A Few Horrible Days

July 4, 2009 Happy Independence Day

Not observed in Russia of course. There was rumor of some of us expats getting together for a barbecue down at the river. When I got there only two co-workers down there. They had been there a while and were glad to see me. I bought them each a beer and we just started shooting the breeze. No barbecue, the day was overcast, rain off and on, so I guess that kept folks away. A young Russian fellow seated by himself next to us wanted to strike up a conversation. I started asking him about his family and he had a few interesting things to say, so I invited him to sit with us. Chris and Mark ended up leaving after about an hour, so this fellow and I kept talking. He didn't know any English, but with my broken Russian and a few hand signals we were able to communicate. He told me his grandparents came from Germany (he was blond-haired, blue-eyed) and that NO, HE WAS NOT A TARTAR. I asked this jokingly (since I knew by his features he wasn't) just to get a response, and the response was exactly what I had thought. The Russian people stay very close to their ethnic lines, and prejudices are very prevalent. We continued on and he pumped me for information about America, partilarly automobiles. What did I drive, how far was it between cities, did folks travel a lot, how much was gasoline. I bought him a few beers and the lady in the store said my Russian was very good, asked where i was from, I asked her had she ever been out of the country. Course not, had never even left Nizhnekamsk. What a preposterous idea.

Left the river area around 8:00 I guess, Chris and Mark had said they were going to the Bastion Restaurant, so I decided to take a cab over there. They weren't there and it was raining, got back into a cab and asked him to take me to the hotel. Half way there I changed my mind and asked him to take me to the Anbar Restaurant. I was hungry and didn't feel like going to the hotel just yet.

WHAT A MISTAKE THAT WAS!!!!!!!!!!!

Got to the Anbar and again no one there I knew. Walked up to the Kino restaurant 2 blocks away, where I found Andrew, John and Simon. I sat down and ordered some pelmeny. They were drinking vodka and Schweppes. Guess I had a few too many. Left around 12:00 and started to walk back to the hotel. The security guy at the restaurant (all the nicer places have these) tracked me down and insisted I take a cab.So I walked back to the front door and he put me into the front seat of a cab. Un-beknownst to me (probably because I had a few drinks) a fellow got in the back seat and we drove off. When the cab dropped me at the hotel, I paid the fare and got out. I was walking towards the hotel gate and the next thing I knew I was on the ground and some guy was on top of me trying to pull my wallet out of my pocket. I wasn't totally coherent and he caught me by surprise. I held him for a bit but eventually he took the wallet and fled.

The rest of the night was spent with the police, check the crime scene, answer questions, go to the restaurant and look at surveillance videos, back to the hotel to pick up my passport, to the police station to fill out the report. This was really funny - they needed to know my monthly salary. I told them $400 per month and they believed it. I was supposed to go to work the next day but was tired, sore and dirty. I went to borrow David's phone so I could call home and get my credit cards cancelled. On Monday I got to work and the inquisitions started again. First, the safety meeting. The construction manager gave a talk about what to do and not to do when getting into cabs. Yea, I felt like a real dumb-ass. Then I needed to borrow money, get another phone and find an address of where my wife could send replacement credit cards. The first 2 items were taken care of relatively quickly, the last item never did. Don't know why the HR department couldn't supply me an address. They finally said just to find someone who's on leave to bring them over. Fine, coulda figured that one out all by myself.

July 10

Get a visit from our head security guy (where was he while I was at the police station), he needs a written statement as well. Sure, no problem, same thing I told the police. Later in the week my supervisor comes to my office, shuts the door, and tells me the good news and the bad news. Good news is the client's investigation is closed. Bad news is now there's a spotlight on me. Any more trouble from me and I'll get a one-way ticket home. Now I know how a woman feels when she's raped. Some people seem to think its her fault. Well, yes, I was stupid, but I don't normally go looking for trouble. I've been overseas 15 years and this is the first time anything like this has ever happened. A part of me wants to go out and get mugged again so they DO send me home. Got too much pride for that, though.