In contrast to the neat houses and intensively-planted garden plots in the Baltics, Russian buildings look dilapidated and the grounds around them are often unkempt. One woman tells me that Khrushchev forced the Russian peasants to sell their cattle and move to the cities, leaving only the elderly behind. There aren't enough people in the countryside to work the land and care for the buildings, she explains. Russia does not grow enough food to feed its people, and the transition to a market economy is rocky. There was little freedom under Communist Party rule, but in Moscow at least there was food.
People tend to forget the former and remember the latter.
The women talk sadly about last winter, when there was little to buy but potatoes, and even they were sometimes scarce. Fortunate are the families with a grandmother to spend the day scouring the city for groceries. Salary increases lag far behind the inflation rate. A Moscow teacher earns about 2000 rubles a month. In addition to working full time, the women typically have to shop for food and do all the cooking, cleaning, child-care, and laundry.