Not one week passes without a good directive from our bureaucracy. My normal afternoon route home from the office is by Metro from Frunzenskaya to Tretyakovskaya with line changes at Park Kultury and Oktyabrskaya. Thursday I received an interesting security alert:
Dear colleagues,
Please note that Russia celebrates today the "Day of Border/Frontier Guards". In practical terms it means that you may meet much more than usual number of aggressive drunk young men on Moscow streets. Most risky locations are around metro stations "Park Kultury", "Frunzenskaya" and "Oktyabrskaya" and the Gorky Park itself.
I would recommend you to keep low profile for the rest of the day and limit yourself by staying at home after EOB.
I wish you safe evening and night!
Signed by NN
Уважаемые коллеги,
Пожалуйста заметьте что Россия празднует сегодня " День граници/границы Guards". В практически термины оно значит что вы можете встретить очень больше чем обычный число агрессивныйых пьяных молодых человеков на улицах Москва. Большинств рискованые положения вокруг станций метро; "Парк культуры", " Фрунзенская" и "Октябрьская" и Парк Горького.
Я порекомендовал бы вас для того чтобы держать низкопрофильный для остальноев дня и ограничивать путем оставаться на дому после конец дела.
Я желаю вам безопасные вечер и ночу!
Подписано NN
Water and vodka?
The times are changing. According to the poster below homeland protection was once the duty of every citizen. Now it's raving, aggressive drunk young men.
We recently had the "Week of Norwegian Culture" at our office. Lectures by a Russian professor and author of a book called "те странные норвежцы" or "Those strange Norwegians" was part of the program. Frustrated Norwegians have been walking around in a spiritual mist over the last week after learning to know what they really are like. You non-Norwegians probably knew before, but for us it was shocking to read and hear about our Christmas traditions, our food, child rising, the women's lib, our sexual habits and God knows what.
I've now started on my new book called "The Northernmost country in Africa". You may question my qualifications and I will remind you that I have lived for nearly a year in Africa, that I know some Africans and that I'm a docent and that I've even been titled "professore" in Italy. My qualifications should not be challenged. I sincerely hope that my new book will not offend my friends from real Africa. The title of my book reflects some simple facts; both the Southern and the Northernmost Africa have long legged birds. In the North they are more apparent on warm summer days. Corruption is high in the North as well as in the South. Traffic rules are guidelines only. It's not mandatory to drive in a specific direction on a one way street, but more a recommendation. Parking is not forbidden nor allowed, but if you can find some space for your car in the street, on the or anywhere else you may leave it there. If it is black and Mercedes S-type or BMW 7-series or an equally expensive car, you may park all over. On the surface the Northernmost Africa looks civilized, but in reality it's not. Some cars are shiny expensive, but as you see below, not all.
It's hard to pass the drivers license test in Russia. That's why most people buy a drivers license and then starts training. One guy said his wife had bought a license from a police officer and now he had to learn her how to drive. He was really scared, he said, and did most of the training early in the morning on weekends or late night on weekdays. He hoped to survive until he would let her drive off by herself, but he didn't like the taught of her driving around with their two kids and hoped she would rather go with his mother-in-law. It's not only driving licenses that can be bought here in Africa. Everything is for sale. Salaries are low and living standard expectations high. If the plumber can drive a nice car so should I, the professor thinks. Unfortunately the professor salary is low and fortunately there are many lazy students that do not pass their exams. So it's a business opportunity. The professor gets his money and buys a Volvo XC90 with a V8 engine and leather seats. One day he is out driving and ends up in a collision with a drunken brick manufacturer in his Range Rover also with a V8 engine and leather seats. The brickman has more money and horsepower than brain, has bought his drivers license and don't know the traffic rules. The professor is sent to hospital and the doctors examining him was one of those who didn't pass exams, but bought a stamped and sealed document. The professor's left leg is broken and the doctor goes for an amputation from the knee and down. The professor sues the doctor and he has not learned his lesson yet. The lawyer didn't pass exams. When the case is lost the professor starts drinking and not long after he starts to spend his nights with long legged birds. He doesn't catch bird flu, but he ends up as HIV-positive with AIDS(!). His wife claims a divorce and they make their contribution to that year's 4% rise in divorce rate from 51 to 55%. After a few years the professors dies at the age of 49 and by that contributing to keeping the average male life expectancy at 57 - down from 69 in 1989.
A really sad story. Why did the professor die from AIDS and not lepra or syphilis? Well, you are probably aware that HIV and AIDS is a big problem in Africa.
As a European you may wonder why you have to provide proof by submitting a negative HIV-test and negative lepra and syphilis tests to get a work visa. You may think the two last ones were history. Not in Africa where life is different below the polished surface with the Bolshoi Teatr and nice restaurants. We all know that HIV is a big problem in Africa.
WHO publications indicate the sickness of the society:
Children have been affected as well – in 1991, there were 6 cases of syphilis among children, while in 1997, 101 new cases were registered. More than 55% of children, aged 12-14, who contracted syphilis, did so in sexual encounters. Other sexually transmitted diseases have also increased four-fold during this period.
"The complete perversion of our society's morals is one of the reasons for such a sad situation," said Lilia Tikhonova in the Ministry of Health.
Lilia Tikhonova certainly passed her exams and did not have to pay for her diploma. The situation has probably not improved and this is also part of the story about Africa.
