Typical Russia. Report from the countryside. Part one

Friends, I want to show you another Russia that tourists don’t see, that they don’t talk about on TV, even in Russia itself. About small towns and villages, about people forgotten by the government, who have ceased to exist even for residents of Moscow, who believe that Russia ends with the Moscow Circle Road (MKAD). This is going to be a small series of postings of pictures I’ve taken over the years of traveling around the country.

Some photos will require comments, because the inscriptions in Russian are incomprehensible to most people. In the image above the inscription: “Clothing for the whole family “Second hands”, and the inscription with a marker on top says “Boutique”. Such harsh Russian humor, born in a harsh country.

There’s a not-so-decent saying about Russian people, that the more they… how can I put it… the more they hurt, the stronger they get. Probably why it is necessary to drive 100–200 kilometers from the capital and it begins — the real Russia.

There is another funny song very suitable for the Russian people. This song sounded in an old comedy film on the novel Ilf and Petrov “Golden calf”. It sounds like this:

They opened a crematorium and sent a street kid there.
When they opened the door, he danced inside.
“Close the door, the wind blows”.

In other words, he has nothing, just like the Russian people, who are tired of living in an era of change, but can’t or don’t want anything else.

Here on the sign on the village fence is inscription: Ranch “Lagoon”. I don’t know how the landlord thought this swamp in the middle of the forest was a lagoon, but it is. As you can see, there are no horses and cows here either, so the owner just liked the name “ranch”.

This I left for last. The name of the store “Friday”. In Russia, as in many countries of the world, Friday means only one thing — the end of the work week and the time to drink. The store is open all week, so many locals have “Friday every day” because of unemployment or just because they’re used to living like this. Well, the drunken it is — sing songs and play the harmonica. The sculpture fits very well into the theme.

Just don’t jump to conclusions. The “other Russia” photos I’m going to show you in this series are not the whole of Russia. This is only a part that tourists from other countries can not see anywhere else. Many Russians are very good people, kind and hospitable, honest and hard-working, peace-loving and good-natured. It’s just that politicians spoil the image of the country a little, but this is another conversation.

To be continued…