Culture Shocked in Russia

Today is my second day in Yaroslavl. And things are very different.

Nobody smiles. If you smile, people think you are crazy or retarded.

People also do not hold open doors for each other. It is seen as a sign of weakness. Therefore, doors will slam in your face if you let them.

Much like I was laughed at in Mexico a few weeks ago, I was also laughed at last night at the market as I tried helplessly to buy three packs of Marlboros, since I stupidly neglected to buy any at the duty-free shop in Atlanta. I was shocked to find that they only cost 28 rubles here, the equivalent of a dollar. But the cost of humiliation is immeasureable.

There are rather strict rules from the volunteer organization: One, no alcohol during the work week. Since I am here in Yaroslavl for only one work week, that effectively means no drinking the entire time I'm here. This is because the orphans we will be working with are oftentimes the victims of abuse and neglect by parents with alcoholism.

Two, no drugs.

Three, no sex.

Well, it's "no sex with hotel staff or workplace staff," but basically, they want us to be on good behavior and not fuck up the six years of good faith efforts they've made in this community.
This city alone has 13 orphanages. I have been assigned to a children's psychiatric ward.

Tomorrow is my first day.

The snow is melting off the sidewalks near the kremlin in Yaroslavl. Boots clickety-clack on the street. Every car is dark with mud. The tram is leftover from Soviet days and everyone who rides the tram seems leftover from Soviet days as well.

The men really do wear those big hats.

I'm blinking away jet lag and trying to remember how I cope with new situations sober, find that my brain is simply not working right.

In the car on the way from Moscow yesterday, I kept dozing off, and while I slept, I found myself stubbornly dreaming of my life in Los Angeles. And every time the car would hit a bump or jerk me awake, the sites of snow outside the windows and the Russian chatter on the radio hit me like a slap across the mouth, and I kept looking around me in a state of total and complete shock.