Dealing with Authorities

Dealing with Authority…28th June 2008 Celabinsk

Finally we are in Russia, and with such little resistence getting in I’m left a little surprised, albeit happily, at the very different image I get from the grey and dreary ones painted by my predecessors.I had heard from countless sources of the stubborn iron fisted nature of Russian officials, be it Police or border gaurds or customs officers, they were all tarred with the same oppressive brush.So far compared to the police in India who are just simply not of this planet or quite possibly even the same solar system, the uniformed Rosski was quite reachable when approached in a positive and open way.Maybe our combined easy going attitudes occupied a space within them that after so many years of uncompromising adherence to a fixed purpose, gave them an avenue of release by just being able to let some things go.Probably though it was just that we were too weird to fit into any known channels of response and it was just easier to not have to deal with us at all…Either way, or maybe another, we made it 3000 km into Russia, got stopped only 5 times by the police who were on the most part full of smiles and curiosity, and only once got hassled for backsheesh.Just before we reached a place called Ufa on the Siberian border we were pulled over by a police officer wearing his illuminous yellow jacket and waving his striped truncheon.Marc was driving and we managed to quickly swap positions in the driving seat before he really got a chance to notice who was behind the wheel.All the papers for the truck and insurance were in my name and it would only lead to more confusion and quite possibily corruption if Marc had to fit into the picture with his own paperwork.I grabbed my folder with all the relevant stuff, jumped out the truck in my socks and was instantly shown a speeding gun with the figures 75kmh written on it.Apparently the limit here was 50 and now it was time for me to pay for my speeding offence.I was escorted into the passenger seat of the new ford police car and handed over my documents to mr police dude who was wearing his best poker face.We quickly recognized eachothers disability in speaking one anothers language and got straight to work with sign language, gestures , rapid eye brow movements and long face pulling.He took my drivers license and motioned with it as if it was flying away in the direction from which we had come.’’Tweet tweet,’’ I said,,, “nyet, money money”” he replied…He wrote down 150 and a euro sign on some paper and then motioned with my license flying back towards me.Well, I did’nt at all feel like giving this police man or any other 150 euro and my unconscious body language was obviously giving this away as my license was now flying again in the direction of Amsterdam.I quickly collected myself and stepped out the car, walked back towards the truck for a breather, and think what was the best thing to do.When I walked back I was sent to another car to speak with another police man who was obviously prompted by his companion to be a bit more persuasive.
“Jengi Nyet “
I told him straight away, which meant ‘no money’,,,
“Nyet ???”
came his astonished reply…
”Present’
I told him…
“aaah, pryeyzent !!!”
his eyes widened in exclaimation…
I marched back to the truck with him hot on my heels and invited him inside.Everyone else was sitting around and I quickly introduced him to our little family.He asked me if all the girls were mine and was very happy when I told him yes ofcourse.I cringed a little at this crude humour but it seemed to work in relaxing him to a jovial state.I pulled out a few broken electrical things that I brought along for occasions like this and presented him with a 12v car dvd player that my mum had bought for me a couple of years ago and which now only played one in every 10 discs that was put into it. I neatly and slowly placed it into its carrying case and put in the wires and adapters to connect it to a main line electric.He looked at me quizickly and asked
“Rabotaet” (it works) ???
“Da, da,,”
I answered in Russian and then in English
“It used to, very well”…
He had a good scan around the rest of the truck and poked at a few things such as necklaces and jewelry trying his best to see what else he might pilfer, but now it was my turn to shoe him away which was’nt too difficult as he was obviously super excited to go and show his fellow officers the spoils of this encounter.Soon as he left there were a few naughty giggles from the front of the truck,,, Marc and Ana had managed to capture the whole happening on film,,,a priceless bit of on the road documentary…
The last two days have been devoid of any authorities, we had a stop over in Kazan where we visited another banya…I will write more later about this great Russian tradition of getting naked, beating eachother with a cluster of leaves in an incredibly hot steamy room, jumping in a nigh freezing bath of water and scrubbing oneself and another until only clean almost raw skin remains...
Today has been a non stop pouring of Siberian rain so our solar panels are taking a days leave of rest.Our generator is buzzing away to provide all our electricity for charging batteries and running computers.Everyone sits around now catching up on personal diaries and taking the opportunity of a still truck to finnish bloggs and touch up films and photos and other things for the website.There is just as much of an inner journey going on for everyone right now as the epic land crossing that we all make together.Being in such close company with the same people for such lengths of time is both challenging and revealing and lends one to all kinds of self introspection.Group dynamics and self dynamics are intertwinable always, yet a harmony is only struck when we can yield with some things and remain strong in others.Finding that delicate balance is nothing less than a learning and a growing experience, once certain things have been recognized about oneself then action is keen to follow up on any and each new discovery.We have been becoming our own small tribe since we set off together from Amsterdam nearly 2 weeks ago now and already we are finding out much about what it really means to live together.
When I’m feeling a little braver I might share some experiences that can show these insights in a clearer fashion.For now I’m more inclined to observe as a fly on the wall and ponder over my own new reflections.There is a strong chord of harmony and friendship between everyone here,,, this is the foundation that is being worked upon…