The wife wants to return to Russia

[SMR 368]

Maybe, SMR, but most foreign guys I know have had to pay fines. It's also probable you never did anything, as to me you seem to be a pretty conservative guy.

I suppose, but I don't find it unreasonable for the police to give me trouble if I do something. I mean, if I got in a drunken fight, I wouldn't think that zip-tying and mace was an unreasonable response. What do you expect the police in the US to do? What if you were an undocumented alien? It's just the Amero-centric entitlement complex that somehow makes some think that the police are acting unreasonably.

[NavarreMan 10]

meh...Iv'e told this story on here before, and it's not one of my prouder moments...but by far not my worse.

Here's the short version.

Me and the wife and one of her friends went up to Vitebsk to meet her former college friends and party. It comes up in a convo that Smolensk has a new night club that's supposed to be hot. So after god only knows how much booze...were heading to Smolensk...which by train is close to 8 hours or more...drinking the entire way there. We get to the club and there's a line of peeps waiting to get in. Hot chicks, English language and a few bucks and presto we are standing in side the entrance waiting to check in the bags, coats, etc.. and pay cover charge and then get stamped. In front of us is an Arab dude with what appeared to be a hooker...not sure, but anyways they were speaking English...hers better than his. She was showing him how many Rubles to pay for the cover charge..helping him count his money...and all I said was "It looks like we are all speaking English tonight eh"...and that's when everything went wrong. She turned around and said something sh*tty in Russian to the then fiance and her friends, they said something back and then it got real loud, and he said something towards me and I picked up the words American, assh*le...and then I popped him one. Big mistake...like really big. If I owned a club and had to choose bouncers...it would be from that club. Of course I don't go down easy and without a fight. Hey it's all about representing Alaska ! To make a long story short, cops show up after Iv'e been maced and I'm still zip tied, I get mouthy with them, Kira tells me to stfu and get all the money I have out of my wallet if I want to get back to Belarus. I guess I paid for a police escort seeing how they followed our taxi to the train station..

If your an American in Belarus you need what's called a "Transit Visa" to leave Belarus and come back to Belarus. We knew this, but we also knew nobody cares about that visa...unless your a dirty fck*ng Russian cop who knows about that visa.

That was just one of many adventures with the wifey. There's the time I ended up on stage at Westworld club and she went ape sh*t and had me drug off stage ...even when everyone was cool about it..but her. Now that I think about it...she threw my bags out twice during my visits, and tried to have my trip back home changed and then found out only the purchaser can do that, so she told me to get a hotel room until it was time for me to go back...and then retracted that when she remembered the hotels in Minsk are full of hookers...etc, etc..

All remaining questions I had as to your character are now answered.

[Robert&Liliya 31]

I really enjoyed Russia (except for the snow up to my naughty bits). In Texas snow is that stuff that falls one day but is gone the next. Me being the Texan that I am, I made the mistake of stepping too far off of the dirty path in the snow to allow an elderly lady carrying her groceries to pass unhindered. I found that my leg is just about the same in length as the snow is deep. I saw some very beautiful places and I also saw some places that were dirty but that is the same everywhere. We are going to look at buying an apartment in Russia so we have our own place for when we visit the family. Doing this makes the family feel more comfortable that they will see their daughter and granddaughter and it give us our own place when we are there.

[eekee 182]

I suppose, but I don't find it unreasonable for the police to give me trouble if I do something. I mean, if I got in a drunken fight, I wouldn't think that zip-tying and mace was an unreasonable response. What do you expect the police in the US to do? What if you were an undocumented alien? It's just the Amero-centric entitlement complex that somehow makes some think that the police are acting unreasonably.

Well, there's a reason why cops are so unpopular in Russia. It's definitely not unfounded and I have friends who have been seriously beaten. And they do demand bribes. You definitely do not have people who want to "protect and serve" or whatever in the Russian police force. The pay is terrible, and it only appeals to those who want unbridled power. They more or less can do whatever they want.

Edited July 12, 2011 by eekee

[slim 1,525]

I'm not a really big dude, but it seemed like I had a good 25kg on every cop I met over there. They'd give me that, "well, you're obviously American" look and then they'd think about it for a moment and move on. I never encountered more than two or three at once and I also had a buddy or my wife with me at all times.

I saw some plainclothes guys shake down a dude on the bus because he didn't have his ticket but other than that, the cops seemed more like scared teenagers than tough guys.

I'm not really a fighter, but it seemed perfectly acceptable in Russia to punch, kick and yell at just about anyone if you disagreed with them or didn't like the way they looked. It's not like you'd face a lawsuit or get arrested or anything, even if it was the cops that you'd just told to piss off.

Definitely a difference in cultures and something that could actually help your situation.

[TBoneTX 45,329]

...those who want unbridled power. They more or less can do whatever they want.

It's becoming like that here, too, sigh man.

Question about slang/synonyms for cops, si man:

U.S. = pig

Ecuador = chapa (literally, "speed bump; something that impedes one's progress")

RUB = _______

[eekee 182]

"musor"=trash

"ment" doesn't have any other meaning, but it's an not-nice word for police... most common one you'll hear.

People will say "svinya," for "pig," too.

[Gary and Alla 3,694]

Well, there's a reason why cops are so unpopular in Russia. It's definitely not unfounded and I have friends who have been seriously beaten. And they do demand bribes. You definitely do not have people who want to "protect and serve" or whatever in the Russian police force. The pay is terrible, and it only appeals to those who want unbridled power. They more or less can do whatever they want.

In my experience in Ukraine the cops are either old Soviets still trying to have control over people or basically "gopniks", uneducated lowlifes with nothing else to do but shake people down all day. If you ask me they are one of the reasons the FSU will never reach it's considerable potential.

If you ask me they ought to give these goons .22 pistols and pay them $10 for every feral dog they shoot and bring to the dump. They would leave people alone and we could walk the streets at night without the packs of wild dogs

[eekee 182]

I read something on wikipedia about how the packs of feral dogs migrate from the country to the city every winter via electrichka... OMG I am never taking one, not with hobo dogs riding the rails.

Medvedev introduced reforms like higher salaries and psych evaluations, and they apparently are now "politsiya" and not "militsiya"...

[Gary and Alla 3,694]

I read something on wikipedia about how the packs of feral dogs migrate from the country to the city every winter via electrichka... OMG I am never taking one, not with hobo dogs riding the rails.

Medvedev introduced reforms like higher salaries and psych evaluations, and they apparently are now "politsiya" and not "militsiya"...

I can believe it! The damn things are everywhere. Sergey rides the electrichka every day to his classes, his dorm is actually quite some distance from the buildings where he has most of his classes.

[Bad_Daddy 2,209]

I read something on wikipedia about how the packs of feral dogs migrate from the country to the city every winter via electrichka... OMG I am never taking one, not with hobo dogs riding the rails.

Medvedev introduced reforms like higher salaries and psych evaluations, and they apparently are now "politsiya" and not "militsiya"...

Last year they did an experiment in St. Petes where two guys dressed up as Russian cops, went into a grocery store in the middle of the afternoon and filled up five gabs of grocery's and then proceeded to walk out without paying for anything...and not one person raised a voice.

[ONA 133]

I read something on wikipedia about how the packs of feral dogs migrate from the country to the city every winter via electrichka... OMG I am never taking one, not with hobo dogs riding the rails.

I've seen dogs on the buses in my city.

And they always cross the streets when the green light is on. Sometimes those dogs are way smarter than people.

[slim 1,525]

I've seen dogs on the buses in my city.

And they always cross the streets when the green light is on. Sometimes those dogs are way smarter than people.

I've heard stories about dogs who would follow kids to school each day and take the bus back.

[Neonred 3,569]

I've seen dogs on the buses in my city.

And they always cross the streets when the green light is on. Sometimes those dogs are way smarter than people.

I've seen the same exact thing in Rostov.

[Captain Hammer 113]

I suppose, but I don't find it unreasonable for the police to give me trouble if I do something. I mean, if I got in a drunken fight, I wouldn't think that zip-tying and mace was an unreasonable response. What do you expect the police in the US to do? What if you were an undocumented alien? It's just the Amero-centric entitlement complex that somehow makes some think that the police are acting unreasonably.

For sure. You're a guest when you're in another country, and you should act appropriately. I can't feel sorry for someone when they pay the consequences for rude behavior.