So this morning (afternoon, teehee) when I woke up finally, I felt .. well, not like a million dollars, but at least I could breathe. The swelling in my throat has gone down and breathing and swallowing are no longer excessively painful. So hooray for that! I'm planning to spend tomorrow resting up, and I'll get back into Moscow by Saturday)))
Today I want to talk about ethnic groups, because the diversity here is nothing like I expected at all. Honestly, for all that I knew about life in Russia before arriving, I never took into account ethnic groups at all. It's not necessarily that I expected everyone to be the same, but just that... well, I guess I just never thought about it. There are actually a lot of different ethnic groups here. An approximate breakdown of the Russian population is as follows: Russian ~80%, Tatar ~4%, Ukranian ~2%, Bashkir ~1%, Chuvash ~1%, Chechen ~1%, Armenian ~1%, and the remaining 10% is an assortment of other assorted nationalities, totaling 160 different ethnic groups living inside of Russia.
While it may seem insignificant when the leading ethnic group totals nearly 80% of the population, you still see these other ethnic groups everywhere, and although I won't point any out now, I have learned to distinguish a few of them and have been taught to avoid them for various and sundry reasons. I also find it interesting after having lived in America to be living in a country where everyone is white (or some approximate shade of it). There are of course some occasional citizens of African descent... but they are incredibly rare, and every time I see one, I am reminded of Borat, and want to run up with my video camera and say, "LOOK! I FIND HERE GENUINE CHOCOLATE FACE! YOU CAN TAKE HAVE PICTURE WITH ME, YES!?" and I have to resist the urge to giggle. Luckily no one has seen me do this yet except my close friends, at which point I had to tell them why I was giggling about black people of course, and they all do the same thing now "COOPER! LOOK! IT IS GENUINE CHOCOLATE FACE!" (by the way, that is a hell of a lot funnier to hear with a Russian accent) You can't make this stuff up! hahahahaha =D
It is an interesting thing to talk about African-Americans though. Most people in the world have heard about the tensions between black people and white people in America and I have had a good number of people ask me about racism in America. I find it harder to explain that I would have expected, and I typically just retell what I have heard from Russians who have gone to America. I think a lot of people have the notion that white people are just hateful towards black people ... until they visit America. I have heard so many horror stories from Russians who have gone to America about they way they were treated by black people, and disregarding all personal experience, I can say without hesitation that at least of the Russians who have been to America that I know, they all ask me why black people think they can do whatever they want, and I have to try to explain that there are plenty of decent black people and they just got unlucky. But so many of them have had such awful experiences that it's hard for me sometimes to convince them, and many of them go away still convinced that black people in America act like animals. I hate to say it, but I think maybe a lot of people bring on themselves the stereotypes that exist in America today, and if you don't want to be perceived the way you are, go out and make an effort to show people you're different.
Enough of that for one day though. Speaking of common misconceptions, let's move on to religion. One of the first questions I was asked a good number of times when I told people I was going to Russia (after of course the mandatory "ARE YOU INSANE?!? YOU'RE GOING TO DIE! YOU'RE GOING TO BE SOLD INTO SLAVERY/FREEZE TO DEATH/BE EATEN BY UNICYCLE-RIDING BEARS!!!!!!!) was why, and many people inquired if it was for missionary work. Seriously? This question always made me giggle. For some inexplicable reason, apparently there is some incredible misconception that all Russians are heathens and pagans of some awful sort. You really couldn't be more wrong.
If you actually look at the most recent polls/statistics/census (and before anyone emails me that I spelled censi wrong check again, the plural of census is in fact census, so save your time... why people insist on trying to catch my typos as if I make them constantly I'll never know), you'll find that in fact the percent of the population claiming no religion in Russia is less than 10%... in America, it's nearly 17% (I'm willing to bet it's higher than that honestly, but that's what the figures I've seen say). If you want to do missionary work in Russia... just stay in the US where you know the language. It's a huge joke among people here all the people that come here to do missionary work. They laugh about these people who don't know Russian handing them rough Russian translations of bibles, they speak little to no Russian, and people like to tell them which churches they should visit while they're here. There's one about 100m that way, another 100m this way, another 100m that way, and 3 on that block, about 70m that way. Most tend to figure out that they've wasted their trip pretty quickly I imagine.
I have to admit that living here only for a few weeks, I can see why religion is so popular here... so necessary. If you've ever heard of the quote, "There's no such thing as an atheist in a fox-hole", you'll understand. Living in Russia is like living in a war zone. The average life expectancy in America is just under 80. The average life expectancy among men in Russia is about 60 (women tend to fare better, averaging about 74). Life here is rough, and there's no getting around that. All you can do is prey. On a side note, for those wondering why men have an average life span 14 years less than women, it's due to largely preventable causes like excessive smoking, alcohol poisoning, violent crimes, and traffic accidents. Women are just more careful I guess.
Speaking of war zones, another bomb went off in Russia, in the Dagestan region of Russia (south-southwest of Moscow roughly (very roughly, totally off-the-top-of-my-head guess) 1500 miles, near the border with Georgia. Apparently this guy was just driving down the road with a bomb strapped to his chest, and when a cop made the mistake of pulling him over to check his papers the guy blew himself and the officer up (they were both killed, the other officer was injured but not killed). There doesn't seem to have been any rhyme or reason, just some crazy guy with a bomb... whatever, this is Russia. What can you do?
Apparently the feeling is relief. This was the first explosion I've heard of since the explosion in January, and the people I've talked to are just glad it wasn't them. Now they know they're safe for at least another few months (hopefully months) until the next bomb goes off somewhere. Again, as usual, apparently that's just life in Russia. But the longer I stay here, the more it seems to be that that's more of a Europe/Asia/Africa thing. Every day I watch and read the news, about all the wars going on on this side of the planet, of all the death and the explosions and the needless killing. Whether it's for political or religious reasons doesn't matter. Everyone has a gun, and too many people want to use them.
I'm not really giving these conflicts enough credit though really. I've learned that a lot of the wars that are going on are for good reason. There's a lot of injustice, and as much as I despise violence, I also understand that sometimes it is a necessary evil when diplomatic measures have failed. In this part of the world, democracy doesn't rule... whoever has the most power does. If you want something done, you have to get the power. If you want to get the power, you have to take it from the people that have it. To do that, you need to .. well, remove them from the picture .. is the most politically correct way I can think to say that. In more ... hmm, I'll use the western term "civilized" here, countries, you can just shame them into quitting by exposing a scandal. In the countries that are a bit worse, if revolts get bad enough, they may resign and go into exile... but there are some that .. well, are like Libya. They don't care how many thousands of people die.. they don't care if the entire country revolts... as long as they still have soldiers to fight the country with, they're going to keep fighting.
It's just too profitable to be in charge to give up if you don't absolutely have to. In this part of the world there aren't laws about where you're allowed to take money from .. or who. There are, but the people enforcing the laws are breaking them too... so everyone does it anyways. But enough politics for one day, yes? I think I've been thoroughly controversial enough for at least a few weeks. If I haven't upset all of you and some of you actually come back to read again tomorrow, I'll see you then! =P Hope everyone had an awesome day!
*Side note: The following was (and always is) entirely my own personal thoughts and opinions, all figures are approximate, and even the information which I suppose or assume to be true may be entirely incorrect... this is just written from my own personal view as I see the world around me. If I've gotten any information incorrect, feel free to correct me, but don't be too angry at me for it, I try my best =P
Today I want to talk about ethnic groups, because the diversity here is nothing like I expected at all. Honestly, for all that I knew about life in Russia before arriving, I never took into account ethnic groups at all. It's not necessarily that I expected everyone to be the same, but just that... well, I guess I just never thought about it. There are actually a lot of different ethnic groups here. An approximate breakdown of the Russian population is as follows: Russian ~80%, Tatar ~4%, Ukranian ~2%, Bashkir ~1%, Chuvash ~1%, Chechen ~1%, Armenian ~1%, and the remaining 10% is an assortment of other assorted nationalities, totaling 160 different ethnic groups living inside of Russia.
While it may seem insignificant when the leading ethnic group totals nearly 80% of the population, you still see these other ethnic groups everywhere, and although I won't point any out now, I have learned to distinguish a few of them and have been taught to avoid them for various and sundry reasons. I also find it interesting after having lived in America to be living in a country where everyone is white (or some approximate shade of it). There are of course some occasional citizens of African descent... but they are incredibly rare, and every time I see one, I am reminded of Borat, and want to run up with my video camera and say, "LOOK! I FIND HERE GENUINE CHOCOLATE FACE! YOU CAN TAKE HAVE PICTURE WITH ME, YES!?" and I have to resist the urge to giggle. Luckily no one has seen me do this yet except my close friends, at which point I had to tell them why I was giggling about black people of course, and they all do the same thing now "COOPER! LOOK! IT IS GENUINE CHOCOLATE FACE!" (by the way, that is a hell of a lot funnier to hear with a Russian accent) You can't make this stuff up! hahahahaha =D
It is an interesting thing to talk about African-Americans though. Most people in the world have heard about the tensions between black people and white people in America and I have had a good number of people ask me about racism in America. I find it harder to explain that I would have expected, and I typically just retell what I have heard from Russians who have gone to America. I think a lot of people have the notion that white people are just hateful towards black people ... until they visit America. I have heard so many horror stories from Russians who have gone to America about they way they were treated by black people, and disregarding all personal experience, I can say without hesitation that at least of the Russians who have been to America that I know, they all ask me why black people think they can do whatever they want, and I have to try to explain that there are plenty of decent black people and they just got unlucky. But so many of them have had such awful experiences that it's hard for me sometimes to convince them, and many of them go away still convinced that black people in America act like animals. I hate to say it, but I think maybe a lot of people bring on themselves the stereotypes that exist in America today, and if you don't want to be perceived the way you are, go out and make an effort to show people you're different.
Enough of that for one day though. Speaking of common misconceptions, let's move on to religion. One of the first questions I was asked a good number of times when I told people I was going to Russia (after of course the mandatory "ARE YOU INSANE?!? YOU'RE GOING TO DIE! YOU'RE GOING TO BE SOLD INTO SLAVERY/FREEZE TO DEATH/BE EATEN BY UNICYCLE-RIDING BEARS!!!!!!!) was why, and many people inquired if it was for missionary work. Seriously? This question always made me giggle. For some inexplicable reason, apparently there is some incredible misconception that all Russians are heathens and pagans of some awful sort. You really couldn't be more wrong.
If you actually look at the most recent polls/statistics/census (and before anyone emails me that I spelled censi wrong check again, the plural of census is in fact census, so save your time... why people insist on trying to catch my typos as if I make them constantly I'll never know), you'll find that in fact the percent of the population claiming no religion in Russia is less than 10%... in America, it's nearly 17% (I'm willing to bet it's higher than that honestly, but that's what the figures I've seen say). If you want to do missionary work in Russia... just stay in the US where you know the language. It's a huge joke among people here all the people that come here to do missionary work. They laugh about these people who don't know Russian handing them rough Russian translations of bibles, they speak little to no Russian, and people like to tell them which churches they should visit while they're here. There's one about 100m that way, another 100m this way, another 100m that way, and 3 on that block, about 70m that way. Most tend to figure out that they've wasted their trip pretty quickly I imagine.
I have to admit that living here only for a few weeks, I can see why religion is so popular here... so necessary. If you've ever heard of the quote, "There's no such thing as an atheist in a fox-hole", you'll understand. Living in Russia is like living in a war zone. The average life expectancy in America is just under 80. The average life expectancy among men in Russia is about 60 (women tend to fare better, averaging about 74). Life here is rough, and there's no getting around that. All you can do is prey. On a side note, for those wondering why men have an average life span 14 years less than women, it's due to largely preventable causes like excessive smoking, alcohol poisoning, violent crimes, and traffic accidents. Women are just more careful I guess.
Speaking of war zones, another bomb went off in Russia, in the Dagestan region of Russia (south-southwest of Moscow roughly (very roughly, totally off-the-top-of-my-head guess) 1500 miles, near the border with Georgia. Apparently this guy was just driving down the road with a bomb strapped to his chest, and when a cop made the mistake of pulling him over to check his papers the guy blew himself and the officer up (they were both killed, the other officer was injured but not killed). There doesn't seem to have been any rhyme or reason, just some crazy guy with a bomb... whatever, this is Russia. What can you do?
Apparently the feeling is relief. This was the first explosion I've heard of since the explosion in January, and the people I've talked to are just glad it wasn't them. Now they know they're safe for at least another few months (hopefully months) until the next bomb goes off somewhere. Again, as usual, apparently that's just life in Russia. But the longer I stay here, the more it seems to be that that's more of a Europe/Asia/Africa thing. Every day I watch and read the news, about all the wars going on on this side of the planet, of all the death and the explosions and the needless killing. Whether it's for political or religious reasons doesn't matter. Everyone has a gun, and too many people want to use them.
I'm not really giving these conflicts enough credit though really. I've learned that a lot of the wars that are going on are for good reason. There's a lot of injustice, and as much as I despise violence, I also understand that sometimes it is a necessary evil when diplomatic measures have failed. In this part of the world, democracy doesn't rule... whoever has the most power does. If you want something done, you have to get the power. If you want to get the power, you have to take it from the people that have it. To do that, you need to .. well, remove them from the picture .. is the most politically correct way I can think to say that. In more ... hmm, I'll use the western term "civilized" here, countries, you can just shame them into quitting by exposing a scandal. In the countries that are a bit worse, if revolts get bad enough, they may resign and go into exile... but there are some that .. well, are like Libya. They don't care how many thousands of people die.. they don't care if the entire country revolts... as long as they still have soldiers to fight the country with, they're going to keep fighting.
It's just too profitable to be in charge to give up if you don't absolutely have to. In this part of the world there aren't laws about where you're allowed to take money from .. or who. There are, but the people enforcing the laws are breaking them too... so everyone does it anyways. But enough politics for one day, yes? I think I've been thoroughly controversial enough for at least a few weeks. If I haven't upset all of you and some of you actually come back to read again tomorrow, I'll see you then! =P Hope everyone had an awesome day!
*Side note: The following was (and always is) entirely my own personal thoughts and opinions, all figures are approximate, and even the information which I suppose or assume to be true may be entirely incorrect... this is just written from my own personal view as I see the world around me. If I've gotten any information incorrect, feel free to correct me, but don't be too angry at me for it, I try my best =P
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