Change in Crimea
Change in Crimea
Life in Crimea means many different things to different people. Whilst many people in the West are heading to the villages for a more peaceful and better quality of life, as in traditional of the socio-economic model of the less well off parts of the world; the people of Crimea are heading for the cities. Whether that is from a small village to the relative grandeur of Simferopol, or from Simferopol to the illustrious Kiev, Ukrainians are up-sizing; they're going to where the money and opportunities are.
Village life here is hard. People work on the land and sell what they grow on roadsides and in markets for minimal profit. Unlike villages in Britain, they are not even that peaceful either; as they are populated by masses of 'tied-to-a-5-foot-chain-for-life' dogs who have nothing else to do other than constantly bark.
Since the end of the Soviet era, much change has come to Crimea, but it has come slowly. The economic boom of the last few years has speeded things up, and now you can find things such as well-stocked supermarkets and quality restaurants. At the same time the aura of a by-gone era still lingers in the air, giving the place a very dynamic feel. It is a place in transition, and an exciting place to be.
In Crimea, the old and the new are inexplicably intertwined. Often new, modern shops and restaurants are basically just sold Soviet institutions wrapped up in fancy paper. You might have bought your new mobile from a modern looking shop with a Western name, but then when a button falls off on the same day as you bought it, try changing it and you instantly collide with the bureaucracy and standard of service left over from Soviet culture.
If you are like me this will happen to you: You will be sent to a service centre on the other side of town, where you will get rebuked, sent back to the shop, sent to another service centre, get grumbled at, sent back to the first centre, where it turns out that they can issue an order to have the phone replaced, but only after you have (as the law demands) left it with them, within a period of 2 weeks, to determine what the very obvious problem with the phone is. 3 weeks later you will finally manage to eek out of them that they can't issue a decree for a new phone, as they consider it to have broken due to 'mis-use'. (You will then, with further effort, get the phone back and stuck the button on with glue!).
Some changes in Crimea are material and easily noticeable to the casting eye:
The city streets of Crimea are for the first time becoming acquainted with the concept of traffic jams. 5 years ago almost all of the cars were either old Soviet Ladas and Zaparojiyas, or big black BMW's with blacked out windows. Now, with the hazardous concept of credit entering the lives of the inhabitants of Crimea, and with wages gradually rising, middle of the range cars are starting to sweep the peninsulas' streets. Car ownership is still low (approximately 1 in 10 Crimeans own one), but is rising fast, as it is considered prestigious to have a car and often locals will sacrifice home comfort in order to buy one.
New shops spring up in Simferopol almost on a daily basis (mostly mobile phone shops). (Small) supermarkets arrived in Crimea 3 years ago, before which it was not possible to serve yourself; you had to ask the shop assistant to get you every individual item. As supermarkets are so few and far between though, this type of shop is still prevalent, and the giant outdoor markets are still packed full of people on a daily basis.
Other changes in Crimea are much more subtle. (Here, I refer not to Crimea but to Russia, as the culture in this part of Ukraine is closer to Russian culture, whilst in Northern and Western Ukraine, the culture has more in common with European culture.)
Psychological changes lag way behind those more superficial ones. Change in the world nowadays more often than not refers to a general sense of Westernisation; the whole world, apparently, is gradually becoming more like us. Appearances are often deceptive though, and it seems to me that in this little corner of the world there is a particular resistance to many aspects of the Western way. Many people want to go to the West - you can earn more money, and huge Western advertising budgets have made the usual products here desirable (Coke, Nikes etc). The inner world of Russians, however, tends to be very self-contained, and they are very tuned into their individual sense of 'Russian-ness', consisting of a unique set of traits not shared by other nations.
Russia is not an open society, and is not striving to become one. It can provide particular challenges for a foreigner who wants to penetrate into the society, but has to negotiate this concept of Russian-ness; which dictates their value system and how they relate to the people and things around them. Some people in Russia focus on the negative aspects of Western culture, whilst not scrutinizing their own. With a greater exchange of ideas though, I am sure that there is a great deal that we could bring to the Russian culture, and a lot that Russian-ness could bring to ours. It seems, however, with the economic forces set up in the world as they are now, thatВ this 2 way exchange is just not possible, andВ perhaps every developing nation in the world needs this '-ness', to protect their integrity.
Russians yearn for a strong government, and for many this even takes precedence over the finer points of a democratic government. This strength is very much reflected in their culture; in their customs, attitudes and beliefs. As one local recently said "you can change our shops in a few years, but it will take millennia to change us".
Whilst in one-way change is coming dramatically fast to Crimea, in another way Crimea will always stay the same.
Fortunately, as the number one Western owned tourist agency in Crimea, we at AccessCrimea are on hand to keep abreast of any changes that may affect you as a tourist. If you are planning a trip to Crimea, you can rely on us. Please go to http://www.accesscrimea.com to find out more.
