FSU spouse politics

[mendeleev 68]

Tanya sounds a lot like Alla on the issues, isn't a USC yet, and voted against Putin. (Yes, she happened to be in Russia on election day.) Won't say who she voted for. None of my business. Likes Obama. Thinks all politicians are crooks but isn't sure about Obama. Thinks he's a better man than Putin. Doesn't have the insecurity complexes Putin has with all his bogus sports real-man counterfeit stuff. Isn't aware of the Secret Service scandal, since she's over there taking care of mom these days.

Is old enough to remember the Soviet Union. Thinks things were better then than they are now in either Russia or the USA.

[Gary and Alla 3,694]

Tanya sounds a lot like Alla on the issues, isn't a USC yet, and voted against Putin. (Yes, she happened to be in Russia on election day.) Won't say who she voted for. None of my business. Likes Obama. Thinks all politicians are crooks but isn't sure about Obama. Thinks he's a better man than Putin. Doesn't have the insecurity complexes Putin has with all his bogus sports real-man counterfeit stuff. Isn't aware of the Secret Service scandal, since she's over there taking care of mom these days.

Is old enough to remember the Soviet Union. Thinks things were better then than they are now in either Russia or the USA.

Alla finished her education, university, before the Soviet Union ended. She would not agree that it was better than it is NOW, she would agree it was better during the SU than during the first 10 years after the SU. She also will say that it was not nearly as bad as people make it out to be, which I can believe, especially in the opinion of a child or teenager or young adult at the time.

She agrees that the selection of clothes here is just mind boggling...and almost free!

When we went for her passport, we first went to the county courthouse which has limited hours of operation for passports. We arrived and the ONLY clerk that does them during these very specific hours was gone, and no one knew where she went or when she would be back. Alla said "Yep, just like the Soviet Union" So we went to the official passport office and there they told her she needed a bunch of things she did not need. We asked for a supervisor and reviewed THEIR printed instructions. We had everything we needed. "Yep, just like the Soviet Union"

[mendeleev 68]

Alla finished her education, university, before the Soviet Union ended. She would not agree that it was better than it is NOW, she would agree it was better during the SU than during the first 10 years after the SU. She also will say that it was not nearly as bad as people make it out to be, which I can believe, especially in the opinion of a child or teenager or young adult at the time.

She agrees that the selection of clothes here is just mind boggling...and almost free!

When we went for her passport, we first went to the county courthouse which has limited hours of operation for passports. We arrived and the ONLY clerk that does them during these very specific hours was gone, and no one knew where she went or when she would be back. Alla said "Yep, just like the Soviet Union" So we went to the official passport office and there they told her she needed a bunch of things she did not need. We asked for a supervisor and reviewed THEIR printed instructions. We had everything we needed. "Yep, just like the Soviet Union"

Our step-son, in the past five years of his work career in Russia, has been paid not more than 20% of the time. That sort of thing didn't happen in the USSR. A higher education is Russia means close to nothing. (The step-son has the equivalent of a MS in telecommunications from a pretty good institute ... and no paid work.) A higher education in the USSR meant a lot. These things color one's perceptions of the country.

And we cannot get medical care that is at all decent for an elderly, desperately ill mother-in-law. Medical care in the USSR was way better than we can get there now. So, in a large city in Siberia at least, life is still not as good as in the USSR. Moscow and St. Petersburg may be different.

And, when one gets my wife going, the examples continue to multiply.

[Gary and Alla 3,694]

Our step-son, in the past five years of his work career in Russia, has been paid not more than 20% of the time. That sort of thing didn't happen in the USSR. A higher education is Russia means close to nothing. (The step-son has the equivalent of a MS in telecommunications from a pretty good institute ... and no paid work.) A higher education in the USSR meant a lot. These things color one's perceptions of the country.

And we cannot get medical care that is at all decent for an elderly, desperately ill mother-in-law. Medical care in the USSR was way better than we can get there now. So, in a large city in Siberia at least, life is still not as good as in the USSR. Moscow and St. Petersburg may be different.

And, when one gets my wife going, the examples continue to multiply.

There is a large disparity in lifestyle between cities and villages or even Moscow and St Petersburg vs. Volgograd...or Kiev vs. Donetsk or Cherkassy. Or even in Downtown Odessa vs. the way people live at the end of the bus route. But I think that was always the case even in the FSU.

The pay situation is unfathonable. That is true. Alla's best friend has frequently gone 3-6 months with no pay, nothing but IOUs. Her options? Not many. Find another job that does the same? One of the reasons Alla sought and got employment from foreign companies was the reliable pay.

The medical care also is a concern for us. We actually bribe a doctor with an annual "retainer" so he will answer phone calls for my MIL and give her care. The local hosptial appears to be from a WW1 movie. It is one of the main reasons we are considering having her come here...she has already agreed and is practicing English.