La Vie en Rose: Vignettes - Russian People

Races & Peoples

I will now thumb my nose at the politically correct watchdogs, & make some racist comments. As anyone knows, theatrical casting is predicated on races and “types.” Old (European) Russia is a nation of predominantly slavic people. When we are walking on the street among them, or in a large crowd, JJ & I stick out as strangers, though we are “white.” There is no mistaking slavic beauty. Among the young Russians any Hollywood talent scout would have a problem of having so many beauties to choose from. Their head shape is roundish with a broad generous forehead but never high, high cheekbones, chiseled short noses, squarish jaws and balanced profile.Their hardy bodies match their heads in balanced perfection. The young men could be Marlon Brando’s co-dockers “On the Waterfront,” & the women their sultry, sexy counterpart. Their fleshy, defined lips reveal remarkably strong, straight teeth and good occlusion, on the rare occasions that they smile. With eyes like I’ve never seen, long, but slightly tilting upward, they have dark brows and lashes. These slavs have more blue and green eyes than hazel or brown. Poor Maybelline, who needs it? Well, I’ll tell you: those who’ve slipped into their 40’s & decidedly lost their bloom. There doesn’t seem to be a gradual aging transition for either male or female.

I should add that Russian Slavs are mixed in with a strain of Tatar. Very often one sees some pure tatars who have diamond-shaped faces, long, prominent, straight noses, & sharp-ish chins. They can have very pale complexion & light colored eyes, but are rarely brunette. The cheek bones are not so high or wide as the slavs. They seem more willowy or slight in stature.

Whether Slav or Tatar they walk so fast that we can't keep up. I figure it's a minimum 150 beats per minute on the metronome. The place one notices such things as walking tempo is in the English tube or the French or Moscow metro. While the French are in a big hurry at rush hour, they can't compete with the lightening speed of the Muscovite stampede. Brits are never faster than 120 b.p.m. I've never seen Brits in a hurry.

She was fast....

but I caught her!

There is a teeny-tiny minority of orientals. No one is sure if they come from eastern Siberia, or elsewhere. There is a smattering of middle-eastern types. We’re told they are from Turkey or the ‘Stans.’ We saw a few gypsies begging in the metro and on heavy traffic street corners, but we did not see one black person either from southern India or sub-Saharan Africa. It was strange for us to be in a country of such densely populated cities with such an obvious lack of racial diversity.