Travel Russia Today

Recently I had the opportunity of visiting Russia for the first time. I come from the Caribbean where our European next of kin come from “La Madre Patria” (Spain) and our vision of Europe ended just around Germany. I was a child during the Cold War, so we were educated in the perception that Russia was a “foreign” land very, very far away. As I grew up, we heard stories about the opening of countries in Eastern Europe and the fall of the Russian Empire on the news. All this felt very distant for they didn’t relate to my scope of the world.

Then, I found myself on a flight to Moscow on a familiarization trip. I had no idea what to expect. I had read a lot about St. Petersburg and Moscow but nothing I read was like what I actually found and experienced.

We arrived in Moscow and took a connecting flight to St. Petersburg. This required taking a ride from the International airport to the Domestic airport in the morning traffic and under heavy snow. First thing that shocked me as very familiar was the large crowd of people in front of the arrival door fighting for the attention of the arriving passengers. Taxi??? Need Taxi??? Come with meee, not heem!!! I wondered, am I in Russia or did they take me to a Latin American country? This felt just like arriving in any airport in Mexico or in Central or South America (except for the cold and the fur hats!!!).

We arrived in the Domestic terminal for our connecting flight and another familiar sight, people traveling with HUGE bags, boxes and suitcases. They were all covered in triple layers of transparent Saran wrap and everyone was checking their bags with no prior thought of excess baggage limitations. (Is it possible that Latino’s have Russian ancestors?) While we waited in line to check our baggage, I started people watching. You could see what a variety of ethnicity's co-exist in this country. Some people had Mongolian features, others looked very Nordic and others were very exotic, with dark hair and very light eyes.

While I was in the line waiting to check my baggage, I was checking out their outfits, their hairdos, their bags and shoes and when it was my turn, I noticed the Russian airline employees in the counter had very long fingernails decorated with colorful decals and VERY bright nail polish. The Russian ladies just love to wear very high heels and love to carry large handbags with big buckles and shiny accents. Each of them wear very bright colors, tight sexy clothes and amazing fur coats. Most of the younger women wear heavy makeup, dark eyeliner and exotic hairdos and they just love to wear really big and fancy jewelry. What a difference from how I saw the Russians in the movies!! These ladies looked just like Latinas but in a lighter shade of skin tone!

For a Latina on her first trip to Russia, I have to say, I felt totally impressed and am looking forward to returning sometime soon. The Russians and us must share a common ancestor someplace….