Arina's Story
Many of the men that corresponded with me sounded quite sincere in their letters .Unfortunately, none came to Togliatti to visit me and for that matter few ever presented me with any gifts whatsoever. You see, Russian women are no more "gold diggers" than American women or women from anywhere else. It is simply a matter of offering some small token that reflects that the man truly cares. After three years of corresponding with a young man from Florida, I was finally invited to meet him in-person while he was passing through Moscow with a friend. While this man appeared to have much money, I was unimpressed with his intention and stopped corresponding with him shortly thereafter.
Then I received a letter in February of 1998 from a man who lived in New Jersey. I was particularly impressed as his letter had been translated into Russian, even though my information as posted in internet revealed that I both wrote and spoke English. I responded to this man by replying in English, as I had in all of my previous letters .Within a week or two I received a small parcel containing sweets and a Disc man (a are commodity among my own friends) including a few compact discs. I had been asked by almost every man with whom I corresponded with "what type of music do you like?", but had never actually received anything like this before. When an unexpected 3-way telephone call complete with Russian translator followed a week later ... I was able to recognize at the least that I had finally begun corresponding with a man that appeared to have serious intentions.
He asked about coming to visit me in Russia. I had a local boyfriend at that time and I felt that such a visit might prove problematic for obvious reasons (we Russian girls cannot be expected to simply wait for all the American men who had until that time promised so much, yet delivered so little). My mother urged me to suggest that we initially meet somewhere else, somewhere that I had never been. Craig -- who in less than a year was to become my future husband -- suggested that when my studies were finished in July, we should meet in Prague, in the Czech Republic. It was a country that as a Russian citizen I was not required to acquire at ravel- visa for such a visit.
Beautiful Prague, Czech Republic in the
summer
of 1998. Photo taken by Arina Sokolova (Rich)
Our 14-day tour of the Czech Republic was a wonderful experience. I must admit though that Craig was a much older a man than I would have normally envisioned myself marrying (his 44 years compared to my 21 years). He was a kind friend and good companion, but I did not know if I would ever see him again upon the completion of our excellent adventure.
Togliatti Time
02:08:02 AM
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