Everywhere I go in Russia. I see a Soviet past that is missed by more than just a few people..
That is what I was thinking this morning over coffee. That thought came from when Sveta and I the other night visited some friends. It was a typical visit to a Russian and that means more food, drinks and desserts than you could consume. If you don’t eat it is an insult to the host. Now contrary to popular belief Sveta and I never (repeat never) have any problems with not drinking alcohol. In fact if we do not drink alcohol, then I have found that everyone else will not drink either and life is just as good or better because of it… (But you better drink hot tea and you better have an appetite!)
During this visit I was pleasantly surprised. I had remarked about a photo hanging on the wall. That triggered the past thinking and out came the photo albums from the Soviet era. Spanning the 1960’s, 1970’s and 1980’s. The photos went from the Crimea to Siberia in a tale of a families life…
The interesting things that came out of all these pictures are:
The people in the Soviet Union during the 60’s, 70’s and 80’s looked just we did in America. From hair styles, clothing and material items. I had to laugh at the polyester suits in the 70’s and the poofed women’s hair in the 80’s. The transistor radios, bell bottom jeans and so on and so on…
Remember these people were not some rich elite type people. They were simple people that lived the same life that we did in America. They worked in kitchens all their life as cooks. They may have had a lack of just a few items like cars and such, but their life was no less endowed in substance than mine or yours in America…
Another interesting thing that came out of these pictures is that everyone was happy, content and free from restraints to pursue happiness…
Sveta tells me all the time of when she was a young adult and traveled the Soviet Union by thumb (hitching free rides). She said that life was unbelievably free and fantastic. You never had to worry about if you would eat or sleep because every village was full of people that were glad to have you for the night. Sveta has talked of her travels in territories of Russia, Georgia, Moldova, Ukraine plus others as a young wondering adult…
As I saw in America, time and time again the longing for the quieter times of the past. I also see people in Russia that look back on the Soviet Times as the “good ol’ days…”
Windows to Russia!