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Hi all,

I just recently had a chance to go back to St Petersburg. I was born there and lived a very happy life until I had to move to the US when I was 14. I haven’t been back in over 10 years and 8 months. My trip to St Petersburg lasted only 9 days, and I really wish that I could stay there longer. Everything went very smooth and I had a really good time. Nobody could tell the difference if I always lived there, or came back from another planet, such as the US Rolling Eyes

, and nobody bothered me, not even the police with their frequent and annoying document checks.
Many changes took place over the past 10 years, and I could hardly recognize my home city. However, not everything has changed, and not all changes were good. New buildings are being built everywhere, people make much more money than they ever did, and lines to supermarkets don’t exist anymore. Sounds quite good so far, doesn’t it? On the other hand, you see teenage girls drinking beer on Monday afternoon in subway trains, elderly people walking around the streets collecting empty bottles to support themselves. Homeless people and habitual drunkards are still there.
I took my grandma to a local hospital, and I was completely shocked by what I have seen. Luckily, if you can afford to pay for your hospital visit and not rely on the government “medical insurance policy”, then you don’t have to wait as much in lines. However, paying for a visit to avoid the lines did not make me feel any better, but instead I felt even worse for the people that were already there, and they gave me very dirty looks as a doctor called my grandma ahead of them. I was also shocked by the hospital’s filthiest restrooms, unrenovated building with a broken elevator and by the medical personnel that did not wear gloves when they handled blood samples. Of course foreigners would never set their foot into a place like that, and maybe it is a good thing. Let their impression of Russia end by the rich palaces, beautiful opened bridges, white nights and sexy-dressed pretty women.
I got an impression that unless you have a job as an economist or a lawyer, a business manager or an entrepreneur, a computer programmer, a bodyguard or a member of a so called mafia, then your salary would be very limited, and you certainly will not live comfortably enough. That really disappoints me and probably many other people as well. I just don’t see how the country will ever succeed without scientists, engineers, doctors, teachers, musicians, painters, etc. What seems so trendy and “sexy” today will not stay the same forever, and eventually would create a huge shortage of skilled professionals that are absolutely necessary to keep the country growing. If the kids don’t learn well in schools because good teachers are working somewhere else where they get more money, and if most teenagers abuse alcohol at a very young age, then perhaps we may see a sharp decline in the economy and prosperity of Russia in a couple of generations, or 40-45 years. I hope for some major changes in the job market and in the system of education to reassure the prosperous future for my homeland. I wish that if I visit my city again, then I will not feel like I have landed somewhere on another planet.
Other than that, the city does look great; especially the center, museums, palaces and women could never look any better. It is certainly the most beautiful city by all means. In my opinion, the next cities that would closely follow the leading St Pete, are Montreal and London.
When my friends have asked me what I think of the changes that I see, I simply replied that in my life I had two shocking moments – the first was when I came to the US, and the second is when I returned to Russia after ten years of being away.

Guest · Posted: Wed Jul 30, 2003 6:41 pm Post subject: St.Pete

In reply to your post, I am glad someone else see's the problems in St.Pete, which also reflects on other parts of Russia. I have been traveling to St.Pete now since 1991to do volunteer work. I started visiting hospitals to make assements as to what they needed, and was horrorfied by what I saw. I also visited three prisons, the men's, women's, and children's. For me, not being wealthy, or having friends of wealth, I have been very limited in what I could do to help. I made the choice to help the children first at a burn unit, and Lukemia ward at the Children's Hospital, but I also have had other projects there.
Yes, they have really done a lot of construction, and upgrades on the city. Even after over four or five years of living there I still enjoy just getting out and about in the city to see the sights, and meet new people. But I know what lies underneath, and it makes me very sad. I have been telling tourist who ask what the real life is like, but they just don't see it because they are to busy walking Nevsky, going to the Hermitage, and theaters. That's what tourist pay their money to see. After all, to my knowledge, knowone in their right mind would pay money to see the inside of a hospital, prison, or an orphanage. It would be nice if we could find a very well off philanthropist that was interested in starting a project to help, or support an ongoing project in or around St.Pete. These people are rare to find though.
Like you, I have also seen the Metro drunks, and yes, a lot of them are teenagers. I have also seen the very dark side of drug abuse, as well as, the corruption that infects everything from business, politics, law enforcement, and even the churches. It will take Russia many years to improve, and I know it will get better. It will just take some time for Russia to catch up to the standards of other western countries. Even here in America, to a lesser degree, we have some of the same problems.
In the meantime, I will continue to return to the beautiful city, and also to encourage others to see all that St.Pete has to offer. It was good to read your post, thank you.
Randy