люди как люди

its not worth it to write about my trip so far because i don't feel like it. so here is what i will write:

after finland i took a really rough ferry to tallinn. tallinn was beautiful and quite pleasant, they are doing pretty well for an ex-USSR country. I have always wanted to go there, and the Tallinn old town was gorgeous, especially with thick snow falling.

Riga was almost as pleasant as Tallinn but it seemed more like a real city, it is also the biggest city in the Baltic states, I think. There is a strange problem that I noticed: Latvians are very proud of their culture, being a small state threatened by surrounding countries throughout history (Poland, Sweden, Germany, Russia)

BUT 50% OF THE INHABITANTS OF THE CAPITAL ARE RUSSIANS

and they are definitely Russians. They speak Latvian, of course, but their mentality is still very Russian. And two days after I left, riots broke out in the capital because the economy was mostly based in stuff effected by "the Crisis."

But I have been in St. Petersburg for a few days and I really like it. Its like being in a Russian novel, and the weather was really awful, just like I expected!

But I mostly wanted to talk about Russians. About how they are really a downer and rude and not fun in public, inside of grocery stores, anywhere, really, at all.

but how one on one they are not bad at all. But they are still not like me, but that's okay, because if a country was full of people like me, it would be pleasant and boring, a little.

but here are some examples:
in riga the lady at the reception desk of the hotel seemed a little cold but then when i said i was from alaska she sat down and talked to me for about an hour about why the world financial crisis was caused by a global conspiracy, her daughter, the time she became a deputy almost by accident in the Soviet Union time and was embarassed, etc.

on the train from Riga i sat next to Stanislav, who seemed unimpressed by me, but still shared his chicken, beet salad, and cookies with me, and when I said I was full he said "ploxo kushayesh'," which translates to "you don't eat right". Then he got in an argument with the young woman sitting next to me about whether russia was in a bardak right now or if its doing well, seeing as how there are no tanks on the streets. then when we got off the train he gave me his number, just in case, even though i still think he was completely unimpressed by me.

Today I wanted to see Nikolayevski cathedral which is next to a little park. 70% of the church was covered with scaffolding so i sat down on a bench to find out where to go next. Then an old scrappy looking babushka came up to me and asked if I could help her. I expected her to say that somebody stole her purse or that times are tough, and I was prepared to give her about 20 rubles, but instead she asked me to open a beer.

This was sort of moral dilemma, because its sad to open a beer for an old lady, especially when its Baltika no. 9, which is extra strong. But I didn't really want to refuse, because she would get somebody to open it anyway. So I opened it for her and she sat down next to me and started talking. I gradually came to realize that she was insane. She said she worked in churches all her life and drank because her shoulder hurt. She said that the priest in the nearby cathedral was actually God himself, that he had a son but they don't talk anymore. She told me about the 3 monks named Isaac who gave their names to the Isaac cathedral that I was going to visit next.

She kept asking me if I understood, and when I said yes, she kept talking, or sometimes she said "you don't understand anything." I wrote down her address and I will try to send her a letter. She told me that she is afraid for me because all Russians are dangerous and that I have a very spiritual look about me, and when I tried to leave after about 15 minutes she said, "don't go, its nice with you."

But then she would get mad at me when I didn't understand her. She also told me a secret about my heritage that I can't tell anyone. I don't think she's right, but she got so mad when I told her that that I don't think I can reveal the secret, because I want to remain alive. I'm serious.

But I guess she wasn't a typical Russian, more like a crazy person.

Also right before I wrote this the old Russian jew who is living in the hostel as well asked me to rub cream on his back and then told me about world war II and his opinion on the Gaza conflict.

So people in Russia are really lyudi kak lyudi, you know?

No, I don't know, I don't really know anything about Russia. Or Russians.