Strange Encounters of Three Kinds

Ulan Ude, Russia

This day could almost have been boring until the evening came.
First, I encountered Bolad and his brother-in-law Sorik while enjoying the sunset near Uda river. Sorik was obviously drunk which made me very weary of him; Bolad was better but also smelt of alcohol. A common problem, I had been warned, among Buryat people. Their own liquor, Tarasun, is said not to cloud the mind but the Russians introduced vodka, which does. Bad combination. People were not prepared for that and are still getting used to it, so drinking and drunkeness are problems.
Communication with the two wasn't easy. I would have avoided them but Sorik came right at me. Where was I from, I understood. Germany. "Fascist", Sorik kept saying. Germans are well-known here, too, it seems. Then Bolad would scold him and try to talk sense to me. "Me Bolad", he would say beating his chest. "Pashli", which means "let's go". Where to, I wondered. There was no wriggling out of their attention. At least we were keeping to public places, for the moment. A very strange couple.
It was these two that set me before two young girls and tried to chat them up. I thought they knew each other. I got the impression the guys wanted to get the girls to translate. It turned out they actually did speak some German. The two introduced themselves as Vika and another name I forgot. Then I realised the guys were trying to pick them up. I guess, showing off a foreigner was a good pick-up line. The girls didn't seem to appreciate this kind of company and remained weary. When more of their friends turned up Bolad and Sorik finally took off. The girls visibly relaxed.
Vanya and Tanya were their real names, they now confided. Judging by how naturally they picked their aliases this kind of approach seems all too common. Their friends were Dennis, a guy who loved computer games (Starcraft his favourite), Tunan, about who I learnt nothing, and Alina who spoke quite good German - with a very cute accent. She had been with a German guest family earlier this year. All of them were Buryat but of an entirely different type. Nice guys but over the excitement of meeting them I forgot all my important questions. I guess, both sides want to learn as much as they can about each other.
My last encounter of the day was outside the hotel when I went for a late-night breath of fresh air at the entrance. I noticed a pretty lady sitting on the steps alone drinking a beer. When I noticed her smiling at me I plucked up my courage and went over to talk to her. Another lonely traveller maybe, I thought, looking at the beautiful stars. She had the most beautiful smile and spoke some English. Was she a traveller staying at the hotel? No, she was from Ulan Ude. A terrible suspicion dawned on me. She was tipsy, very touchy - meaning she kept touching my arm, my hand, even gave me a kiss on the cheek. Tobias, what a beautiful name that was, what a beautiful man I was. Nice to hear that. Hey, it was all explicable with the alcohol.
Angela was her name, she said. What did she do for a living? She didn't answer but just started singing in a beautiful voice. Should we go to my room? I pretented not to understand but that moment I knew what she did. I knew for certain who she was. When her "friend Jack" arrived things became a bit awkward. She was saying things in Russian to him, probably calling me naive. When more interested people, all drunks from the hotel, arrived I extracted myself. The knowledge, however, filled me with a deep sadness. Seeing her drink, trying to catch every passing man's eye. She didn't look happy. Do I pity her? I don't think so. I was upset that my conversation with this pretty girl had taken this turn. I was upset seeing a girl like this. People here can be rough. I wonder if her "friend" can adequately protect her. I worry about her. I was, of course, tempted to engage her services (who wouldn't be) but this was not right. I wish her well and wish we could have met under different circumstances. Be safe, Angela, it's a dangerous world out there.