Is Russia a "bad" or difficult place to live? (economic & social hardships in Russia) - Russian Ukrainian Belarus Travel Music Woman Dating News

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Is Russia a "bad" or difficult place to live? (economic & social hardships in Russia)
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Posted by: merlin

Hi Patrick

Thanks for your welcome, and your kind words. I think you are right about Russian women on the whole wanting a better life, the ‘States’ and the west in general must seem like nirvana compared to the average life in Russia.

My initiation into all things Russian was I think different to most peoples for several reasons. Firstly I wasn’t looking for a Russian partner or even thinking about Russian or any other nationality of woman for that matter. The first contact I had with Katya was when she wrote to me on a UK based site, which I had joined last summer after a family tragedy and the break down of a long-term relationship. My search profile confined my contacts to specific areas of the UK, so we could easily meet. So I was very surprised and true to stereotype very suspicious when I received several e-mails from women in Russia and the Ukraine. They were all looking for marriage and a life in the west and spoke little English, except Katya, who is still married to a Russian though separated for some 15years, and because she taught English was fluent in it. She had also been to the UK 5 times since the 1970s when she was escorted everywhere by a member of the KGB while studying at a University here for 3 months. She also has a daughter who recently married a Canadian and lives here in the UK.
Another difference from most members of this group is our ages Katya is 49 and I am 59 so we are not looking to marry and raise a family. Interestingly Katya loves her life in St. Petersburg, apart from the cold winters and the extreme corruption and poor pay. She believes as I do that if you are not happy in yourself, moving to another country or culture won’t in the long run make you any happier. I visited her in St Peter last November and loved it and she came here last month and we spent a week touring Wales and had a wonderful time together.
We send mail to each other every day totalling some 800 to date, (the first contact was September 2002) and I phone her twice a week and have hour-long conversations.
Since getting to know Katya I have grown to love the Russian culture and find her outlook on life fascinating.
This brings me to cultural differences and the theme of this thread. I have read a lot of classic Russian literature recently with guidance from Katya and have found that the Russian outlook or soul regarding love which Katya agrees with, is fairly pessimistic, the short stories and novels usually feature unrequited love or tortured love often ending in death or suicide of one of the lovers, or at best a sad life. This is the complete opposite to the Hollywood myth of ‘falling in love and living happily ever after’, which going by the ever-rising divorce rate is not the truth.
Another difference because of Russia’s period of Communism, was created through repression a completely different view of sex (Communists didn’t have sex) no information was available about sex or contraception. (a bit like Victorian England) Abortion was used for contraception. Resulting in the average woman having several abortions by the time she was in her 30s. Talking to Katya and other Russians they have no emotional feelings only physical ones around abortions, I don’t know whether this is general. The other big difference is the shortage of men in Russia mainly due a short life expectancy (mid 50s) related to alcohol. There is also an awful lot of hidden physical abuse in Russian marriages, which the police do little about. Katya and several of her friends have had life threatening attacks, usually alcohol related, which would not be tolerated in our cultures I feel.
Since the break down of Communism things are changing and certainly in the large cities a western approach to life in general seems to be taking over, with more information freely available and lifestyles changing.
So to sum up I find I am fascinated by the difference in Katya, the mystery of her, which we have somehow lost in our western approach to relationships. But that apart I don’t have a problem with English women or American women, the few I have met, women are women the culture I feel is only a spin.

Ps I think we have to be careful about judging nations by there cities St.Petersburg and Moscow are not Russia, as New York is not America nor London the UK, in the country as a whole they do things differently.

Regards Terry

Posted by: larisa

With some kind of bitterness I was reading your message about Russia as an awful place to live. I am Russian and I live in St.Petersburg, cultured capital of Russia. There are a lot of entertainment facilities in our city: museums( The Hermitage,for example, you can visit it every day for many years to look round all the collection,and besides, there is a great number of other museums such as Art museums,History, Science, Special interest, House-Museums), theatres, concert halls,cinemas, cathedrals, leisure centers, different clubs, sports facilities and so on .......
I think that I can continue further and further. Average citizen can afford it, Believe me it's cheaper to visit museum than to buy a bottle of Vodka. Then Russians spend a lot of their spare time in a company of their friends in the country having barbecue in warm seasons . I know women who married foriegners because they had loved them .They are happy because they live with their beloved but all of them are bored. They say they have nothing to do round places they live. .
Larisa

Posted by: merlin

Hello Larissa

I didn’t mean to give the impression that Russia is a terrible place to live, I was just saying that there is a lot of hardship in Russia, more especially in the country. I loved St.Petersburg when I was there in November and spent some time in the Hermitage, which would truly take a lifetime to explore. I spent days wandering the streets and visiting your museums and art galleries. I would love to live there apart from the harsh winters and the fact that I can’t speak Russian. I have read that St.Peter is regarded as the most beautiful city in the world, which I can well believe. The problem is St. Petersburg is not Russia it’s more akin to any other large cultural city in the world which if you move from to an ordinary small town such as Worcester UK where I live you will miss this culture and high level of entertainment and arts. Worcester is relatively a cultural wasteland, if anyone came here from any large cultural city in the world they could become bored because of the lack of the cultural facilities they have become used to. Katya who was born and bred in your town is very proud of it rightly so, and has no desire to live anywhere else but she does appreciate some of the things we have in the west certainly the milder winters. I would imagine your Russian women friends are bored because they have moved to small American communities which cannot culturally compare to your city.

I do believe though that the majority of women in the small country towns and outlying areas in Russia have a very harsh and poor life which is why they date men from the west to aspire to a better life. There is also the fact that there is a chronic shortage of available Russian men. I also understand that the fall of Communism and the changes that created put a lot more pressure on men than women and somehow they lost there role in society, hence the drinking problem.

I am sorry this is a long reply but I didn’t want you to feel that I was saying life in Russia more especially life in St.Petersburg is that terrible and life in the West is all honey and roses, far from it. I have always admired your music and literature and more so since I am in a relationship with a Russian woman. So please accept my apologies if I seemed to criticise your country, I want to be your friend not your enemy.

Kind regards

Terry

Posted by: Jutman

As I understand it, there is lot of difference in Russia. Moscow +Sct.Pete as international cities, then major cities, minor cities and finally the countryside.
With my limited experience, you can say that Russia has it all. The rich, the poor, the culture and lack of such, nature, city etc.

Does Russian has a bad life? I will say no. Maybe its require more and harder work, but Russian has jobs, houses (flats), cars or transportation, schools, museeums, has friends and family, tv, radio like elsewhere.

Just because we in the west has an average of 3 TV-sets per house and replace then every 7th year. Well, does we watch more TV or better TV? No. Same for other issues.

There is of course issues where Russia has a hard reputation, like a lot of crime and bribery is normal plus a male dominanted society.

So why does some RW's want to go abroad. Answer: to get a easier life and to get away from crime and some russian men. But a better life? difficult to answer.

Thats my input !!!

Posted by: merlin

...........But a better life? difficult to answer.

I agree about a better life? I said somewhere else if you aren't happy inside, moving to another country is probably not the answer, everywhere has it's pitfalls it's all a question of which are the most palatable or acceptable ones to you.

Terry

Posted by: larisa

Hello Terry
Have you been to St.Petersburg once? I must admit that November isn't the best month to visit St.Petersburg.The weather is usually awful in this month. To get enjoyed much better to come in summer during White nights.But I think Katya has told you a lot about this romantic period of time.I am glad that you loved my city.I completely agree with you that life in big cities differs from the life in small towns. The young girls from the small towns arrive in big cities.And they find a husband in a year or two after they have arrived whilst ladies from St.Petersburg have a real problem with marriage. This is a paradox.

warm regards
Larisa

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Posted by: Jutman

Paradox??

Not really. As I wrote is Petersburg and Moscow international and only with little difference from the west.
I have encountered several agencies, who recommend to forget these two cities.
Don't get me wrongly, I have the pleasure of meeting several people from these cities during college and are actually the reason to why I pursue a relationsship with a RW, but this was almost 10 years ago I meet these people. But to look for tradionelle values among these women !!
- I will never do it myself.

Posted by: merlin

Hello Larisa

Yes I have only been to your city once and November was the first opportunity to meet Katya so that is why I went then, but I do intend to come back in the summer. Even in November though I could appreciate the beauty of the place and the culture. I also enjoyed your restaurants where I had some of the finest meals I have ever had.

I have just read Jutman's remarks, is it true what he says that city RW have more western approaches to marriage? Is this the reason that St. Peter women have trouble with marriage, western men expect old-fashioned values that are still prevalent in countrywomen? What about your local men?

Warm regards

Terry

Posted by: Jutman

I think I better make an apology for steoretype the RW's in those city. Of course is there good and bad people everwhere.
A second issue is where is WM comes from. (big city, small city, town or village). There must be a 'match'.

BR

Posted by: Vyesna

Just backing up what Larissa said-- I lived in St Petersburg and its suburbs for a year in 1997-98. There were a few inconveniences back then as to cafes and certain products, all of which have pretty much been remedied now with development over the past few years. We were there last July and there is no shortage now of the things I missed when I lived there, other than decent Mexican food perhaps, although that can be a problem in the NY area too. Now I, like my husband, actually miss some of the things there you can't get here-- really good kefir and sout cream (even the Russian stores don't sell exactly as good dairy products, although they get close), really fresh and sweet berries in the summer (you can drive out to the country to get them here, but even then they tend not to be as good) and a few other things. As for entertainment, although Russians do go to bars and such less I would say and drink more at home, I actually like that (it resolves transportation problems and is cheaper) and never felt a shortage of entertainment when I lived there. There was the theatre whenever we wanted it with world class ballet and opera as well as good plays (once you know Russian), at much more accessible prices than in the U.S., plenty of clubs (also at somewhat more accessible prices than here), shashliki barbecues in the summer-- and in the summer there are plenty of places you can go-- to the sea or to the woods-- in the St Petersburg area for the weekend, as I imagine there are near many Russian cities. In the winter there was cross country skiing (that was lots of fun-- especially in Pushkin), ice fishing (not my cup of tea but a lot of people like it) and the time to go to all the museum exhibits and plays and so on you miss in the summer. A friend of ours recently opened a bowling alley/billiard place in north Petersburg with other partners and we had a good time there last summer (a bit pricey for most Russians, but still affordable as a treat once in a while). When I lived in Petersburg, I tended to entertain myself more outside of the home then I do here (and I live in the NY area), and I had a lot less money then-- it's just that entertaining myself there was pretty cheap as a whole and people seemed to have more time to get together generally. Also, my job there wasn't nearly as demanding as my job here, which is a major part of it. Personally, questions of economic potential aside, I would much rather live in St Petersburg forever than in the sort of American backwater town I grew up in central California. A lot of people like that kind of town, and as the Russians say-- put a flag in their hand or a flag to their hand (ie, more power to them), but I think most people from a city of any decent size in Russia would be less than thrilled to move to Nowheresville Nebraska or something similar.

Life in small towns here is better than life in small towns there, but I think comparing life in the cities is a matter of taste and how much buying power a person has in each place. Some Russian women marrying Westerners find that, because of their husband's previous debts and family commitments (or in some cases which have appeared on the RWA forum, misrepresentation and misunderstanding as to exactly what their husband's income after taxes and basic expenses is), they actually had more buying power at home than in the U.S.-- which usually incentivizes them to get a better education or a job rather than struggle with their husband's finances. I think most women looking for Western husbands are really looking for better opportunities for themselves and their children in the long run, what they perceive as a better chance to find a stable and responsible partner and also a lot of them just had bad luck with previous relationships there or not being able to find the right person as quickly as thing think they should (there's still a lot of pressure, especially outside the major cities, to marry around the age of 19 or 20) and are convinced there's no such thing as a good Russian man who hasn't already been taken.

I would say be careful about projecting anything resembling the "I am the shining knight who rescued you from a living hell" attitude-- there has been a lot of discussion on the Russian women's forum I participate in about this lately and I can say that most women don't take to that too well and really resent it. There are a few women there who came here a while ago, during or just after Soviet times, and tend to dump on Russia a lot themselves. However, most Russian women don't take too well to that either.

Posted by: seabiscuit

Vyesna wrote:
"I would say be careful about projecting anything resembling the "I am the shining knight who rescued you from a living hell" attitude-- there has been a lot of discussion on the Russian women's forum I participate in about this lately and I can say that most women don't take to that too well and really resent it."

If any of you men out there feel like you are a knight in shining armor who is rescuing a fair maiden…then I would certainly not try to hide that or suppress that attitude. It is a hearts desire of many men to play that role and if that is your heart’s desire than you certainly shouldn’t hide it or be bullied into being ashamed of it. It is a natural desire for a man. It is part of what it means to be a hero…it is a story line not only in Hollywood, but in fairytales, legends and mythology. It is a desire that is as old as time. And it is the secret heart’s desire of many women as well…to be rescued, and don’t let anyone tell you different…I don’t care what culture we’re talking about. There is nothing that is more romantic…
Now I do acknowledge that there are some women out there (Russian, American, or whatever) that will detest this attitude. But I think they are in the minority…but remember that minority groups are always very vocal and always claim to speak for the majority.
Patrick

Posted by: larisa

Hello Terry,
Some ideas about Russian-Western marriage may be will help you to understand Russian women.The main thing is they make good wives. Brought up in the situation where anybody depends on everybody , they are very flexible and easily adapt to any situation. They are used to compromise.
The truth about Russian women seeking love, romance and marriage in the West is that they are not exotic beings who are very different from their Western sisters. It doesn't depend much on their place of living : in a big city or in the country.
The objective reason is disproportion between men and women. Women outnumber men. It's difficult for lonely woman to find a life partner. The demographic disproportion does not take place in the age group of 18- 25 years old although; women of this age usually don't have problems with finding husbands. However, marriages between young people very often end up in three or five years. Men usually very quickly find new appropriate partners after divorce while women have less chance as they have one or even two children. She becomes "the head of the family"; she has to provide for the family.
The lack of men in Russia is not the only reason why women are looking for a husband abroad but also their terrible habits. The society and life conditions push Russian men towards alcohol addiction, in its turn it causes serious problems with their health. A lot of my friends became widows at the age of 40-50.

Warm regards

Larisa

Posted by: merlin

Hello Larisa

Thanks for your comments about Russian women they agree more or less with what I have observed and read elsewhere and confirmed by Katya’s input. I will visit your site and read your thoughts there and come back to you later.
Thanks again

Warm regards

Terry

Posted by: merlin

Hi Vyesna & Patrick

I agree with both of you in this, which may sound strange, but let me explain how I see it; When Patrick says a lot of men have this urge to rescue and play the ‘’Knight Protector’’ role, I believe this stems from our primitive roles when the man was the hunter gatherer and protector of his woman who looked after their children in the cave. I feel these roles are still in our human psyche, which is why it somehow feels good to act these roles out. The problems arise when western men distort this way of being with women, (certainly in the case of Russian women) into saying I am a western man who comes from a superior culture where we have a much better life and I am taking you poor Russian peasant away from your poor inferior life. This I feel is what Vyesna is criticising, it’s the arrogance of a lot of western men that is their downfall. Katya and I play fantasy scenarios of me rescuing and protecting her but it does not in any way come from a superior-inferior position.

I feel the ideal ‘’Knight Protector’’ for a Russian woman is Russian man, but because of the reasons outlined by Vyesna and Larisa their simply aren’t enough suitable Russian men.
Then again the women looks outside for a better man to give her a good chance of survival with her children, again primitive stuff.
To sum up I believe we have these deep inner primitive mating urges which somehow don’t fit into our modern post feminist culture; we somehow need to redefine our roles.

Regards

Terry

Posted by: SAM

I sincerely dont see anything wrong in what the women are doing. Even men at times in a bid to find a better life leave their country and end up marrying a foreigner. Again I think we should look beyond that threshold as human being are the same all over regardless of race or culture. We all desire better and always strive to find better even if it requires leaving home/travelling far away.

Posted by: seabiscuit

Hi Terry,
Thanks for posting...I always appreciate your comments. Yes, I do understand that the "knight in shining armor" role has become passe in some circles…(maybe more circles than I’m willing to accept). This role has certainly been abused by some men when they see themselves as being superior, and frankly I find that disgusting. But I do think that woman should not pass judgment too quickly on men who wish to play this role in it’s un-perverted form, where both the hero and the maiden are equal before God and before all creation. When the hero rescues the fair maiden from her situation, he is providing for her things that she needs…he is playing the role he was born to play…being the provider and protector. I think you would agree that this role continued long past the hunter-gatherer phase …down through the farming and herdsman societies, and in my mind even today this desire exists. What man who hears someone speaking rudely and with vulgar language to his wife will not become protective. Or what man does not feel it is his sacred obligation to be the primary provider of food and shelter to his wife and children. Most, I would think, even when both are working this responsibility still weighs on his soul.
An honest man knows that he is superior in some qualities to his wife, an inferior in others. So it is foolish to be arrogant…if either is arrogant, they are not being honest with themselves.
By the way, if feminism is about oppressing men, does that mean post-feminism is about oppressing postmen?
Cheers,
Patrick

P.S. Khashyar, I thought about making this a new thread but this doesn’t seem like the best place. Maybe you could truncate this thread back a few posts.

Posted by: jrenwald

Do I get to be a knight in shining armor too? However, I think my Misha may not like being the "fair maiden" of our relationship

Posted by: merlin

Hi Patrick

I think the principle of feminism is more about asserting the feminine right to equality of opportunity etc. rather than oppressing men, which I suppose means we can expect more assertive postpeople rather than oppressed postmen. There again this medium of communication is rapidly making the postal service redundant.

On a more serious note I agree that the ‘Knight Protector’ role continued into fairly recent times, the problem is I feel that so many men abused this position that women on the whole view the ‘Shining Knight’ with suspicion, as jrenwald seems to be experiencing with Misha.

The other huge change we have gone through in more recent times is the development of leisure time, before this change, life was all about survival, we didn’t have the time or energy to contemplate the quality of our relationships. The roles were clearly defined and we lived them without question. It’s this redefining process that’s causing all the problems I believe. What do you think?

Regards

Terry

Posted by: seabiscuit

Terry,
Hahaha…We actually have coined a new idiom in America called “going postal”…don’t know if this made it across the pond, but it essentially means getting so fed up that you just get a gun and start shooting people. Comes from several incidents involving oppressed postal workers…I’M SERIOUS!!!
But back to the Shining Knight topic and gender roles and so on. Yes, I do think the redefining process has caused conflict. I think that America has really been on the leading edge of the feminist movement…starting sometime in the late 60’s, but then changing a lot in the past decade or so. Now we have post-feminists and neo-feminists. Many have given up careers to go back to more traditional roles. The woman in Row Vs.Wade is now an anti-abortion advocate. But many still prefer to remain in the workforce, especially once the children are grown or half-grown. Although I think that there are still some die-hard man haters, the majority are not out to oppress men, but simply want to be fairly compensated in the workplace and fairly represented in the history books.
I guess I was speaking of gender roles more from a romantic standpoint. Sex appeal is a very primal quality and emotional appeal is also very primal, I think.
Have you been to the US? If so, do you think there are cultural differences between English women and AW?
Patrick

Posted by: Khashyar

Hi Tasha

I had to split the previous very LONG thread into 3 different threads because there were actually 3 different topics discussed in the thread...

I put "bad" in quotes because it was questionable and not assumed that Russia is a "bad" place to live (I think that someone else used the word "bad" in a post)...

Of course there are advantages to life in Russia as well as life in the U.S.... (Perhaps we should start a thread about the advantages and comparison between life in the U.S. and life in Russia......... Pleas, anyone, freel free to being a new thread with that title so that we can talk about the differences between living in Russia and the West...)

I have some ideas about the advantages of life in both cultures, but.... I will save that for another thread...

But, of course, I do not mean any disrespect to Russia or Russians, as I see advantages to living in both Western and Russian cultures....

(Perhaps this cultural discussion belongs in the "Culture" section???)

Khashyar

Posted by: merlin

Hi Everyone

I have followed Kashyar's suggestion and started a new thread under 'Russian Culture' to discuss the various advantages and disadvantages of living in our respective countries.

Terry

Posted by: Vyesna

Hmm... I think I didn't explain what I meant well actually and used the wrong Western analogy for what I was talking about. What the women on the Russian forum usually criticize is the idea that American men "pulled them out of the dirt"-- ie, the idea that they lived in such abjectly horrid conditions that they should be so grateful to their American husbands for rescuing them from such a terrible existence that they should thereafter always keep that at the top of their minds. Ie, they should not argue or assert their desires because after all, who brought them up in this world... and who can send them right back to where they came from, etc. In other words, they don't like American men using the idea that life in Russia is so horrible that they should be forever physically and spiritually indebted (and subservient) to them as a result, as an instrument of power over them (which doesn't work, in most cases anyway)-- I don't think women or men appreciate that kind of manipulation. There are some American men that have done that-- though in most cases I think the manipulation going on on both sides is more subtle.

What I said was not meant to be a comment on certain Western ideas of chivalry that some people like associated with the phrase "Knight in shinging armor"-- like holding open doors or a particular regard for men helping women in a difficult position (I tend to regard highly any person who helps out any other person in a difficult situation, regardless of sex). I think whether you are into that or not, resent it or encourage it or not, is a matter of personal taste. I guess I should have thought of a different catch phrase. Sorry.

Posted by: merlin

Hi Patrick

In reply to your question earlier, concerning the cultural differences between AW and women in the UK, yes I have been to the States once, last spring for a month touring California. I enjoyed your country and met some interesting people, but not enough women to come to any real conclusion regarding differences. An instant reaction would be to say they seem very similar. Though we are all individuals so generalising is very often of little use.

I had an interesting conversation with several English women who when asked about relationships and their expectations surprisingly said that they would like to be married to men who could financially support them and release them from the constant problem of earning a living. They also without exception wanted romance and to some degree being rescued and given a better life appealed to them. I am not sure how general these feelings are but I think it confirms your theory of Knights rescuing Maidens, still being very much in our cosciousness.
What are your observations of AW’s needs in these areas?

Terry

Posted by: seabiscuit

Vyesna,
I think that I misjudged you. I apologize.
Terry,
It’s really hard to say what AW’s desires are in this area. The feminist movement has shaped our culture regardless of whether a woman ascribes to that movement or not…the status quo or baseline or whatever you want to call it has tended to change over time. And as I was saying earlier, the feminist movement that started in the sixties has changed…or rather splintered into several ideologies. But this is sounding way to cerebral, because in my view it is much more a visceral matter. It’s a subject filled with passion. The post feminists have done an about face on some things. One is that career is not as fulfilling as was once thought. Another complaint is that “sensitive” men are not what they really wanted after all.
I dated a woman who might be labeled a post-feminist, and the “who wears the pants” issue can be confusing. She complained that her prior husband wouldn’t take the initiative and be the head of the family and so she was forced to “wear the pants”, and blamed the failure of the marriage on that fact. I asked her if she discussed this with her ex, and she said that she urged him all the time to be the leader, and then when he would take the initiative and try to lead: “HE’D DO IT ALL WRONG”.
I guess I've kind of drifted off the "knight" topic, but onto another relationship issue.
Now some would say that there doesn’t have to be a leader…both can lead together. This has given me an idea for a new thread. Maybe we can get some opinions???

Posted by: merlin

Hi Vyesna

I feel that what you are saying is that America being the current ‘Superpower’ is both loved and hated as are all ‘Top Dogs’ There is a stereotypical arrogant American who goes around the world rescuing people and nations from a fate worse than death, (including the current war with Iraq) with obvious reactions similar to which you describe. National pride is hurt, when we are made to feel inferior for any reason.

This image was present in the UK during the second world war when American GI’s were stationed in the UK and swept many an English girl off her feet and took her back to the States and a star studded life. There was a deep suspicion and resentment in the UK in some quarters during that time. This I feel is very similar to what is going on in Russia at present, there was a shortage of men in the UK because of the war and American life was vastly superior to the average life in the UK at the time, so some local girls became GI brides.

You realise the truth when you talk to Americans or any other nationals for that matter, that the stereotype doesn’t fit, we are all the same underneath and individuals at the same time. The extra twist to the Russian/Western relationship is the language/cultural difference which gives a sense of mystery and romance because our communication is not clear and straightforward and more to the point less minded and more emotional and heartfelt.

The problem is when the glitter of romance has faded a little, the ordinary day to day domestic life can be made more difficult because of these differences.

Terry

Hi Patrick

I am not sure that the topic we have strayed onto is even related to Russian/Western relationships it may even require a new site ‘The Man Woman Meeting Place’ ?

Terry

Posted by: seabiscuit

knights and fair maidens...This event where some brave special forces pulled of a daring rescue of Jessica, the POW is just AWESOME!!! No metaphor here...she was rescued in such a dramatic fashion. Talk about a storybook ending! What a heartwarming tale.
patrick

Posted by: Vyesna

Quote:

Originally posted by seabiscuit
knights and fair maidens...This event where some brave special forces pulled of a daring rescue of Jessica, the POW is just AWESOME!!! No metaphor here...she was rescued in such a dramatic fashion. Talk about a storybook ending! What a heartwarming tale.
patrick

I'm sure the male POWs wouldn't mind being rescued also-- unfortunately for them, they are being kept somewhere else.