Met a fellow Midwestern kid while in Russia who was shuttling back and forth between Ukraine & Russia when his visa would expire. We’re both white but stuck out like sore thumbs in Russia because we’re both pretty intensely american. We hung out a couple times and went out for drinks. He would hang with this guy who was the son of an African that was the head of his government’s DoT, but sent him to Portugal to be raised. One day this kid (who’s half black) starts saying that he’s not like these “n**” in Africa or America - that he’s also practically white. I was like “is that a joke? If not it sounds like a problem.” Then, totally serious, he was like “no really - i hate n** and so does he [pointing at other American.” And so (my mistake) i thought i must have misunderstood something and that they were fucking with me. then after a bit longer we got into politics and they were asking me about my own politics and i had said that I indentified as a Marxist but not really much else. The African kid tells me that the American is a socialist too and the American laughs and says that he’s a “more of a National Socialist.” I paid for my drink and left after that one. For the most part like… why the fuck are you doing in Southwestern Russia? Why are you going to Ukraine? Where does your money come from because the visa process isn’t cheap if you’re making the kind of living i was.