To FSU or not to FSU

[allen_za]

Howsit (South African greeting)

My name is Allen and I am 37 years of age and assuming still a youngster in years on this forum. I do have some experience in travelling abroad, mostly Africa and from what I have read about journeys into eastern Europe on this forum, I might just be ok to venture it on my own. I have been to the most impoverished places in Africa and as a white Caucasian male, it seemed I had a neon arrow above my head flashing “ foreigner=money” wherever I went.

I have had one pair of clothes for two weeks in Sierra Leone due to my to luggage staying behind in Kenya, where getting into a taxi was met with glee and my putrid smell, even though I washed my one pair of clothes every night, especially making sure my underwear was double scrubbed in the basin.

From hotels running on constant generator, where the generator only works for 12 out of 24 hours, to walking in the streets of Brazzaville at 5am in the morning, giving locals cigarettes and trying to make my best plane gestures because I don’t speak a word of French, except for "Bonswa", "We" and "Parlez-vous anglais". Then flagging down a taxi and waving a $100 note and continuing my best attempts at flapping my arms and making air plane sounds. I’ve also stayed in a second floor  apartment for 2 weeks in the democratic republic of Congo where rebels shot an RPG into the apartment block next to us and we had to pay an old army general money to bring us food while we were stranded within our apartment.

This gives me hope that I can possibly venture into eastern Europe and come back with my prize, but I also know that I am ill prepared until I have actually set foot in the FSU and assessed the daunting task for myself, even though I have learnt a lot from the forum so far and reading a couple of books, nothing beats the journey itself and my plan is to start with a trip to Russia in April next year.

I am interested in looking for a partner from the FSU because of a two week business trip I had to Israel more than 12 years ago and I was absolutely amazed at all the beautiful woman walking around. And a good majority of them are from Eastern Europe. I remember sitting at a café enjoying a coffee and one beautiful woman after the other would walk passed. I have never seen so many beautiful woman at once. South African woman can be beautiful but they are few and far between due to demographics.

I was a hit with the ladies in Israel. My lighter complexion and green eyes was something different to the local men and it didn’t seem to bother them that I wasn’t Jewish. What impressed me most was their straight forward view of life, no sugar coating and enjoying life for what is is, instead of complaining about what it isn’t.

I am at a point now where I would rather venture into the FSU to look for a suitable life partner and looking forward to the adventure to explore something new again.

[Manny]

I've never been to Africa but the experiences you describe more than prepare you for the FSU in my opinion. It can be tough in eastern Europe for those who never left their western European or US bubble, but I'd suspect you'll not find it as daunting as many do. I'd expect better standards overall than Kenya, Sierra Leone and the Congo. 

[Contrarian]

Howsit (South African greeting)

My name is Allen and I am 37 years of age and assuming still a youngster in years on this forum. I do have some experience in travelling abroad, mostly Africa and from what I have read about journeys into eastern Europe on this forum, I might just be ok to venture it on my own. I have been to the most impoverished places in Africa and as a white Caucasian male, it seemed I had a neon arrow above my head flashing “ foreigner=money” wherever I went.

I have had one pair of clothes for two weeks in Sierra Leone due to my to luggage staying behind in Kenya, where getting into a taxi was met with glee and my putrid smell, even though I washed my one pair of clothes every night, especially making sure my underwear was double scrubbed in the basin.

From hotels running on constant generator, where the generator only works for 12 out of 24 hours, to walking in the streets of Brazzaville at 5am in the morning, giving locals cigarettes and trying to make my best plane gestures because I don’t speak a word of French, except for "Bonswa", "We" and "Parlez-vous anglais". Then flagging down a taxi and waving a $100 note and continuing my best attempts at flapping my arms and making air plane sounds. I’ve also stayed in a second floor  apartment for 2 weeks in the democratic republic of Congo where rebels shot an RPG into the apartment block next to us and we had to pay an old army general money to bring us food while we were stranded within our apartment.

This gives me hope that I can possibly venture into eastern Europe and come back with my prize, but I also know that I am ill prepared until I have actually set foot in the FSU and assessed the daunting task for myself, even though I have learnt a lot from the forum so far and reading a couple of books, nothing beats the journey itself and my plan is to start with a trip to Russia in April next year.

I am interested in looking for a partner from the FSU because of a two week business trip I had to Israel more than 12 years ago and I was absolutely amazed at all the beautiful woman walking around. And a good majority of them are from Eastern Europe. I remember sitting at a café enjoying a coffee and one beautiful woman after the other would walk passed. I have never seen so many beautiful woman at once. South African woman can be beautiful but they are few and far between due to demographics.

I was a hit with the ladies in Israel. My lighter complexion and green eyes was something different to the local men and it didn’t seem to bother them that I wasn’t Jewish. What impressed me most was their straight forward view of life, no sugar coating and enjoying life for what is is, instead of complaining about what it isn’t.

I am at a point now where I would rather venture into the FSU to look for a suitable life partner and looking forward to the adventure to explore something new again.

Cool stuff bud and welcome to the forum. 

There are some scammers over there but I reckon you’re far better equipped than average bears. Don’t let little head think too much in place of big head and you’ll probably find what you’re looking for.