Random Russia
- Thread starter Z28Camaro
- Start date
Something Chinesium. Seeing more and more of this unusual stuff on the streets. Will try to take more photos. This one was actually pretty big and lux
More accurate than a air freshener that makes your car smell like Russia.
Cost of living is very variable, depends a lot on what you want to consume and the lifestyle you choose. Fuel seems fairly cheap, premium comes out to $2.86 a gallon at the current exchange rate. Natural gas is also very inexpensive, but cost of electricity is quite high.
A big mac is 135 rubles which makes it $1.78. A double quarter pounder is $2.89. Stuff like milk, eggs, bread, vegetables and many fruits are quite cheap. But if you want a large fresh whole pineapple it can cost almost 10 bucks. A big pack of blueberries (typically Mexico or Africa) is like $8-9. They have interesting supply chains for some of the fruit here like citrus - a lot comes from Egypt or South Africa. I saw mandarin oranges once from Pakistan and bananas typically come from Ecuador. Also fruits coming in from Turkey, Egypt and occasionally Israel. I heard there is a place in town that imports Haas avocados, I bet they are not cheap. The green ones they have more commonly here are crap.
Fresh Chicken and turkey are pretty cheap but the quality is not quite like the US; birds are smaller and the quality of butcher work in my opinion is poor. Good beef (steak) comes from Australia or the US and is expensive.
Vodka is cheap and so is locally produced beer, imported alcohol is expensive with the exception of wine. Cheapest I have seen a liter of Jack Daniels is about $30.
A big mac is 135 rubles which makes it $1.78. A double quarter pounder is $2.89. Stuff like milk, eggs, bread, vegetables and many fruits are quite cheap. But if you want a large fresh whole pineapple it can cost almost 10 bucks. A big pack of blueberries (typically Mexico or Africa) is like $8-9. They have interesting supply chains for some of the fruit here like citrus - a lot comes from Egypt or South Africa. I saw mandarin oranges once from Pakistan and bananas typically come from Ecuador. Also fruits coming in from Turkey, Egypt and occasionally Israel. I heard there is a place in town that imports Haas avocados, I bet they are not cheap. The green ones they have more commonly here are crap.
Fresh Chicken and turkey are pretty cheap but the quality is not quite like the US; birds are smaller and the quality of butcher work in my opinion is poor. Good beef (steak) comes from Australia or the US and is expensive.
Vodka is cheap and so is locally produced beer, imported alcohol is expensive with the exception of wine. Cheapest I have seen a liter of Jack Daniels is about $30.
More about meat - these nice ribeyes are about $15 each. Typically they are not this good and the stores don’t always have them so I buy several at a time and especially if on sale. Being vacuum packed individually allows them to keep longer and I’ll throw a few in the freezer.
These ribeyes are choice quality and run about $11.50 each. I’ll typically look at all of them in the store and pick the best ones.
Boneless skinless chicken breasts are $2/lb.
Occasionally people bring their dogs into the grocery stores here.
These ribeyes are choice quality and run about $11.50 each. I’ll typically look at all of them in the store and pick the best ones.
Boneless skinless chicken breasts are $2/lb.
Occasionally people bring their dogs into the grocery stores here.
Only indoors from my experience and it depends on the place. I wear one pretty much every place I go indoors such as shopping, etc. but I do it because I don’t want the hassle of trying to talk to people and need to keep a low profile.
Yes there is a lot of patriotism - in my opinion in some ways more than the US in recent years. My impression is that people support the ruling party largely because it is predictable and they know what they are going to get. On the other hand, if you look back in Russian history, you will find that the people here generally have a very long fuse and when it finally burns down - watch out! In any case politics are very similar everywhere and you see a lot of the same things going on here but perhaps more obvious looking through the lens of an outsider.
I don't have much to say about Navalny - what I understand is that he does not have much under his 'platform' except that it is not the status quo. I have heard theories that he is part of the deep state and on the other end of the spectrum that he brings legitimacy to the current structure by being a legitimate part of opposition.
For a number of reasons - this is not the place for a foreigner, especially an American, to be attracting unnecessary attention. In my job I interact with the government on a fairly regular basis and it happens that the section of government that I deal with the most controls my visa. It’s extremely difficult to get a visa like the one I have and can’t put it in risk. One example, if I was to get two traffic tickets here I can be deported without any way to fight it.
I would say that they don’t have an anti-American sentiment any more than America has an anti-Russia sentiment. In fact I would say it’s less. Coming to America is a dream for a lot of people here. On the other hand, sanctions and tariffs have not done any favors to this place but it’s far from only America that has played a role in that. The government here wants independence from all other countries relatively equally and works aggressively towards that with policy and legislation.
The police just took away a dead guy they found on the sidewalk about 300 feet from my apartment. One of my neighbors found him and called the police. No pool of blood around the body so must have been ‘natural’ causes or possibly hit by a car.
They showed up and they took the guy away in less than an hour. Apparently this is not that unusual but still kind of more real when it’s close to home.
They showed up and they took the guy away in less than an hour. Apparently this is not that unusual but still kind of more real when it’s close to home.
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