women did NOT say.. ?I want to be a liberated and sexually free woman who focuses on MY CAREER so that I can screw myself out of the most fertile years of my life and then go to an expensive pregnancy clinic covered by my health plan during my mid to late 30?s in order to try and get my older and deteriorating eggs artificially inseminated with some anonymous guy?s sperm de-thawed from a test tube.? Do you need me to continue with this wonderful illustration? I don?t think so.. Women who are in-touch with their inner ?baby making machinery? don?t mess around my friends. They want what you want too.. Love, Stability, Understanding, Sex, Good Future and Family.. AND they are more honest about it as well. Now this doesn?t mean that you are going to be able to Russia or the FSU and tell a girl like this right away that you love her ?so let?s get hitched and make babies now!? No but you will still need to play the game of love? And it?s there for a very good reason too. She needs to know you respect her BUT at the same time she needs to know that you are not afraid to be a leader who will keep the family ship on course come hell or high water. I?m not going to bullsh*t you cause most of the time this is a real challenge to pull off but with time and experience you will understand why and how you can hit the right triggers to spark the right magic. There are women all around the world that fit this qualification of understanding their ?inner baby making machinery? but I am focusing primarily on Russian women because they not only deeply have these qualities but a big percentage of them are incredibly beautiful too! So hopefully you get a sense for what a genuine Russian Woman is? It?s not so hard eh? If you are around one and you feel that baby making machine speculating through her behavior towards you then that?s all you really need to know. She shows respect to herself because she honors the awesome power of that machine within her. The way she also behaves towards you as a man will also directly reflect this and it is the BEST way for you to discover what a Genuine Russian Woman is.. or isn?t.. Note: When you have a quiet moment I want you to seriously close your eyes and imagine what the woman I?m talking about looks, sounds, and feels like.. because this will help you answer this question in more ways then you can possibly imagine. Now because we are spending lots of energy talking about motherhood and family this doesn?t mean that you or her are expected to create a kid production factory any time soon. It just means that when it does happen, having children along with her marriage to you will BE THE DEFINING moment of her life? as it should be for you guys too. From marriage to conception to birth to raising children.. Her ability to be a woman, a mother and a wife is her ?Prime Directive?. If you as a Man truly wants to know what a Genuine Russian Woman is at her deepest level then you must ultimately walk this life long path with her since your answer will only grow more profound with time. If you?ve ever seen the way Russian mothers take care of their kids you would completely understand what I mean. To me there is no comparision anywhere else in the world with the simple, loving and powerful motherly energy they project.. If any of you Men are a little like me.. and if you are fortunate to see and FEEL this yourself.. you will probably stand back in complete awe and realize that you are most likely witnessing one of the most beautiful and loving manifestations in all of the creation. And you will never forget it. [url=http://www.russianworldforums.com/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=84][b]What is a Genuine Russian Woman?[/b][/url]

traveling to Kiev

2006-11-11T21:23:49-04:00

Hey guys thanks for the post. I'm new here and I plan on going to Kiev in December. Someone metioned the AEROFLOP? Is there a web site you can go to and look at more info on this? What is it exactly? Is it a high speed train of sorts. I'm going to stay in Kiev about 1 week and then go to Berdyansk. Could I take the Aeroflop to Berdyansk or somewhere close and get a taxi the rest of the way. Also I have a girl coming to meet me in Kiev and she is from Nizhny Novgorod, Russia . I told her I would pay for her trip but it is expensive for me to buy her a plane ticket. Could she take the aeroflop from Moscow to Kiev or even from Nizhny Novgorod, Russia, to me in Kiev? Thank you ahead of time for all of your help everyone. Oh yea, one more ? How about a apartment in Kiev, any suggestions for some place inexpensive. I didn't realize my plane ticket was going to be so expensive and now I'm cutting it close on money. Bryant from Gastonia, North Carolina. Peace and God Bless!

UNSUCCESFUL VISIT TO UKRAINE........... finally the saddest - Date Started: September 3, 2002

2006-09-22T19:10:00-04:00

My family is from South America and I'm versed in the ways of romance in Latin culture. There are a lot of unkind comments about BHLG needing therapy and being a psycho. It is a culture differentation that is at play here and one of the things that can go wrong if there is potential suitor is from a very different culture from the girl he is seeing. In the Spanish speaking world, you pursue a girl with intent. She will say no again and again but it is part of the mating ritual which involves pursuing her in the face of rejection and 'winning her over' which is what our OP sounds he is trying to do. In Mexico, Argentina, Peru etc what has happened here would be seen as a normal courtship ritual. If you are american or western European you think that BHLG is a psychopath and he needs help. I could recommend that he should go to Cuba and the Dominican republic to get his lady but he is Hispanic! that he can't get a woman in the Ukraine is preposterous! Russian women (and I'm sure Ukrainian) LOVE latin American men. I had some fine ends in my too short sojurn (3 years) in Russia. Culture re: Russia - Spain/Latin America, they are very very similar. I always feel that a Russian/Ukrainian woman wouldn't have as much troubel adapting into life in a Spanish speaking country than she would adapting to lie in the UK or the states. I say move on, I know women get into your head and into your heart but there are times and sometimes it takes awhile to get over them but to give up on Russia with so many fine ends that are there is just foolish. Send Anna the paints and move on mate.

UNSUCCESFUL VISIT TO UKRAINE........... finally the saddest - Date Started: September 3, 2002

2006-06-06T18:50:19-04:00

"i think she was trying to walk a very fine line and that was balance you as a potential mate against her fathers opposition." - You are partially right there but you overlook one thing........... Russian people, especially the older generation look upon dark skinned people in a different way. I once asked my girl, as an example, what would happen if she took a non white man home and introduced him as her boyfriend....... her reply was "and it was very straight faced and cool" - "My Father would probably shoot him" - This I think is a telling statement! Maybe this girl liked you but she did not know how to overcome the stigma if the relationship continued........ Also......... In Russia the man is the head of the Family, so in the absence of a husband, what the Father says goes! My fiances Father sometimes plays little power struggles with me and I recognise them and counter them, and we all get on fine! - In the end! You must meet the Parents 1st visit - get to know the Father, (even without language) shake his hand, have a cigarette with him, have a drink with him! - This is his little girl who may be going 5000 miles away from them - You must reassure him that you are a nice guy! Racial issues for non African and non Muslim males can be overcome I think if you are a nice man! (Russian people avoid muslim & African countries & people in my experience) Without teh Fathers approval you get nowhere! Take him a small gift - liquor/whisky/Vodka for him, Chocloates & odd number of flowers for Mother when you visit the home - if she wont let you visit the parents then she has no confidence in you! Forget all this she has had no experience of another man stuff too..... she will have had! - But what went on before you is not important so dont dwell on it! This is a different culture! I had a similar behaving girl in Estonia (Pre EU) once, she made the right noises but balked at physical contact and no parents - It came to nothing! When its right you know it! - This girl with you is going nowhere! - FACE IT! Find a new one, forget her, I dont think she was an archetypal scammer but she had certain views about western men and she needed educating but she obviously was not ready! Maybe not mature enough! Dont let this girl taint you against Russian Girls but do let them have the full facts about Mexico, its economy, its daily life and your religion and many pics so she is well aware of your skin tones before meeting her! Manchester

UNSUCCESFUL VISIT TO UKRAINE........... finally the saddest - Date Started: September 3, 2002

2006-05-01T21:18:21-04:00

Splashmaster said:

I was perfectly content on staying out of this until I realized hblg was on glue or other hallucinagenic . Okay , maybe Mexico is the leader in silver production , but big deal . What is it , 3 bucks and ounce right now , if that?? Where would you possibly get the idea that Canada has fewer natural resources then Mexico ?? We are one of the leading producers in oil , second in diamonds , and third in gold . We supply most of the States natural gas , oil , and lately fresh water . Dont forget , we are the second largest country in the world , almost twice the land mass of America , we have a shitload of resources that dont possibly hope to compete with .

Splashmaster - Just to set the record straight (source, www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/): Oil Production - THe U.S. is the third largest producer in the world (7.6 mbl/day), behind Saudia Arabia at 9.5 mbl/day and Russia at 9.1 mbl/day. Canada ranks 13th, producing only about 2.4 mbl/day. Unfortunately, the US consumes about 20 mbl/day. Canada IS the largest exporter to the US. Natural Gas Production - 539 billion cu m/year (second largest in the world, after Russia, at 589 billion cu m/year), Canada, less than ONE THIRD as much, at 165.8 billion cu m/year (2003 satatistics). US natural gas reserves are nearly three times as large as Canada's. The US has the largest hygrocarbon reserves in the world, when oil, gas, coal, oil shale, tar oil sands, etc. are all included. The US exports nearly twice as much coal as Canada. Water - Your statement is absolutely silly; the U.S. has the largest supply of potable fresh water in the world (much of it admittedly shared with Canada in the form of 4 of the 5 great lakes. Land Area Rankings: 1. Russia (17,075,400 sq. km), 2. Canada (9,976,140sq. km), and 3. United States (9,629,091 sq. km). Canada is 3.6% larger than the US. However, much of Canada is unproductive frozen tundra, with few resources, and a correspondingly low population. FOr example, Nunavut, a Canadian territory, has less than HALF the population density of GREENLAND. The US is the world's largest producer of electricity (more than the entire EU combined). Most importantly, the US has the largest gross domestic product in the would ($12.4b, normalized by equivalent purchasing power). This is 1/5 the world total. THe EU is second at $12.2b. FWIW

Trip # 2 to Tver: New Year's in the FSU - Date Started: January 6, 2004

2006-04-25T09:18:19-04:00

Mike we await your report Zzzzzzzz.... :prop:

UNSUCCESFUL VISIT TO UKRAINE........... finally the saddest - Date Started: September 3, 2002

2006-04-25T09:11:30-04:00

Jay, they know us better than you think. Kiev and Odessa are international class cities of the Ukrain and wherever I stopped whilst my stay in Ukraine they knew every word I said. Maybe it's a luck but somehow I think that American Schools of manners will not be of great use :king: There is something I love about Ukraine especially Odessa is there women that I find really stunning. By the way, does anybody notice after absence of native language we become dumber? Feels like we forget how to talk and wonder how our brains work, they might actually be crashing!

Yoshkar-Ola Russia ... or ... Trains, planes, and autobuses - Date Started: July 4, 2003

2006-02-12T02:09:02-04:00

Excellent report, Eric. Glad that things worked out as weel as they did. Tip on pronounciation of cyrillic sounds: You can master the ы by engaging in excessive drinking until you feel the need to remove said alcohol from your system via the same portal it was ingested. That sound you make? You know, it sort of sounds like a cross between "Ralph" and "Buick"? Yeah, thats the way its supposed to sound. :laugh: :laugh: Also, you might have an easier time with х (kh)if you pronounce it like you are hocking up a rather large loogie. Its pretty much the same sound. :grin: :grin: About rolling your rs, that is more of a genetic thing I think. Can you roll your tongue? If so, you are halfway there. If not, try and make a little motorboat sound when you need to. It may not be perfect, but it will work. Again, great report! Phil 7/11/2003 9:30AM

Yoshkar-Ola Russia ... or ... Trains, planes, and autobuses - Date Started: July 4, 2003

2006-02-12T02:08:15-04:00

Wow! Outstanding. While all of the trip reports add to my knowledge and information, this is especially helpful, as Y-O is where I am planning to go first, and then to Samara. Thank you, this was perfect both in the information provided, and the timing. Ron. 7/11/2003 7:38AM

Yoshkar-Ola Russia ... or ... Trains, planes, and autobuses - Date Started: July 4, 2003

2006-02-12T02:07:18-04:00

Day 12 We were off on the bus back to Y-O fairly early. It was a larger and newer bus on the way back, but that is all relative. Right on time and safe and sound we arrived back home. After 10 days there, it was starting to feel like home in a way. I still had more shopping to finish,, next time I should make a list. I remembered nearly the last day a couple people I forgot to get something for, funny how the time can slip away sometimes, didnt feel like it was almost time to go home. Irina worked on my Russian some more in the afternoon, but she has a ways to go with this student. We were especially working on reading and the alphabet. It takes some concentration (at least for me) to not automatically apply English pronunciation to Russian words. Some of the sounds I am hard pressed to even make still. I never could roll my Rs. :-W: Though I felt like I was back in first grade, it was still fun to work with her on this. Shes very patient with me, and even this little exercise was another peek into her personality and how she reacts to situations. I would imagine she was thinking along the same lines. (what a dumba**! heh heh) In the evening, we met her aunt and uncle from Y-O again for dinner out, even without being able to talk directly, I enjoyed their company and I think they enjoyed the time with us as well. Id tell you what restaurant it was, but I dont recall the name, but I do recall well the evening and for me that is the important part. It was very nice to feel accepted by the family. It took a long time to feel that way with my exs family, oddly enough I feel more welcome with them now than I ever did when we were married. I cant lay that all on them however, have to look in the mirror some and say maybe I have grown up a bit since then perhaps? Raising 4 kids on your own has a way of making you or breaking you. With Irinas family I felt very open to them right from the start and that is exactly what I received from them in return. I feel like meeting the family and interacting with them was an important part of developing my relationship with Irina. Everythings been great with them so far, I hope she will feel the same way with my family. I know they are all eager to meet this lady who has captivated me so strongly already. Perhaps a lot of this is more than many of you really want to hear, too much introspection and all. And then it may help a few people who read it anyway. Seeking a wife and partner is a very emotional experience, so talking about feelings cant be too far off topic since it is such a huge part of it. This board rightfully talks about the logistics involved in looking for a wife in the FSU, but thats just a part of it. Its still a relationship no matter how you slice it. One can do everything perfectly logistically, and still fail in the main goal, so everyone needs to make sure they take care of the emotional end of it first. Grab the wrong bus in Moscow and end up on the wrong side of town, well so what it costs some time and frustration. Get the wrong lady for you and ignore an important part of your developing relationship (the famous red flags) and that will cost you untold aggravations for a long time to come. Day 13 On the way home today finally. The train doesnt leave until 5, so we still have most of a day together yet. We had lunch at the Aquarium again. That was an interesting experience because they had Mexican food on the menu for the week. Im not quite sure what I would call it, but it wasnt Mexican food. It sorta looked like a burrito, but it was unlike anything Ive ever had before. (Raisins in a burrito??) Even though it was different, I cant say it was bad, just different. (My motto for the whole time I was there, its not bad, just different! Wish that was always true.) Masha from the agency came by to get us to go to the train station around 4:30. Irinas aunt and uncle met us there to see me off and present me with a few small gifts, that was very nice of them. Luggage aboard, we still had a few moments outside to say goodbye. Im not sure which way is worse, the lingering goodbye at the train or the too quick goodbye at the airport when you go through customs. The conductors called for all aboard, so off I went headed for home unsure when I would return. Music started playing from loudspeakers on the platform, a typical Russian march. Back to feeling like I was in a movie! I stood at the window making small talk with Irina, trying to soak up her image in my mind even more before I left. The train slowly pulls away and it was that moment it finally hit me that I was truly in love. Far more eloquent writers than I have described parting, so I will simply say it was a very difficult. I know that will only be the first such departure, and now I too can better relate to those who are waiting for their ladies to arrive to be with them again. On the train, I shared a 4 person compartment with a couple Russian guys traveling together and an 18 yr old student. Lucky for me, the girl spoke English very well, she had studied it in school for several years and had met several American students. A nice kid, made my train trip more pleasant and more than a few times did some translating for me. Have I mentioned before how difficult traveling there can be without a crutch? She was very interested in hearing all about my trip, looked at my pictures and so on. Still a novelty to talk to a foreigner. While we were traveling, I was walking by another compartment and heard someone speaking English. Turned out to be another guy from Wisconsin on his way home from Y-O with his lady and her son along for the ride. We talked some and compared stories, it was nice to see and hear a little bit of home so far away. I also realized how fortunate I was on my trip to see and do the things I did. His lady doesnt know much English at all and they had to deal with an interpreter most of the time, plus she still had to work everyday. They had hit it off well enough it seemed, but the language barrier makes progress much slower. He said at times he felt a bit trapped in the apartment while she was away at work, unable to go about town except for the simplest of things. Irina and I were able to go all over the place easily and she was really able to make my first trip extremely successful. Im not sure what the answer or conclusion to that is except to say the language barrier will necessarily make things progress more slowly. Perhaps that may be a good thing, maybe not. Otherwise, it was a pretty uneventful 16 hours on the train. Once we rolled into Moscow, Zina was right there to meet me, and as it turned out the other American guy as well to take us all to the airport. I rode with her husband Kolya, while the others were in the van over to SVO. I can easily recommend them if anyone needs a pickup in Moscow, they did their job very well and it was a pleasure to deal with them. One less thing to have to worry about. The train got in about 9 am, my flight left for Helsinki around 1. Customs and passport control was simple, quick, and routine. They never looked twice at anything, I hope it goes that well every time. 45 minutes on the ground in Helsinki, and it was off to JFK, which fortunately was only 8 hours going west. Sheesh I hate that plane ride! Customs at JFK was also very routine. I was expecting a few questions when I put on the form that I had visited a farm while in Russia, but apparently there is nothing contagious they are worried about coming back from there. Back in New York, I was treated to the bus ride over to LGA. Parts of that neighborhood looked like Y-O, only worse. Heh heh. I had a decent nights sleep on the train, but only about 45 minutes on the plane, so it was waiting in LGA for my 7:30 flight back to CLE that I hit the wall so to speak. Once aboard, I was out before takeoff and didnt notice a thing until the landing gear came down on approach. 37 hours since I left Y-O and I was home. It was great to be here, but I know I left a piece of my heart on the other side of the world. 7/11/2003 6:01AM

Yoshkar-Ola Russia ... or ... Trains, planes, and autobuses - Date Started: July 4, 2003

2006-02-12T02:06:41-04:00

Day 11 I mentioned a bus in the title, and today was the day for the bus. We were off to visit an uncle in Kozmodemiansk which is on the Volga river about a 2 ½ hour bus trip from Y-O. This is definitely something I wouldnt attempt on my own. Irina purchased our bus tickets the day before, and we arrived at the station about 15 minutes before departure time. There were quite a few people at the bus station getting ready to head to all sorts of destinations in the general area. The fleet of busses was a varied bunch, none looked newer than 20 years old, some looked older than me. Most had hand written signs in the windshield announcing the destination, naturally I couldnt read any of that. Our bus pulled up to the curb and Irina whisked me aboard. Id guess our bus dated from the 70s, not the oldest around at least. We wheezed our way out of the station and we were on our way. This being a Saturday, the fields near the city were again filled with people from town tending their gardens. The bus was full at the station, but not far out of town we stopped and picked up a few more people, a man with his 3 kids. They had to crowd aboard and stand in the aisle. All along the rods near every village large or small there are bus stops, often decorated with mosaic tiles depicting the common workers of the USSR. Out in the country, you could still see an occasional sign with the hammer and sickle, though I never saw anything like that in the cities. We stopped for a break about 2/3 of the way there at one of the larger villages. A few people got off along the way and the newcomers finally had a seat. I really have no idea how exactly the system works around there, occasionally we would stop at one of the bus stops, most we drove right on by with people waiting. I suppose there are other more local busses that traveled along there. Another case of not knowing the language leaves you totally unable to understand what is going on. As old and disorganized as the appearances were of the bus system, we still managed to arrive on time at the Volga river. The city is on the other side of the river, so we also had a ferry crossing to do before we met up with her uncle on the other side. On the Y-O side of the river, there was nothing but a small bus station and a ferry terminal, no town. The city is not very large, about 30,000 people. There were many older houses along with many of the standard style apartment buildings scattered about. Her uncle was there to meet us with his 2 kids along, a boy who is 15 and a girl of 13. First we went back to their apartment for a short while to drop off our bags, exchange photos and greetings. They live on the 5th floor of a building without an elevator, so they get their exercise everyday to be sure. Might do me some good to live there. :-W: Before long, we headed out to see a couple local museums. One was an outdoor farm museum which seemed familiar enough to me and was of the type somewhat commonly found here in the US. There were various displays of old farm equipment, an interesting water well, and a typical log peasant house. Except for some of the things inside, the house was of the sort commonly found all over the place in the country in that area. All in all, things didnt look much different than what you would see in a pioneer museum in the US except for a few Russian style items. It was here that I saw an oven very much like what Irinas mother still uses, the barns were also made the same way as the ones still in use. It was a worthwhile stop to be sure. We also stopped at another museum that was indoors and had a wide variety of things on exhibit ranging from stuffed wildlife to paintings. After the cultural time, we went to lunch in a quiet little café. Food was good, service was pretty slow and indifferent and we were the only customers. We went back to the apartment for a bit, and he arranged for us to take a little cruise on the river in a friends boat with us and another family. We wound along the back streets to get down to the river to the marina where all the boats were parked. Most of the boats were very small fishing boats with small outboard motors. Fortunately, our boat was a bit more substantial. Im not quite sure what the original purpose of this type of boat was, it was different than the commercial fishing boats that were around, didnt have an open stern for nets. I guess it is a tug boat, though not quite like what I have seen before. It was about 40 feet long made of steel with a single diesel engine. The owner was a very nice gentleman who is in the oil business there and I gather it is used to tow barges sometimes for that. He was a very friendly guy and had a lot of questions for me about the US. In this area, the river was very wide, much bigger than the Mississippi. Several miles downstream there is a dam and a hydroelectric station. We went slowly downstream for about 40 minutes, turned around and came back. We passed a cruise ship of sorts that travels between Moscow and Samara. On the way back he had me drive the boat for a while just to say I did. :-W: I asked Irina to drive it as well for a bit, but she refused saying it was for the man to do. I had to laugh about that one, but she stuck to her principals and would do it. It was a nice time spent with nice people. The other guests aboard were the police chief and his wife and son. I think they enjoyed the novelty of having an American around and enjoyed showing me the river and taking the cruise. I thought it was a novel and unique experience to go along with them, definitely not the sort of thing the average tourist gets to do. The day was not done yet, back on land we went to yet another friends backyard to have fish soup and use the banya. The soup was cooked over a fire outside with fresh fish from the river. I have no idea what kind of fish it was, but it made good soup with potatoes and some seasoning. This banya was a bit more modern and it was HOT! Too hot for me, this was where I had to wimp out and only go once through. They all had a little laugh about that and said it shows I am not a true Russian. Takes some getting used to I guess. Of course there was vodka and wine for the women. I was able to keep up with the vodka part of things, though I am sure they never got too serious about it. :-W: The chief was funny because he knew a few words and phrases of English. As the evening wore on and the more toasts we made, he remembered more English. Another great experience for me spending the evening in a purely Russian way with some very pleasant people. 7/10/2003 6:02AM

Yoshkar-Ola Russia ... or ... Trains, planes, and autobuses - Date Started: July 4, 2003

2006-02-12T02:06:07-04:00

Day 10 After our early ride back to town, we had a little extra time on our hands. I still needed to do souvenir shopping, so that was the plan for the day. We went to lunch at my favorite restaurant called the Aquarium. Its located right next to the park in the middle of town. By now the waitresses recognized us and since I actually left a tip were happy to serve our table. When you get a tasty and filling lunch for 7 bucks, leaving a 50 for the waitress was the least I could do. The open air market isnt too far away from there, so we headed over to look for stuff to bring back home. I found they have the same problem we do, hard to find things made in country. Most of the clothes were American or European design complete with logos and made in China. We both agreed those Chinese are really busy since they seem to supply the world with darn near everything it seems like. I was looking for T-Shorts or other clothes with Russian lettering, very difficult to find there. I saw a little of that sort of thing on Arbat street in Moscow, but skipped it thinking it would be cheaper and easy to find in Y-O. With a lot of looking and little stops all over town, I did manage to find more or less what I wanted. The recipients back home seemed happy enough. Doesnt seem to be any such thing as "one stop shopping" in Russia. As like most days, we did a lot of walking around town. I was usually wearing what I figured was standard incognito clothes for over there, (dark) but for whatever reason, most of the time people could still pick me out of a crowd as not being from around there without me saying a thing. And anytime I had the camera with me, that was a definite TOURIST sign on my forehead. Nobody was the least bit unfriendly about it, but I felt like people were checking me out all the time. Not a bad thing, just an observation. I did notice jogging suits seemed to be very popular with the men, Addidas, Nike, Rebok. Maybe I would have done better to wear something like that. Nahh, the kids would have never let me bring that sort of thing along. :-W: Another fairly quiet and uneventful day, yet still very enjoyable to spend time together doing something more like everyday life. 7/9/2003 5:47AM

Yoshkar-Ola Russia ... or ... Trains, planes, and autobuses - Date Started: July 4, 2003

2006-02-12T02:05:37-04:00

Day 9 Today we go to the resort. Now this was an interesting experience. To me resort conjures up images of palm trees, sandy beaches, drinks with the little umbrella, that sort of thing. Ahh, I can feel the warm sun on my face now just thinking about it. Rrrrrrriiipttt (Just how does one spell the skipping needle on a record sound?) Resort in Russia conjures up images of swarms of mosquitoes, strange smells errrr odors, bad food, and a lumpy mattress. I can feel free to be so harsh since Irina liked it about as much as I did. The setting is nice, a small lake in the woods, pretty location. The execution wasnt so good. The residence building is your typical 2 story barracks shaped in an imaginative L arrangement. At the bottom of the L is the cafeteria and it reminded me of my junior high days in the quality of food and the fine odors of exclusive cuisine emanating from it. There was a playground that was popular with the many kids who were there. No the kids didnt bother me in the least, they seemed like happy children having a good time. Some of them were even bold enough to swim in the lake which was none too warm with the weather still being fairly cool. Seemed like it was mostly families there, though there were a couple groups of university students there. I noticed them by the loud techno music that played all day near the recreation room. Somehow that didnt do a lot for the natural atmosphere out in the woods. The room was OK, except for the bathroom which looked and smelled like a typical truck stop along a busy interstate highway. The bright spots of the stay were a trip around the lake in a paddle boat and a pleasant walk in the woods (until the skeeters found us). Irina, bless her heart, saved us unbeknownst to me with an early departure when she called the agency and had Fedor come pick us up early the next day. Enough said about the place except to remind anyone visiting Y-O to JUST SAY NO to the resort. Perhaps it was the grim atmosphere, perhaps other things, but this was the only day we were together that there was any sort of tension in the air. Not that we were fighting or unhappy about anything in particular, we were both being a bit quiet and it felt somewhat awkward. I think a good part of it was Irina was really starting to miss her daughter about now, she had never been away from her for so long before. She wanted us to be able to spend as much time together as possible, so she had arranged to have her stay with her parents the whole time. As one would expect, they are very close and I can certainly understand her feelings. My kids are all older now plus there are 4 of them, but I was definitely missing them by now too. I cant recall another time of being apart from them for 2 weeks before either. Often a few days is very nice, believe it or not they can get on my nerves sometimes. :-W: 2 weeks is a bit of a long time. But we weathered that before long and by the time we were back in Y-O the next day, all was back to its happy and cheerful norm. 7/9/2003 5:18AM

Yoshkar-Ola Russia ... or ... Trains, planes, and autobuses - Date Started: July 4, 2003

2006-02-12T02:05:03-04:00

Thanks Tim, I also think shes a good one, and more importantly a good one for me. My method isnt for everyone, but I really feel it was right for me which is essential. Its definitely a leap of faith, but I never had to wonder if it was "right". I sincerely appreciate your words. Day 8 We had arranged through the agency for a driver to take us to Kazan for the day. Fedor arrived right on time at 9 AM to pick us up and we were off on the 2 ½ hour drive. Kazan is located in the Republic of Tatarstan and is the capital. A large percentage of the people in this area are Tatars with their own language and culture different from that of the average Russian. I think you might be able to call it the Detroit of Russia as there is a great deal of auto and truck manufacturing there. It is a large city, over 1 million people and it is currently renovating much of the city center. It is also a very old city, dating back 1000 years. They too have a Kremlin which encloses several beautiful buildings within its walls. According to Fedor, these buildings have for many years contained various government offices, but are now in the process of being converted into a historical area with the offices being moved to other places. Before I visited, I never really understood what Kremlin meant, I always assumed it referred to the government buildings in Moscow that issued all the orders. In reality, it refers to what we would call a fort, frontier style. Most of the towns had one and it protected the inhabitants from raiders that were common hundreds of years ago. So just as the old west had its frontier forts where the pioneers clustered in case of Indian attack, in Russia there were Kremlins years earlier. While there were many of the blockhouse style apartment buildings in the city, the older sections have many buildings designed in a much more pleasing style and I thought the city was worth a visit. The inside of the Kremlin was well maintained and it was apparent that a lot of work was and still is being done in restoration. Nearby in the center of the city they had closed off a street to turn it into a pedestrian mall. The street was lined with older buildings that have been restored with all sorts of shops and restaurants in place. The other end of this street was still under construction and will contain an underground mall. It was a popular spot filled with people and I think a good example of what can be accomplished with a plan and some economic incentive. Most of the rest of the city that I saw was like Moscow in a few places and Y-O in most of the other areas. I was surprised to see a border station and a few guards at the border between Mari-El and Tatarstan, but apparently this is mostly for control of commercial traffic rather than used as a general border crossing. So not quite like going to a new country, but certainly more than going from Indiana to Ohio. While riding along, I was having trouble picking out any road signs identifying the road we were on or what road we should be on to get where we wanted to go, so I asked Fedor about it. He laughed and said there are no signs, you just have to know the way. To me, thats a rather crazy notion of navigating that you need a local or someone who has been there to get around, but apparently that is the way things are. Aside from an occasional sign pointing towards a village or another city, I never saw anything resembling the sort of markers commonly found in the US. I guess the idea of a family vacation by car from Moscow is out of the question, so it was never felt there was a need for signs. Perhaps too it is a leftover from WW2 and they dont want to show any invaders the way. One other thing I noticed was the conversation Irina was having with Fedor along the way. It seemed like she was saying 10 words for every one he got in, of course it was all in Russian so I was catching one word in every 200. :-W: No, I wasnt feeling jealous, I was just honestly wondering if she was the type who talks constantly and I wasnt getting it because it was just too difficult for her to do so in English. I managed to ask Fedor while we were at lunch and Irina was in the bathroom, Does she talk too much?. He got another chuckle out of that question, but said she talks no more than the average woman, he said he was asking her a lot of questions so she was doing most of the talking. He also thought she was just a bit relieved to be able to speak Russian again without having to think about every word she was saying, which was very understandable. She had been with me for a week and speaking English the whole time, easy for me to forget the difficulty of doing that for her with an unfamiliar language. I noticed later in the trip when I ran into an American, I tended to do the same thing and talk a mile a minute just because I could. So my conclusion is she doesnt really talk too much, it just looked that way for a moment. Interestingly enough, it turned out they had similar backgrounds, went to the same school in different years, and knew some of each others relatives, so they were raking up kinfolk so to speak. One other observation about traveling the Russian highways, no matter how many lanes there may seem to be on the road, there are always at least 3. 1 in each direction, and one down the middle for whoever wants to pass whenever they feel like it. I cant say I actually feared for my life, but it had my attention a few times. Business as usual in Russia I suppose. Fedor has spent several summers in the US working, so he thinks we are all too passive here. :-W: I never saw any accidents while I was there, but I read stories all the time about it. I think as the traffic level inevitably increases, driving habits will need some adjustment. As it is, there are so few cars there relative to the US, the 3 lane way of thinking will persist. On the way back to Y-O, we stopped at the Raifa Monastary which is a collection of old churches pretty much out in the middle of nowhere. During communist times, it was closed as a church and used as a youth jail. Since then, the bad boys have moved elsewhere and the priests are back in business. It was an interesting stop and the churches were fascinating to see both inside and out. For being out of the way, there were certainly enough people there, I think they do well as a tourist trap, but a worthwhile stop to me. For those that are wondering, the price of the trip was $100 and we were gone just a bit over 9 hours, so to me not a bad investment at all. Fedor is the psychologist at the agency and does interviews with the ladies when they sign up and tries to weed out the ones not so serious. He is a nice guy to spend the day with and both through email and in person was always trying to be helpful and prompt in answering my many questions. Sure seems to be a genuine good guy. Unsolicited comments, honest! :smile: 7/9/2003 12:52AM

Yoshkar-Ola Russia ... or ... Trains, planes, and autobuses - Date Started: July 4, 2003

2006-02-12T02:03:55-04:00

Eric, Excellent trip report!! Thanks for sharing your story. I always like to read trip reports because it becomes apparent just how different each individual experiences their trip. It also shows how each of us, men and women both, are unique regardless of culture. Sometimes, this board is quick to apply generalities to RWs, or to Russia itself. (or the Ukraine) But once you have made the trip, you are reinforced with the idea that each person you meet is an individual. Specifically, I remember the boat trip in Moscow with a woman who I did not match. And the Arbat. And the Rossiya hotel. Fun stuff. I agree completely with Bruce. (Wineglass) There is a lot of excitement and fear when one travels like you have, visiting one woman and travelling to her hometown. You have to believe a little that the woman is not setting you up and then you are always watching her to make sure she is the same person as she wrote about. I also believe that leap of faith is a key ingredient for both people in the beginning of the relationship and it is something that doesnt happen with the typical "three dates a day" routine that some have experienced. I dont know your situation well, but Im relatively sure you found a "good" one. Or at least, a good one for you. Congrats and good luck! Tim 7/8/2003 9:03PM

Yoshkar-Ola Russia ... or ... Trains, planes, and autobuses - Date Started: July 4, 2003

2006-02-12T02:03:16-04:00

Cute Fred Cute!!! :laugh: Eric I can say the one in the pic has some Holstien in it for sure. Got its head turned so a little hard to tell if it is purebred. Could be pure Holstien but would need to see the shape of the head straight on. As for the chicken, well I aint much on chickens one looks as tasty as the next on the BBQ! :grin: As for the Brown chocolate milk cow, LMAO, it could be anything...there are about 6 different breeds of brown ones. Best I can do with the facts on hand. :laugh: RVR :cowboy: Canadian Cowboy 7/8/2003 3:08PM

Yoshkar-Ola Russia ... or ... Trains, planes, and autobuses - Date Started: July 4, 2003

2006-02-12T02:02:25-04:00

RVR, the cow was brown, does that help? :grin: After an exhaustive internet search for pictures of dairy cows, it might have been a Jersey, but something about it doesnt seem to fit exactly. Wish I had a picture of it, I am confident you would nail it. Since you mentioned it, I decided to add a couple more pics on that page just for you to test your identification skills. :laugh: I added a pic of a different cow that was grazing in the village and another of some of the chickens in the yard. Not to put you on the spot too much, but tell the world what we are looking at! :smile: Bucky and tallguy, glad you enjoyed the pics. As many as I took, I found after I got home there were many more I didnt have that I wish Id taken or thought I did. Im confident I will get another chance. :smile: As it was, Irina thought I was a Japanese tourist for all the silly pictures of "naaahthing eeenteresting" I took while I was there. Of course to me the mundane WAS interesting. Day 7 This was the only day we spent all day at home more or less except for various errands around town. We had to go back to the agency to get my passport registered, we were too late returning on Friday to do so. Passport police as one of the few other Americans I ran into while I was there called it. Minor inconvenience however. We also arranged to go to Kazan on Tuesday and then a resort on Wednesday through the agency. After lunch and the internet café trip, we headed over to Irinas apartment for her to get a few things she would need. She was staying with me the whole time at my home away from home. She lives in a one room apartment with a shared kitchen, not the ideal arrangement to me. In the afternoon, we visited the local park where they had various small amusement rides set up permanently. Im a big fan of amusement parks here and have been to several different ones, been on dozens of different coasters. None of that prepared me for the scariest ride I have ever been on in my life. 300 ft coaster that goes 90 mph, I love it.! I also KNOW I will survive it just fine. The ferris wheel in Y-O was another story entirely! By all appearances, maintenance in non existent. It was probably last painted in 1973, give or take 5 years. Most things Russian seem to be over engineered, very sturdily built. Not so in this case, you would think the designers were concerned about the overall weight of the ride. So around and around it goes, where it stops is?.. at the end of the day. Buy your ticket, give it to the attendant and grab a seat as it goes by. I have seriously never been so nervous on a ride in my life. The bright side is it afforded a nice view of the city. Another bright side was that it completed one circuit with us aboard without a total collapse. I just hope nobody dies on that thing, maybe a thunderstorm will blow through and put it out of its misery before that happens. There were also various other kiddie rides there, many familiar to anyone who would go to a county fair here in the US. But they were all permanently in place and none looked like they had much maintenance in the last decade or 2. The fair rides with the carnies scare me enough as it is, this looked worse, much worse. One case I hope looks were deceiving. At least there werent any carnies around. :-W: Hmmm, just recalled something that belonged on Day 5. Kavas. (sp?) Around town, it was not hard to find these little trailers with a yellow tank selling the stuff. (see picture posted tonight, link above) So naturally I had to try it. 2 rubles a cup, and not so sure it was worth that. I suppose its an acquired taste, but one sip was enough for me. Stale beer with vinegar added perhaps? Hard to describe, maybe somebody can come up with something better. Sales seemed to be pretty good, but no more for me. :-W: I did get my first taste of Russian ice cream this day, and that was good. Even more than the kavas, ice cream was sold all over town on the street from little freezers set up on the sidewalk and you didnt have to walk far to see someone eating one of the treats. Not such an exciting day from a TR standpoint, but for us it afforded some free time to talk and generally relax a bit. 7/8/2003 6:43AM

Yoshkar-Ola Russia ... or ... Trains, planes, and autobuses - Date Started: July 4, 2003

2006-02-12T02:01:27-04:00

Thanks for the pictures! Almost 100 hits already :smile: 7/8/2003 2:42AM

Yoshkar-Ola Russia ... or ... Trains, planes, and autobuses - Date Started: July 4, 2003

2006-02-12T02:00:44-04:00

Eric, Great photos. No Buckeye trees? The two of the family are Slavic icons, looking almost like Natl Geograhic material (except for your smiling face). Irina is a good looking woman. Happy, cute young daughter - I bet she is fun. Bucky July 08, 2003, 03:44 AM: Message edited by: bucky

Yoshkar-Ola Russia ... or ... Trains, planes, and autobuses - Date Started: July 4, 2003

2006-02-12T01:59:59-04:00

Nice Pics Eric...Thanks for sharing. Deffinitly looks like farmin country to me. :smile: Now if ya had got a pic of that there cow I coulda told you what make & model it is. LOL Sometimes its good to have a Cowboy around just to translate animal species. LMAO :laugh: RVR :cowboy: Canadian Cowboy 7/7/2003 3:44PM