My friend and I were stretching after a run tonight when we were approached by a woman who said "Young men, sportsmen, do you have some money for a drink?" When we said, "No, we don't drink," she replied by asking if we had any beer (I don't know where she thought we would have been hiding bottles of beer). This older lady, who looked pretty normal, then asked us to help her out with even just 10 rubles (30 cents) to buy something to drink. Neither of us had any money, but this whole episode got me thinking about alcoholism.

Russia is, unfortunately, very famous for its extreme consumption of alcohol. And this fame is definitely founded in reality. Alcohol is ever present, and no gathering would be complete without some spirit. A good dinner party po-russki has several liters of vodka, maybe some cognac, and a bottle or two of wine. It really is possible to find vodka that is cheaper than water, and beer isn't much more expensive. Shoot, many Russians don't really think of beer as alcohol--it's the weak stuff you drink in the morning to get over your hangover and start your day.

All this alcohol, however, contributes to a nasty problem with alcoholism. America, of course, is by no means immune from alcoholism, and far too many Americans struggle with and die from alcohol. But alcoholism is present in an in-your-face kind of way here in Russia that doesn't compare to anything I have ever experienced back home. I noticed this in Moscow, but I really see alcoholism here in Vladimir; it's a provincial town with low wages and little to for people to do other than drink. Empty liquor bottles are strewn everywhere on weekend (or even weekday) mornings, and the stench of alcohol-laden sweat (peregar in Russian) fills buses on weekend mornings. It's a rare person here, I think, whose family or relatives haven't been affected in some way by alcoholism.

Being here in Russia has changed my opinion of alcohol. I've never been a big drinker, but I became acquainted with the stuff in college, and at the time, I thought it was pretty cool (it's the whole forbidden-fruit thing--just trying to get a case of beer as a freshman was an enticing adventure in and of itself). But I've grown older and wiser, and also I became dedicated to sports and bodybuilding, and I've been drinking less and less. I came to a realization earlier this year that getting drunk and having fun actually don't go together. What's the sense in wasting tons of money in order to act stupid, lose control of your body, do dumb things, and wake up feeling like you got hit by a bus? Now I very rarely drink more than a beer or two, and I'm lucky to have found some friends here who also can have fun without downing endless shots or guzzling countless bottles of beer. I hang out with my friends almost every night, and I can do that because I don't drink, I don't waste my money, and I don't wake up with a hangover. Not so shabby. I should mention that I also don't like the beer here in Russia--it's nearly impossible to find anything but fizzy, watery lagers.

Of course, it's not easy for a man to refuse a drink in Russia, and a lot of men are at least somewhat suspicious of non-drinkers. Shoot, last weekend my friend almost got into a fight partially because of the fact that he doesn't drink. I usually use the excuse that I'm an athlete, and after 2.5 years of bodybuilding, I finally look big enough that people generally accept my excuse. But sometimes that doesn't work, and then I have to decide whether I want to draw a line in the sand or just go with the flow. But I'm a lot happier this way, and it's amazing how much money I've saved in the past few months. But really, who would have thought being Russia would make someone drink less?