How it feels to be back to your country

I continue my “coming back to your country” series of posts. Earlier you could have already read my “How it feels to go back to your country”, and got an idea how the process of moving goes.

UPD: Half a year later. How does it still feel?

And with this I’m opening a new section of my Rush Away Blog about Russia. Currently I’m here and on my Instagram gallery you can see photos of Russia and some tips, historical facts, Russian nature.

Time passes and I’m finally here, in Russia, already for a week. It was a really shocking week, full of great time with friends, exploring again my own culture and noticing tones of differences between Russia and Latin America, mainly Colombia. I have a lot to say, but will try to be short and specific.

Note: here = in Russia, there = in LA.

I. Russians.

1. Grumpy Russian people. They barely stop to help. Colombians, bravo!
2. People have arguments with their friends or family members on the street too often, they shout at their kids. It seems they are always angry and dissatisfied.
3. People here are too busy with their problems and complexes.
4. Russian men don’t have any variety in their haircuts. In Latin America it’s a special kind of art.
5. Most of Russian girls are crazy about getting skinny. And skinnier. And a bit skinnier.
6. Outside of Latin America – starting from Turkey, where I had my second transfer – people smell bad. Of course, some of them. But even one person can spoil your nose and your mood.
7. Grumpy Russian people. They barely stop to help. Colombians, bravo!
8. Russian women usually talking that every man is an animals and wants only sex from them.
9. Russian people can’t drink. They become too drunk and uncontrolled. In some cases even aggressive.
10. Russian people smell like cigarettes.

II. Russian language.

1. I hear myself speaking Russian as a third person. Still think and tend to speak English.
2. People say I have an accent. A kind of American one. Well, it’s natural, after all I was speaking mainly English during this two years.
3. I read Russian letter in English manner. If there’s a word “вертолеты” [vertol’yoti] my brain reads it as “beptolyoti”. Quite different that doesn’t make sense even for me.
4. It’s difficult to identify what language people speak, if they don’t speak loud enough. Spanish / English / Russian?
5. Russians (mainly in publicity, not in oral speech) use a lot of diminutive suffixes, as in Spanish ( -it-, for ex. “hijito”, “sopita”, “mamita”). In Spanish it looks very pretty and cute for me, but in Russian very weird. It’s not “normal” to use it so much.
6. I don’t need my offline dictionary anymore…
7. It is eccentric to hear football commentators speaking Russian. And they don’t do it as fast as in Latin America. A bit boring to see matches on Russian TV.
8. TV in Russia. What? Wait-wait-wait… How can I change the language? First days I still need to continue my transoceanic life.
9. Very weird to listen to Russian dub. I just saw how bad and unnatural it sounds (as well aw in Spanish). Living in Russia I didn’t notice it.
10. For the first time I saw a cartoon “Masha and the bear” in Russian. She has such a lovely voice ^.^ Usually I saw it in English or Spanish.
11. Now I know the names of TV shows only in English, but can’t recognize them in Russian.
12. I hear a lot of eastern languages here. Feels unusual.

III. Russian food.

1. The smell of Russian food makes me crazy: my heart beats so fast and I feel too excited.
2. Tried eggplants for the first time during my transatlantic flight. In LA they have them, but it’s not so common to cook and eat eggplants.
3. Bar cocktails in Colombia are much stronger. About 3 times stronger. Here I can’t get even tipsy.
4. Bananas (usual bananas (!) have a different taste. Luckily they are still delicious!
5. KFC and McDonald’s are very cheap in Russia. For a dollar you can have a big burger or even a small combo!
6. I found out there is “Domino’s Pizza” in Moscow too, not only in LA.

IV. Surroundings.

One of the best spots in Moscow to party – The Red October — next to the Moscow river. Earlier this red building was a confectionery factory. And still their sweets are so delicious!

1. First impression: in Moscow, Vnukovo airport was the dirtiest big airport I’ve seen for travelling during two years. Sad.
2. Amazing architecture! Just fantastic! In big cities, especially in the capital of Russia, I wanted to take pictures of every single building in the center of the city. Just love it.
3. When I arrived here, I’ve got a lot of questions from my LA friends: Is it safe to go out so late? It was about 10 p.m. Yes, my dear people, especially in a big city.
4. I always want to ask my friends, if it is a safe neighborhood. In Russia.
5. It’s missing something on the roads… motos! In Colombia, especially in Bogota, you can see hundreds or thousands of motos, even moto traffic jams. In Russia you’ll see like one motorbike in 30 minutes.
6. In Russia people park their cars on the last line of a road. Too bad for the traffic. In Colombia they have a lot of specialized parking zones and a place for a car on the territory of their house or several special floors in a residential building.
7. I don’t need to use an adapter? My computer plug is so lonely!..
8. Taxies are expensive. And I’m already so spoilt by Colombian cheap and super easy taxi service.
9. In Moscow, there’s a lot of smoke in the air: and people smoke, and cars produce a lot of exhaust.
10. It’s very difficult to look for an address. Here all the streets have different names, meanwhile in Colombia there’re only numbers of two types of the streets: “calle” and “carrera”.
11. Gravitation got me when I made my first step in Moscow.
12. The streets in Russia are very wide and there’s a lot of space here. It comes as no surprise that Russia is a country of scope.
13. There are two droll and strange types of transport: trams and trolleybuses. I love them!
14. I guess it’s popular here for old ladies to have a high hairstyle. And all the young ladies wear beautiful clothes as it’s a holiday. And of course high hills. Very high hills.
15. Russian SIM card doesn’t show roaming anymore. Shock!

V. Atmosphere.

Coctails in Russia are not really strong

1. Everything seems like a first time, but when you already know what to do.
2. All the memories recur to my memory and cause some hurtful feelings, because I feel so lost. Generally.
3. I don’t want to find myself here. I want to be in Colombia. Russian language is weird. I’m scared a bit to be here.
4. After two years people listen to the same songs, radio stations have the very same music. Well, to be honest, in Colombia (and I’m pretty sure in most of the countries) it’s the same situation. But still, I expected more.
5. Russian rap music. Just “ 😦 “.
6. It was hilarious for me to see a commercial of tampons for women during a soccer match. In Russia it could be something really manish.
7. Colombia helped me to be happy and enjoy life as it is.
   

   THANK YOU SO MUCH, COLOMBIA!