Ya hit one of my buttons. I had the experience of traveling behind the Iron Curtain before the wall came down. We traveled there a bit later in the late 90's. The mood was a bit lighter I think, but much of the authoritarian mood and it's trappings remained.
One thing that really sticks out to me was the lack of personal choices. For instance, we stayed with a host family in Moscow. It was mid-September, and cold. Our hostess, who has since immigrated to the U.S., noticed that I was cold but said that the heat hadn't been turned on yet.
She didn't mean in her apartment, or in her building, but in the city itself. They didn't turn the heat on in the city until October. She told us that it was piped in like the water, and the closer you were to the source the hotter your building was.
Another thing - alcoholism was rampant. It may still be that way. Many children were in orphanages due to that fact, and many of them were afflicted with Fetal Alcohol Syndrome.
One of the cities we traveled to was Rybinsk, in the Yaroslav Region, between Moscow and St. Petersburg. A picture we took still breaks my heart when I look at it. There's an unpainted slat fence in front of an orphanage with children halfway visible on the other side, their hands gripping the slats and parts of their faces peaking through the fence.
I don't know if Trump will begin negotiation for the opening up of adoptions from Russia again. I remember that the moratorium on adoptions occurred some years back in retaliation for our punishment of human rights abuses in Russia. With all of the stuff we're finding out about the Obama administration I'm wondering if that was truly the case or if something else was going on.
As usual - I've done a real "slide"and gotten way off on a rabbit trail. Here is my picture: 
We traveled there a bit later in the late 90’s. The mood was a bit lighter I think, but much of the authoritarian mood and it’s trappings remained.
One thing that really sticks out to me was the lack of personal choices. For instance, we stayed with a host family in Moscow. It was mid-September, and cold. Our hostess, who has since immigrated to the U.S., noticed that I was cold but said that the heat hadn’t been turned on yet.
She didn’t mean in her apartment, or in her building, but in the city itself. They didn’t turn the heat on in the city until October. She told us that it was piped in like the water, and the closer you were to the source the hotter your building was.
Another thing - alcoholism was rampant. It may still be that way. Many children were in orphanages due to that fact, and many of them were afflicted with Fetal Alcohol Syndrome.
One of the cities we traveled to was Rybinsk, in the Yaroslav Region, between Moscow and St. Petersburg. A picture we took still breaks my heart when I look at it. There’s an unpainted slat fence in front of an orphanage with children halfway visible on the other side, their hands gripping the slats and parts of their faces peaking through the fence.
I don’t know if Trump will begin negotiation for the opening up of adoptions from Russia again. I remember that the moratorium on adoptions occurred some years back in retaliation for our punishment of human rights abuses in Russia. With all of the stuff we’re finding out about the Obama administration I’m wondering if that was truly the case or if something else was going on.
As usual - I’ve done a real “slide”and gotten way off on a rabbit trail. Here is my picture:
Tuscaloosa Goldfinch,
What an interesting post. As I was reading your observations, I was mesmerized. Thank you. It helped me to understand a little more as to how things progressed.
Your last paragraph. Yes. I, too, wonder what was really happening with the Russian moratorium on child adoptions. Now that we’ve learned from the Q posts about the unbelievable evil of human trafficking, in our country, I wonder if that was the real problem.
It is so - oh, I don’t know what word to use - horrible, inconceivable what has been happening.
I’m praying for the cleansing of our country.
And, the midterms!
,,,and the precious children in your photo of so long ago. God hears our prayers before they are even uttered.
Back to your post. Thank you again. Anytime you write again about your experiences, please ping me.