Russia

Moscow

1996 • Boris Yeltsin's reelection was the background music during six months in a still-staggering, post-Soviet Russia. Stayed the entire time with Jon and Arline, working at the Moscow Times as a copyeditor and at Reebok Russia as an English teacher. Even with two jobs and no rent, I came back to the U.S. deep in the hole because the cost of living was the highest I've ever experienced. Yeltsin disappeared in the final stretch of the campaign, suffering either a massive heart attack or a stroke, yet that drunk old clown still managed to win by a huge margin. Most people just rolled their eyes at the whole thing, because democracy and free-market enterprise hang on Russia much like an ill-fitting suit. 

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