Soldiers, soldiers everywhere

It's been surprising how many men in uniform are always on the streets here. At the Museum of Old Saint Petersburg it said that in the 19th century about 10% of the city's population were in the armed forces - I'd guess it's something comaparable now. They're everywhere: soldiers in olive drab, sailors with their tassles and striped blue and white shirts, chain-smoking traffic police in leather jackets, militisiya (corrupt? probably), and I dont know what else! So many are incredibly young, looking very serious but quite ridiculous in the already oversized peaked caps so many of them wear! Those hats really look silly, even on a full grown man. (the first Russian soldier I saw, while on the train from Finland, was wearing one of those and aviator glasses as he came swaggering along the platform, taking exagerrated draws from his cigarette - sooo pompous, it was hilarious!) I dont know at what age Russians have to serve their military service, but it seems awfully young. While buying stamps at the post office the door suddenly opened and a whole mob of teenage sailors came pouring in with their officer, probably to get their mail from mother! It reminded me of boy scouts.. The youngest I saw though was a boy on the Metro in camo fatigues who seriously looked no older then 9. You feel kind of sorry for kids like that, especially with what you hear about abuse and hazing in the Russian military. I dont think it's a good place to be, whatever age.

Being from happy, peaceful Canada, where it's rare to EVER see soldiers and even a cadet uniform attracts notice on the streets, the massive military presence makes me a little uneasy. One day I decided to walk a different way home and turned down a tree-lined side side street and saw a whole mass of soldiers, mabye 50, in full gear running down the street towards me - I quickly went back the way I came! I've never been stopped by anyone in uniform, thank goodness. I've heard stories about corrupt police asking foreigners for their papers and making up some "problem" with their papers to charge them a fine. Crooked cops are apparently a huge problem in Moscow, but not so much here, although Agnieska told me that in Saint Petersburg two of her friends were fined 2000 roubles (about $40) each for walking on the grass! To give you an idea of just how much that is for some people in Russia, I heard from a friend that her Russian roomate's father, who works in the Caucasus as an astronomer, makes 2000 roubles in one month!