назад в СССР!

[peacetraveler22]

I'll never know or experience life during Soviet times, but during some of my visits to Russia I feel like I'm transported back to that era, or even another century. The road trip is coming to an end, with the final stop today in Yaroslavl. Along the way, I explored many small towns and spent an entire day and night in a village, talking to the locals in their homes, eating freshly prepared meals, and sleeping alone in an old house in the forest! But that will be the topic of another post. Yesterday in Soligalich, I entered a small meat shop and discovered this woman. I don't know for certain, but this blue uniform looks very Soviet, especially the hat. However, the most interesting thing in the provincial shops was...can you guess from the photo? :)

The object below! I became so confused when the shop owner started moving the balls, and thought she was offering to play some type of game. Then, my Russian travel companion informed me this is the shop's "calculator" or cash register, to add up the total cost of your purchase. How does it work? I still don't understand, but I was always bad at math. :)



The woman in the cheese shop next store was wearing this same blue outfit, but she is progressive! She had a normal adding machine, and even modern day scales to weigh the cheese.



I think it's always good to preserve your culture, including some old customs. But, yes, I was shocked to enter many small shops in Russian provinces and see no cash register, but this wooden contraption to calculate sales. Not just one or two shops, but a lot. Is it normal for a "modern" country? I think not. But maybe older people are so tied to tradition that they don't even want to purchase a basic calculator, which I assume is inexpensive in Russia. Progress in thought, technology, infrastructure...all signs of a healthy nation and culture in my view.

So many other things to write about, but I have no time on the road. :( On this trip, I've  met a lot of friendly Russians, and experienced no hostility based on the fact that I'm American. I'm very happy about both of these things! More to come soon...

Comments

[mirabella-2014.livejournal.com]

Math for Americans is like a forest, calculators have been using from elementary schools, most of Americans don’t know the math table, an abacus are for them like a black forest…there are in America plenty of anti-sanitary places so don’t yell, here people using swimming pools without any medical exam, and cooks in the restaurants same way…so those discovery nonsense also in the hotel middle level there are a lot of cockroaches, this is enough or would you like me continue?

Математика для американцев это лес, калькуляторы с начальных классов применяют, они даже таблицу умножения не знают наизусть, а счеты это вообще темный лес для них, в америке тоже хватает антисанитарии так что не надо громко кричать, здесь в бассейны люди ходят без всяких справок, работают поварами без всяких мед. обследований, так что не стоит об этом делать анонс, в гостиницах среднего уровня тараканы бегают...еще продолжать или хватит?

[peacetraveler22.livejournal.com]

When was the last time you visited America? :) American children do not use calculators in school. They learn the same math as everyone else. In American villages, everyone has a toilet in their home, not in the woods. And, in the USA, there are toilets available almost every five minutes on road trips. Every has station has them, there are rest stops, cafes, restaurants everywhere with free toilets. The infrastructure in our countries is entirely different, they are not comparable in any way.