Russia :: essays research papers

As I picked up Vodka, Tears, and Lenin’s Angel, by Jennifer Gould, I thought that I was about to read a novel that would be boring with nothing but facts and statistics. As I began to read it, the novel became much more interesting. Jennifer Gould, a journalist, decided to go to Russia. She was there to research Russia and its culture. I would have never believed some of the situations and conversations she had with so many people. The topics that made me change my mind about Russia in general were the Internat, the cars and drivers, the homeless, and sexpionage.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   While reading about the Internat, I started to get disgusted. One of the reasons for this is that Russia sent healthy children to orphanages with ill kids. They were not like orphanages hear in the United States, with reasonable housing conditions, education and a chance to live with a family to provide them the better things in life. Instead, as a punishment they would be beaten, or sent to a psychiatric facility and drugged or tied to their beds for months. The law will not allow foreigners adopt healthy children. In place of the healthy kids, they would find a Western doctor that would diagnose the sick children as healthy. I believe that is not far to the children or the family who is adopting the child. Also, in the summer the orphanages close down and the majority of the kids go to camp. Once the camps are filled the extra kids get sent to psychiatric facilities. A man named Vitaly Llynin told Jennifer, â€Å"Some children are sent to the orphanages because they are too hot-te mpered and get into too many fights.† The children say that they do not understand why they go to these hospitals. An administrator believes that the children deny the fact that they are there because they are ashamed. None of the children receive counseling. Instead they are given antidepressants and tranquilizers. I personally can not believe that any person would think that this kind of action is okay.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Another subject that I found a little disturbing was how the people drive and who are the drivers. To me, Moscow sounds like its road are worse then Pennsylvania. There are no traffic laws. People can make illegal anywhere they want. Streets turn from one way to two way frequently. They have many potholes.