, Paraguay, Argentina, Chile, but Peru, like Paraguay, has no access to the sea. Bolivia is an amazing country of contrasts, where voodoo cults and Christianity coexist peacefully with a very devout local population. In Bolivia, a real cult of death, skulls can be found on every house, effigies of thieves and criminals hang on the streets of cities, reminding local residents what will happen if they commit an offense, perhaps more recently, thieves really hung on poles instead of stuffed ones. Every family in Bolivia has a skull, it is not clear where they come from, so every year on November 8 this skull must be taken to the church and drunk with wine. In the old days, the Mayan cult flourished in Bolivia, which was based on various sacrifices, the more serious the sacrifice to the gods, the higher it is valued and the higher the gratitude of the gods, today sacrifices in their price have dropped to animals and various trinkets. However, the sacrifice is held every first Friday of the month. The symbol of life in Bolivia is the llama, Bolivians buy a dried llama embryo in souvenir shops and put it in a wicker basket along with sugar, then they burn the basket. The church needs to highlight any major purchase.

The locals in Bolivia are very specific, they are all descendants of the Mayan Indians with a characteristic appearance, they are very knocked down and short in stature, women wear dozens of skirts and English men's bowlers at the same time, but they are slightly smaller; they cannot be pulled over their heads, but only put on their heads is amazing as they do not fly off while walking.

Living standards and poverty in Bolivia

All the cities of Bolivia are not expressive and are more reminiscent of slums, the local climate is sometimes harsh and cold, so villages or plywood houses are not built here, as in Central America, the houses are an unusual mixture of brick and clay building materials, it can be assumed that at first the houses they started to build from clay, then bricks began to appear on sale and with it money from local citizens, so clay buildings began to be completed with bricks, in general, few buildings in Bolivia were completed and brought to mind, building a house is a very costly thing and in one generation the Bolivians cannot finish it, the house started by the grandfathers can be completed by the grandchildren. Bolivia has a poorly developed infrastructure, the cities are very dirty, there are very few rich people among the locals, there are no oligarchs like in Ukraine, therefore only the poor live in the mountains and in the valleys, unlike neighboring countries, for example, Argentina, where only the very rich can be seen in the mountains at home, while the poor live in the lowlands and in the center of the city. Mount La Paz in the capital strongly resembles similar mountains in Rio, built up with shacks. High fences and barbed wire are a reminder that Bolivia has a very high crime rate, any badly welcomed items will be stolen.

Jobs and salaries in Bolivia

The average salary in Bolivia is about $375 per month, but not everyone can get that kind of money. The unemployment rate is officially 8.5%, but in fact this figure can be twice as high, 60% of the population is below the poverty level. Half of the population is employed in the service sector, it also brings half of GDP, agriculture is developed in rural regions, it brings 11% of GDP and 40% of the population is employed in it, industry 37% of GDP and 17% of workers, primarily oil and tin developed tobacco industry and food production.

Men and women in Bolivia

In Bolivia, gender inequality is pronounced, as male literacy is at the average level for South America, but for women this figure is much lower, there is little chance for a woman to get a job, but the weight changes when looking at an average life expectancy of 64 years for men and 70 years for women, in this respect Bolivia is very similar to Russia or Ukraine, where men do not live very well, they are exploited, they drink a lot, smoke and have a very low social culture.

Many travelers often call Bolivia one of the most attractive and interesting countries: here you can find unusually beautiful places, strange-looking plants and animals. Everyone who comes to Bolivia certainly becomes a hostage to their own unforgettable experiences. But what really awaits the one who decided not only to drive through the impressive environs of Bolivia, but also to stay in the country, which is often called the "Tibet" of South America.

To begin with, I would like to note that about 50% of the total population are Indians, who have preserved most of their folk traditions until the 21st century. They do not care about high technology and many signs of civilization - they feel quite well without hot water and a comfortable toilet. That is precisely why one can often find statements that Bolivia is a country where a high percentage of the population lives below the poverty line, does not have a stable income and access to the basic benefits of a developed state. But for many Bolivians, it is enough that they have a roof over their heads, arms and legs to work, and food to live on.

Bolivia is a country with a developed industry, but a low standard of living - any foreigner with a sum of several tens of thousands of dollars can freely plunge into a rich life by local standards.

Bolivia is also known to many thanks to coca freely growing throughout the country. It is grown in whole plantations and freely sold and bought literally on every corner. It is believed that chewing coca leaves has a tonic effect on the whole body, although all tourists are strongly advised to be as careful as possible about the use of coca, especially within the highlands. In addition to the fact that coca is grown under absolutely legal conditions, the production of drugs in this country is one of the most profitable activities, although it is still a shadow industry in the Bolivian industry.

About adaptation in Bolivia

Interestingly, those few who, having visited Bolivia as a tourist-traveler, having seen enough of its beauty and decided to settle here for permanent residence, later regret their choice. Although this does not mean that it is really difficult to exist in this country normally, it is not for nothing that there is a proverb “everywhere is good where we are not”, and tourism and emigration should not be confused.

The Bolivians themselves, despite the very significant number of emigrants who have settled here since time immemorial, do not really favor visitors. Among such striking examples are the Old Believers, who preserved the traditions and customs of their Russian ancestors, creating their own tiny states on the territory of Bolivia, which Bolivians sometimes even perceive as foreign, often without even looking at their places of settlement.

For the indigenous people of this country, that the Mennonites, that the Old Believers, that the Japanese are strangers, for a strange reason living in Bolivia. By the way, for example, the Old Believers, having a Bolivian passport, and therefore citizenship, speaking Spanish, often giving work to people around them and participating in the economy, do not consider themselves Bolivians, so such an attitude towards them is quite natural.

A real Bolivian, in fact, can be considered one who, among other things, was born in Bolivia and loves the country in which he lives, rightly calling it his homeland. Moreover, it does not matter at all what color his skin is - there are a lot of “white” indigenous people in this country.

Today's immigrants often say that even after several years of legal residence in Bolivia, they feel more like tourists than residents. The fact that many Russians complain of bouts of disgust and discontent can also be attributed to negative factors and difficulties in adapting to a new country. It is possible that the reasons for such an attitude will seem insignificant to someone, but this is only until you plunge into this yourself.

Living in La Paz, many emigrants recall the bread sold in vacuum packs in their hometowns and countries - in Bolivia, one can often see an unflattering picture, when splashes of mud from puddles, exhaust gases from rudimentary buses, complete the image. the hands of the loader, literally throwing loaves on the pitiful-looking counters.

Reflections on poverty in Bolivia

As mentioned above, Bolivia and Bolivians in particular cannot be called poor. In this context, this word is somewhat inappropriate, if only because there are practically no starving people among them.

Travelers unfamiliar with the local way of life can be amazed by the fact that a completely beggar-looking bomb with a bowler hat in his hands can afford to go to a restaurant to taste hot soup. By the way, it should be noted that there are practically no beggars here, or they look quite wealthy - with gold teeth and a lot of tasteless jewelry.

In Bolivia, even the poorest Indian family allows themselves the first, second and third courses at the table. Of course, this does not mean that they live well, but if a person is not hungry, then his existence, perhaps, can be considered acceptable.

A feature of the “common people” (that is, the majority, since in Bolivia most of the population is a category of people belonging to the middle class - they are not rich and not poor) is that in ordinary everyday life they look bad because of the shapeless, patched and dirty national clothes. Here it is not customary to dress up when going to the market. All the best clothes and jewelry are saved for the carnival - then brocade skirts and other attributes are fished out "to the light".

The same applies to basic living conditions - electricity, hot water, a toilet in the house, etc. Not every peasant who is able to improve his living conditions will go for it. For a Bolivian, this is not usual, and therefore not necessary.

It also speaks in favor of Bolivia that most of the buildings are fundamental brick structures with a good roof and windows. Here you will not find shacks built from improvised materials (cardboard, plywood) and more reminiscent of dog kennels than normal housing for a civilized person. True, along with this you will not find supermarkets and megacenters.

As one Russian emigrant who lived in Bolivia for more than three years said: “I returned to Russia with a light heart and soul. I rejoiced at this event like a child. I thought that after living in Bolivia, my former life would seem like paradise to me. But I was bitterly disappointed and suddenly I was drawn back .... To the country of color, vivid impressions and too simple-hearted inhabitants.

For several centuries, Russian Old Believers could not find peace in their native land, and in the 20th century many of them finally moved abroad. It was far from always possible to settle down somewhere close to the Motherland, and therefore today Old Believers can also be found in a distant foreign land, for example, in Latin America. In this article, you will learn about the life of Russian farmers from the village of Toborochi, Bolivia. Old Believers, or Old Believers, is a common name for religious movements in Russia that arose as a result of the rejection of church reforms in 1605-1681. It all started after the Moscow Patriarch Nikon undertook a number of innovations (correction of liturgical books, change of rites). Archpriest Avvakum united those dissatisfied with the "antichrist" reforms. The Old Believers were subjected to severe persecution by both ecclesiastical and secular authorities. Already in the 18th century, many fled outside Russia, fleeing persecution. Both Nicholas II and, subsequently, the Bolsheviks did not like the stubborn ones. In Bolivia, a three-hour drive from the city of Santa Cruz, in the town of Toborochi, 40 years ago, the first Russian Old Believers settled. Even now, this settlement cannot be found on maps, but in the 1970s there were absolutely uninhabited lands surrounded by dense jungle. Fedor and Tatyana Anufriev were born in China, and went to Bolivia among the first settlers from Brazil. In addition to the Anufrievs, the Revtovs, the Murachevs, the Kaluginovs, the Kulikovs, the Anfilofievs, and the Zaitsevs live in Toborochi. The village of Toborochi consists of two dozen households located at a decent distance from each other. Most of the houses are brick. Santa Cruz has a very hot and humid climate, and mosquitoes pester all year round. Mosquito nets, so familiar and familiar in Russia, are placed on windows and in the Bolivian wilderness. Old Believers carefully preserve their traditions. Men wear shirts with belts. They sew them themselves, but they buy trousers in the city. Women prefer sundresses and dresses to the floor. Hair grows from birth and is braided. Most Old Believers do not allow strangers to photograph themselves, but there are family albums in every home. Young people keep up with the times and master smartphones with might and main. Many electronic devices are formally banned in the village, but progress cannot be hidden even in such a wilderness. Almost all houses have air conditioners, washing machines, microwave ovens and TVs, adults communicate with distant relatives via mobile Internet. The main occupation in Toborochi is agriculture, as well as the breeding of Amazonian pacu fish in artificial reservoirs. Fish are fed twice a day - at dawn and in the evening. The feed is produced right there, in a mini-factory. In the vast fields, the Old Believers grow beans, corn, wheat, in the forests - eucalyptus. It was in Toborochi that the only variety of Bolivian beans that is now popular throughout the country was bred. The rest of the legumes are imported from Brazil. At the village factory, the harvest is processed, bagged and sold to wholesalers. Bolivian land bears fruit up to three times a year, and fertilization began only a couple of years ago. Women are engaged in needlework and housekeeping, raise children and grandchildren. Most Old Believer families have many children. Names for children are chosen according to the Psalter, according to the birthday. A newborn is named on the eighth day of his life. The names of the Toborochins are unusual not only for the Bolivian ear: Lukiyan, Kipriyan, Zasim, Fedosya, Kuzma, Agripena, Pinarita, Abraham, Agapit, Palageya, Mamelfa, Stefan, Anin, Vasilisa, Marimiya, Elizar, Inafa, Salamania, Selivestre. Villagers often encounter wildlife: monkeys, ostriches, poisonous snakes and even small crocodiles that love to eat fish in the lagoons. For such cases, the Old Believers always have a gun ready. Once a week, women go to the nearest city fair, where they sell cheese, milk, pastries. Cottage cheese and sour cream did not take root in Bolivia. To work in the fields, the Russians hire Bolivian peasants, who are called Kolya. There is no language barrier, since the Old Believers, in addition to Russian, also speak Spanish, and the older generation has not yet forgotten Portuguese and Chinese. By the age of 16, boys gain the necessary experience in the field and can get married. The Old Believers strictly forbid marriages between relatives up to the seventh generation, so they are looking for brides in other villages of South and North America. Rarely get to Russia. Girls can get married at the age of 13. The first "adult" gift for a girl is a collection of Russian songs, from which the mother takes another copy and gives it to her daughter for her birthday. Ten years ago, the Bolivian authorities financed the construction of the school. It consists of two buildings and is divided into three classes: children 5-8 years old, 8-11 and 12-14 years old. Boys and girls study together. The school is taught by two Bolivian teachers. The main subjects are Spanish, reading, mathematics, biology, drawing. Russian is taught at home. In oral speech, Toborochintsy are accustomed to mixing two languages, and some Spanish words have completely replaced Russian ones. So, gasoline in the village is called nothing more than "gasolina", the fair - "feria", the market - "mercado", garbage - "basura". Spanish words have long been Russified and are inclined according to the rules of their native language. There are also neologisms: for example, instead of the expression “download from the Internet”, the word “descargar” is used from the Spanish descargar. Some Russian words commonly used in Toborochi have long gone out of use in modern Russia. Instead of “very”, the Old Believers say “very much”, the tree is called “forest”. The older generation mixes Portuguese words of the Brazilian spill with all this diversity. In general, there is a whole book of material for dialectologists in Toborochi. Primary education is not compulsory, but the Bolivian government encourages all students in public schools: once a year, the military comes and pays each student 200 bolivianos (about $30). Old Believers attend church twice a week, not counting Orthodox holidays: services are held on Saturday from 17:00 to 19:00 and on Sunday from 4:00 to 7:00. Men and women come to church in all clean clothes, wearing dark clothes over them. The black cape symbolizes the equality of all before God. Most of the South American Old Believers have never been to Russia, but they remember their history, reflecting its main moments in artistic creativity. Sunday is the only day off. Everyone visits each other, men go fishing. It gets dark early in the village, they go to bed by 10 pm.

Maxim Lemos, a professional cameraman and director who lives in Latin America and periodically takes our tourists to the Old Believers.

Let me tell you how I first got there. I accompanied the tourists, we drove by car to different cities of Argentina and Uruguay. And we decided to visit the Old Believers. There is very little information about the Old Believers on the Internet, there are no clear coordinates, it is not clear where to look for them, and it is generally not clear how relevant the information is. There was only information that the colony of Old Believers is located near the city of San Javier. We arrived in this city, and I began to find out from the locals where to find Russians. “Aaah, barbudos!?” - said in the first shop. Barbudos is Spanish for bearded men. “Yes, they live nearby. But they won’t let you in, they are aggressive,” the San Javiers told us. This statement is a bit disturbing. But still, I figured out how to get there by country dirt roads. The Uruguayans said that the "barbudos" do not accept anyone and do not communicate with anyone. Fortunately, this turned out not to be the case. Surprisingly, many "Russian" San Javiers don't really know anything about their Russian neighbors. And everything that is incomprehensible and different, a person, as you know, is afraid. Therefore, there is no special friendship between the former Russian San-Javiers and the Russian Old Believers.

We were about to set off to search for the village, but at that moment one of the San Javierans called us, pointing at the ATM. “This is just one of them,” he said. A strange-looking man in a green shirt lined with a rope belt and with a beard stepped out of the bank. A conversation ensued. In Russian. The man turned out to be not at all aggressive, but on the contrary, kind and open. The first thing that struck me was his language, his dialect. He spoke in a language that I only heard in movies. That is, it is our Russian language, but many words are pronounced differently there, and there are many words that we don’t use at all anymore, for example, they call the house a hut, instead of saying strongly “very much”. They don’t say “you know”, but “know”, “you like”, “understand” ... Instead of “stronger”, they say “more”. They say not “it happens” but “it happens”, not “can” but “can”, not “you will start” but “you will begin”, not “others” but “others”. How, evshny, back and forth, beside ... Having talked so sensitively, we asked if it was possible to look at how they live there. The Old Believer agreed, and we went to pick up our car. We were lucky that we met him, without him, according to the scheme drawn by the San Javierians, we certainly would not have found anything. And so we arrived at the village ...

Getting to the village of Old Believers for the first time, you experience a shock. It feels like you are in the past in a time machine. This is exactly what Russia once looked like... We enter a village, a house, in the yard a woman in a sarafan milks a cow, barefoot children in shirts and sarafans run around... This is a piece of old Russia that was taken out of it and transferred to another, alien world. And since the Russians did not integrate into this foreign world, this allowed this piece of old Russia to survive to this day.

It is strictly forbidden to take pictures in this colony. And all those pictures that you will see below were taken with the permission of the Old Believers. That is, group, “official” shots are possible. You can not without asking, secretly photograph their life. When finding out why they dislike photographers so much, it turned out that journalists were sneaking up to them under the guise of tourists. Filmed them, and then exhibited in the form of clowns for ridicule. One of these stupid and meaningless reports made Uruguayan TV hidden camera

Their technology is very advanced. All owned. There are also trucks, and combines, and various sprinklers, sprinklers.

Arriving in the village, we met one of the elders, and he told us about the life of this piece of old Russia ... Just as they are interesting to us, we are interesting to them. We are part of that Russia that they somehow imagine in their heads, with which they have lived for many generations, but which they have never seen.

The Old Believers do not beat the buckets, but work like Carlo's dads. They own about 60 hectares, and they rent about 500 more hectares. Here, in this village, about 15 families live, about 200 people in total. That is, according to the simplest calculation, each family has an average of 13 people. So it is, seven big ones, a lot of kids.

Here are some “official”, authorized photos. Those who are without beards are not Old Believers - this is me and my tourists.

And here are some more photographs taken with the permission of the Old Believers by a man who worked for them as a combine operator. His name is Glory. A simple Russian guy traveled for a long time to different Latin American countries and came to work for the Old Believers. They accepted him, and for 2 whole months he lived with them. After that, he chose to quit. He is an artist, that's why the photos turned out so good.

Very atmospheric, like in Russia ... before. Today in Russia there are no combine harvesters and no tractors either. Everything is rotten, and the villages are empty. Russia was so carried away by getting up from its knees by selling oil and gas to gay Europeans that it did not notice how the Russian village died. But in Uruguay, the Russian village is alive! This is how it could be in Russia now! Of course, I'm exaggerating, somewhere in Russia, of course, there are combine harvesters, but I have seen with my own eyes many dead villages along the main Russian highways. And it's impressive.

Let's very delicately, with great respect, look behind the curtain of the private life of the Old Believers. The photos I post here were taken by them. That is, these are official photos that the Old Believers themselves posted in the public domain on social networks. And I just collected from Facebook and reposted these photos here for you, my dear reader. All photos here are from different South American Old Believer colonies.

In Brazil, the Old Believers live in the state of Mato Grosso, 40 km from the city of Prmiavera do Leste. In the state of Amazonas near the town of Humaita. And also in the state of Parana, next to Ponta Grossa.

In Bolivia, they live in the province of Santa Cruz, in the settlement of Toborochi.

And in Argentina, the Old Believer settlement is located under the town of Choele Choel.

And here I will tell everything that I learned from the Old Believers about their way of life and traditions.

Strange sensations when you start to communicate with them. At first it seems that they must be something completely different, “not of this world”, immersed in their religion, and nothing earthly can interest them. But when communicating, it turns out that they are the same as us, only a little from the past. But this does not mean that they are some kind of aloof, and they are not interested in anything!

These costumes are not some kind of masquerade. This is how they live, they walk in this. Women in sundresses, men in shirts tied with a rope belt. The women sew their own clothes. Yes, of course, these photos are mostly from the holidays, so the clothes are especially elegant.

But as you can see, in everyday life, the Old Believers dress in the old Russian way.

It is impossible to believe that all these people were born and raised outside of Russia. Not only that, their parents were also born here in South America…

And pay attention to their faces, they are all smiling. Still, this is a strong difference between our Russian believers and the South American Old Believers. For some reason, with all the talk about God and religion, the face of Russian Orthodox becomes mournfully tragic. And the stronger the modern Russian believes in God, the sadder his face. For the Old Believers, everything is positive, and religion too. And I think in old Russia it was the same as theirs. After all, the great Russian poet Pushkin joked and mocked the "priest-oatmeal forehead", and it was then in the order of things.

The Old Believers have been living in South America for almost 90 years. In the 1930s, they fled the USSR, as they sensed the danger from the new Soviet government in time. And rightly so, they would not have survived. They fled first to Manchuria. But over time, the local communist authorities began to oppress them there, and then they moved to South-North America and Australia. The largest colony of Old Believers is in Alaska. In the US, they also live in the states of Oregon and Minnesota. The Old Believers, whom I visit in Uruguay, first lived in Brazil. But there they became uncomfortable, and in 1971 many families moved to Uruguay. They chose the land for a long time, and finally settled next to the “Russian” city of San Javier. The Uruguayan authorities themselves advised the Russians this place. The logic is simple, those Russians are these Russians, maybe together is better. But Russians do not always like Russians, this is our national feature, therefore, Russian San Jovierians did not develop a special friendship with the Old Believers.

We arrived at an empty place. They began to build everything, to settle in an open field. Amazingly, the Uruguayan colony had no electricity until 1986! They lit everything with kerosene stoves. Well, they adapted to live in the sun. Therefore, the Uruguayan colony is the most interesting, because only 30 years ago they were completely cut off from the rest of the world. And life then was really like in the century before last in Russia. Water was carried by yokes, the earth was plowed on horses, the houses then were wooden. Different colonies lived differently, some are more integrated into the country where they are located, for example, the American colonies. Some colonies do not have much reason to integrate, for example, the Bolivian colony. After all, Bolivia is a rather wild and backward country. There, outside the colony, there is such poverty and devastation, what is it, this integration!

The names of the Old Believers are often Old Slavonic: Afanasy, Evlampey, Kapitolina, Martha, Paraskoveya, Efrosinya, Uliana, Kuzma, Vasilisa, Dionysius ...

In different colonies, the Old Believers live differently. Someone is more civilized and even rich, someone is more modest. But the way of life is the same as in old Russia.

The observance of all the rules is jealously monitored by the elders. Young people are sometimes not very motivated by faith. After all, there are so many interesting temptations around ...

Therefore, the old people have a difficult task to answer the growing young to many questions. Why can't they drink alcohol? Why can't they listen to music? Why is it not necessary to learn the language of the country in which you live? Why can't they use the Internet and watch movies? Why can't you go and see some beautiful city? Why can't they communicate with the local population and enter into any bad relations with the locals? Why do you need to pray from three to six in the morning, and from six to eight in the evening? Why fast? Why get baptized? Why observe all the other religious rituals?… As long as the elders somehow manage to answer all these questions…

Old people can't drink. But if you pray and be baptized, then you can. Old Believers drink brew. They prepare it themselves. She was also fed to us. And quite persistently, according to the Russian tradition, practically pouring it inside, glass after glass. But the brew is good and the people are good, why not drink something!

The Old Believers most of all like to work on the ground. They cannot imagine themselves without it. And yes, they are generally very hardworking people. Well, who will argue that this is not Russia?!

At first I did not understand why the Old Believers of Uruguay, to whom I go, call the Uruguayans “Spaniards”. Then I realized: they themselves are also citizens of Uruguay, that is, Uruguayans. Uruguayans are called Spaniards because they speak Spanish. In general, the distance between the Uruguayans and the Old Believers is huge. These are completely different worlds, which is why the Uruguayans of San Javier told us about the “aggressiveness” of the Old Believers. The Old Believers, on the other hand, characterize the “Spaniards” as lazy bums who do not want to work, suck their mate and always complain about the government and the state. The Old Believers have a different approach to the state: the main thing is not to interfere. The Old Believers also have a number of claims against the Uruguayan government. For example, recently a crazy law was passed in Uruguay, according to which, before sowing the land, you need to ask the authorities what you can sow there. The authorities will send chemists, they will analyze the soil, and issue a verdict: plant tomatoes! And with tomatoes, the business of the Old Believers will burn out. They need to plant beans (for example). Therefore, the Old Believers are beginning to think, but should they start looking for a new country? And they are keenly interested in how they treat the peasant in Russia? Is it worth moving to Russia? What would you advise them?

The theme of harvesters, irrigation, plowing and sowing occupies one of the main places in the life of the Old Believers. They can talk about it for hours!

Boundless Brazilian Russia…

Technique: combines, irrigators, seeders, etc., the Old Believers have their own. And each harvester (which, by the way, costs 200-500 thousand dollars), the Old Believers are able to repair themselves. They can disassemble and reassemble each of their harvesters! The Old Believers own hundreds of hectares of land. And they rent even more land.

The families of the Old Believers are large. For example, the head of the Uruguayan community, to which I sometimes take tourists, has as many as 15 children, and he is only 52 years old. There are many grandchildren, he does not remember exactly how many, he has to count, bending his fingers. His wife is also a young and quite earthly woman.

Children are not sent to official schools. Everything is very simple: if children learn the language of the country where they live, then it is very likely that they will be tempted by the bright life around them and choose it. Then the colony will dissolve, and the Russians will dissolve in the same way as in 10 years the Russians from the city of San Javier turned into Uruguayans. And there was already such an example, in the Brazilian colony, children began to go to an ordinary Brazilian school, which was in the neighborhood. And almost all of the kids, when they grew up, chose the Brazilian life instead of the Old Believer. I'm not talking about the Old Believers of the United States. There, in many families, the Old Believers communicate with each other in English.

Senior Old Believers from all the colonies are well aware of the risk of dissolution of the colony in the country, and resist it with all their might. Therefore, they do not send their children to public schools, but try to educate them themselves as far as possible.

Most of the time, kids are taught at home. Learn to read in Church Slavonic. All the religious books of the Old Believers are written in this language and they pray in this language daily from 3 to 6 in the morning and from 18 to 21 in the evening. At 9 pm, the Old Believers go to bed in order to get up at 3, pray and go to work. The daily schedule has not changed for centuries and is adjusted to daylight hours. To work while it's light.

In the colonies of Brazil and Bolivia, local teachers are invited to the school for children, who teach them respectively Portuguese and Spanish. But the Old Believers see an exclusively practical meaning in teaching the language: it is necessary to do business with the locals. Old Believer children play traditional Russian games, bast shoes, tags and many others, with purely Russian names.

Most of the photographs that you see here are from Old Believer holidays, most often from weddings. Girls get married most often at the age of 14-15. Guys at 16-18. All traditions with matchmaking have been preserved. The wife of the son should be chosen by the parents. They try to pick up from another colony. That is, a bride from a Bolivian or Brazilian colony is brought to a groom from a Uruguayan colony and vice versa. Old Believers try very hard to avoid incest. Do not think that poor underage children are left with no choice. Formally, parents should choose, but in practice everything happens quite gently and naturally, and of course the opinion of a teenager is taken into account. No one is forced to marry anyone. Yes, you probably see for yourself from these photographs that there is no smell of any violence against a person here.

But of course you have a legitimate question - get married at 14??? Yes exactly. And yes, by doing so they violate the laws of the countries in which they live. They noisily celebrate the wedding, after which they live together, and are considered husband and wife. And when they turn 18, they register their marriage with official bodies.

By the way, the Old Believers have a completely different chronology. But what a “worldly” year it is, they also know: they also have to understand all the documents about the lease of land, the purchase of soybeans, and the payment of bills.

By the way, Old Believers call Jews Jews. At first I thought it was their terry anti-Semitism. But then I realized that they pronounce this word without any negative at all. After all, that was the name of the Jews in the old days ...

See, in the photo everything is like a selection, in the same sundresses? The fact is that clothing and its color play a huge role in the life of the Old Believers. Yellow pants - two times ku. For example, at a wedding, all guests from the bride's side dress in one color, and from the groom's side - in another. When a society does not have a color differentiation of pants, then there is no goal, and when there is no goal ...

The Old Believers do not have log houses, but concrete ones, built in the traditions of the construction of the place where they live. But our whole way of life is old Russian: canopies, littered quarters, sitting places for women with children while the men are at work.

But there are still Russians inside the house! Old Believers sheathe the house inside with wood. So much more alive. And they call the house a hut.

Babs and girls (as female individuals are called here) do not work on the ground, but are busy with housework. They cook food, take care of the kids... The role of a woman is still a little crippled, somewhat reminiscent of the role of a woman in Arab countries, where a woman is a dumb animal. The men are sitting and eating. And Marfa with a jug, at a distance. “Come on, Martha, bring more of this and that, and let's get some tomatoes back and forth!”, and the soundless Martha rushes to complete the task ... Somehow embarrassing even for her. But not everything is so harsh and tough. You see, the women are also sitting there, resting and using smartphones.

The men are engaged in hunting and fishing. Quite a busy life. Yes, and we have nature here, I'll tell you!

In addition to brew, they also drink beer. However, I have not heard of alcoholics. Like everything is in business. Alcohol does not replace their life.

Here are collected photos from different colonies. And each of them has its own rules, somewhere tougher, and somewhere softer. Cosmetics are not allowed for women. But if you really want to, then you can.

Interestingly, the Old Believers talk about picking mushrooms. Naturally, they do not know about boletus, boletus and white. Slightly different mushrooms grow in this area, they look like our butter mushrooms. Picking mushrooms from the Old Believers is not a mandatory attribute of life. Although they listed some names of mushrooms, and they are Russian, although they are not familiar to me. About mushrooms they say something like this: “sometimes someone who wants to collects. Yes, but sometimes they gather the bad ones, then the stomachs hurt ... ”. And trips in jeeps to nature, and grilled meat, and all the other attributes of picnics so familiar to us, they also have.

And they even know how to joke. By the way, they also have a sense of humor.

In general, you see for yourself, the most ordinary people.

Old Believers greet with the word "Healthy!". Neither "hello" nor "hello" they use. In general, the Old Believers do not have the address “You”. Everything is on "you". By the way, they call me “leader”. But the leader is not in the sense of the main one. And in the sense that I drive people. Guide, so be it.

By the way, did you feel one striking discrepancy between Russianness? What's wrong with those smiles? Do you feel that when photos with smiles, something is subtly not ours? They smile with teeth. Russians usually smile without showing their teeth. Americans and other foreigners smile with their teeth. Here is a detail from somewhere appeared in this parallel little Russia.

Although you probably noticed even in these photos how many people have positive on their faces! And this joy is not feigned. Our people have more than some kind of longing and hopelessness.

Old Believers quite often use the Latin alphabet for writing. But the Cyrillic alphabet is not forgotten either.

For the most part, the Old Believers are wealthy people. Of course, as in any society, someone is richer, someone is poorer, but on the whole they live very well.

Here, in these photos, mainly the life of the Brazilian, Argentinean and Bolivian colonies. There is a whole report about the Bolivian colony of Old Believers, where the rules are not as strict as in the Uruguayan colony, and filming is sometimes allowed there.

Our usual wedding, our house in the background. Only two palm trunks make it clear that this is not Russia

Old Believer youth loves football. Although they consider this game “not ours”.

Do the Old Believers live well or badly? They live well. In any case, the Uruguayan and Bolivian Old Believers live better than the average Uruguayans and Bolivians. Old Believers drive jeeps for 40-60 thousand dollars, they have smartphones of the latest models ...

The main written language of the Old Believers is in Latin and Spanish. But many people know Russian too.

But there are many restrictions imposed on the Old Believers. Televisions are prohibited, computers too. Yes, and about phones, the Old Believers say that it's all from the devil. But it's okay, there is. Televisions would also appear, but they are not needed. The Old Believers got used to living without them for many generations, and no longer understand what they are for. Computers are prohibited in some colonies, in others they are used. Yes, and in modern smartphones there is mobile Internet ...

There are even homemade comics on the Facebook of the Old Believers. This one did not really understand him: “I love her”, “I want to hug him”, “I want to sleep!”. By the way, on Facebook, the Old Believers often correspond in Portuguese and Spanish. Those who somehow received a local education are enrolled. They were taught to write in Spanish-Portuguese. And they don’t know how to speak Russian, only to speak. Yes, and they do not have a Russian keyboard.

The Old Believers are very interested in today's Russia. Many of them were ordered by their grandfathers, who fled from Soviet Russia in the 1930s, to return to Russia when conditions were right. So, for almost a century, the Old Believers lived in foreign lands in anticipation of a favorable moment for returning. But this moment did not come: Stalin began to drive the people into camps, and most importantly, what was important for the Old Believers, he strangled the village with his insane collectivizations. Then Khrushchev came, who began to take away livestock from the people, and forcibly introduce corn. Then the country began to engage in various arms races, and from abroad, especially from here, from South America, the USSR seemed to be a VERY strange and exotic country. Then perestroika began and poverty set in in Russia, and finally Putin came ... And with his arrival, the Old Believers started up. It began to seem that perhaps the right moment had come to return. Russia turned out to be a normal country, open to the rest of the world, without exotic communisms and socialisms. Russia began, indeed, to take steps towards Russians living in other countries. A “state program on returning to their homeland” appeared, the Russian ambassador to Uruguay came to the Old Believers and began to make friends with them. With the Brazilian and Bolivian Old Believers, conversations also began with the Russian authorities, and in the end, a small group of Old Believers moved to Russia and settled in the village of Dersu in the Primorsky Territory. And this is a Russian TV report:

Reporters in this report tell the official version regarding the traditions of the Old Believers. But there is no need to think that the Old Believers have such a strictly regulated, and such an iron routine. To reporters and various visitors, visitors whose reports can be found on the Internet, the Old Believers tell how it SHOULD be. But in order for this to happen, people must not be people, but machines. They try to stick to their rules. But they are living people, and the American infection in the form of globalization and other dirty tricks is actively introduced into their lives. Step by step, little by little. But it's hard to resist...

Everything is ours! Selfie on a smartphone with lips in a bow ... Still, native roots! …..Maybe this American influence got here?

…no answer…

In general, it is customary to think that any orthodox believers are incomprehensible and very strange people. I don’t know how strongly the Old Believers believe, but they are absolutely normal, earthly, their own people. With humor, and with all the same desires and desires that we have with you. They are nothing holier than us. Or we are no worse than them. All are good in general.

And even though the guys grew up on another continent, but everything is ours: both plastic bags and sitting like a kid ...

Well, who will say that this is not an average Russian picnic?

Oh, Uruguayan Russia! ...

He lives in a special dimension, where the connection between man and nature is unusually strong. In the vast list of amazing phenomena that travelers encounter in this incomprehensible, mysterious country, a significant position is occupied by Russian Old Believer settlements. The village of Old Believers in the middle of the South American selva is a real paradox, which does not prevent Russian “bearded men” from living, working and raising children here. It should be noted that they managed to arrange their lives much better than most of the indigenous Bolivian peasants who have lived in these parts for many centuries.

History reference

Russians are one of the ethnic communities of the South American Republic. In addition to family members of Russian embassy employees living in Bolivia, it includes about 2,000 descendants of Russian Old Believers.

Old Believers or Old Believers is the common name for several Orthodox religious movements that arose in Russia as a result of the rejection of church reforms by believers (XVII century). Patriarch Nikon of Moscow, the "Great Sovereign of All Russia" from 1652 to 1666, started church reforms aimed at changing the ritual tradition of the Russian Church in order to unify it with the Greek Church. "Antichrist" transformations caused a split in the first, which led to the emergence of the Old Believers or Old Orthodoxy. Those dissatisfied with "Nikon's reforms" and innovations were united and headed by Archpriest Avvakum.

The Old Believers, who did not recognize the corrected theological books and did not accept changes in church rites, were subjected to severe persecution by the church and persecution by state authorities. Already in the XVIII century. many fled from Russia, at first they fled to Siberia and the Far East. Stubborn people irritated Nicholas II, and later the Bolsheviks.

The Bolivian Old Believer community was formed in stages, since Russian settlers arrived in the New World in “waves”.

The Old Believers began to move to Bolivia as early as the 2nd half of the 19th century, arriving in separate groups, but their massive influx occurred in the period 1920-1940. - in the era of post-revolutionary collectivization.

If the first wave of immigrants, attracted by fertile lands and the liberal policy of local authorities, came to Bolivia directly, then the second wave was much more difficult. First, during the years of the civil war, the Old Believers fled to neighboring Manchuria, where a new generation had time to be born. In China, the Old Believers lived until the early 1960s, until the “Great Cultural Revolution” broke out there, led by the “great pilot”, Mao Zedong. The Russians again had to run away from the construction of communism and the mass drive to the collective farms.

Some of the Old Believers moved to and. However, exotic countries, full of temptations, seemed to the orthodox Old Believers unsuitable for a righteous life. In addition, the authorities gave them lands covered with wild jungle, which had to be uprooted by hand. In addition, the soil had a very thin fertile layer. As a result, after several years of hellish labor, the Old Believers set off in search of new territories. Many settled in, someone left for the USA, someone went to Australia and Alaska.

Several families made their way to Bolivia, which was considered the wildest and most backward country on the continent. The authorities gave the Russian wanderers a warm welcome and also gave them plots overgrown with jungle. But the Bolivian soil was quite fertile. Since then, the Old Believer community in Bolivia has become one of the largest and strongest in Latin America.

Russians quickly adapted to South American living conditions. The Old Believers endure even the exhausting tropical heat with firmness, despite the fact that it is not permissible for them to open their bodies excessively. The Bolivian selva has become a small homeland for the Russian "bearded men", and the fertile land provides everything necessary.

The country's government willingly meets the needs of the Old Believers, allocating land for their large families and providing soft loans for the development of agriculture. The settlements of the Old Believers are located far from large cities on the territory of the tropical departments (Spanish LaPaz), (Spanish SantaCruz), (Spanish Cochabamba) and (Spanish Beni).

It is curious that, unlike communities living in other countries, Old Believers in Bolivia practically did not assimilate.

Moreover, being citizens of the republic, they still consider Russia to be their real homeland.

Lifestyle of the Old Believers in Bolivia

The Old Believers live in remote quiet villages, carefully preserving their way of life, but not rejecting the life rules of the world around them.

They traditionally do what their ancestors lived in Russia - agriculture and animal husbandry. Old Believers also plant corn, wheat, potatoes, sunflowers. Only in contrast to their distant cold homeland, here they still grow rice, soybeans, oranges, papayas, watermelons, mangoes, pineapples and bananas. Labor on the ground gives them a good income, so basically all the Old Believers are wealthy people.

As a rule, men are excellent entrepreneurs, who combine a peasant acumen with an incredible ability to capture and perceive everything new. So, in the fields of the Bolivian Old Believers, modern agricultural equipment with a GPS control system works (that is, the machines are controlled by an operator transmitting commands from a single center). But at the same time, the Old Believers are opponents of television and the Internet, they are afraid of banking operations, preferring to make all payments in cash.

A strict patriarchy prevails in the community of Bolivian Old Believers. The woman here knows her place. According to the laws of the Old Believers, the main purpose of the mother of the family is to preserve the hearth. It is unsuitable for a woman to flaunt herself, they wear dresses and sundresses to the toes, cover their heads, never use cosmetics. Some indulgence is allowed for young girls - they are allowed not to tie their heads with a scarf. All clothes are sewn and embroidered by the female part of the community.

Married women are forbidden to protect themselves from pregnancy, so Old Believer families traditionally have many children. Children are born at home, with the help of a midwife. Old Believers go to the hospital only in extreme cases.

But one should not think that Old Believer men are despots who tyrannize their wives. They also have to follow many unwritten rules. As soon as the first fluff appears on the young man’s face, he becomes a real man who, along with his father, is responsible for his family. Old Believers are usually not allowed to shave their beards, hence their nickname - "bearded men".

The Old Believer way of life does not provide for any secular life, reading "obscene" literature, cinema and entertainment events. Parents are very reluctant to let their children go to big cities, where, according to adults, there are a lot of “demonic temptations”.

Strict rules forbid the Old Believers to eat food bought in the store, and, moreover, visit public eating establishments. They usually only eat what they have grown and produced themselves. This setting does not apply only to those products that are difficult or simply impossible to obtain on your farm (salt, sugar, vegetable oil, etc.). Being invited to visit by local Bolivians, the Old Believers eat only food brought with them.

They don't smoke, they don't chew coca, they don't drink alcohol (the only exception is home-made mash, which they drink with pleasure on occasion).

Despite the external dissimilarity with the locals and the strict observance of traditions that are very different from Latin American culture, the Russian Old Believers never had conflicts with the Bolivians. They live amicably with their neighbors and understand each other perfectly, because all the Old Believers are fluent in Spanish.

Toborochi

How the life of the Old Believers in the country developed can be found by visiting the Bolivian village Toborochi(Spanish: Toborochi).

In the eastern part of Bolivia, 17 km from the city, there is a colorful village founded in the 1980s. Russian Old Believers who arrived here. In this village you can feel the real Russian spirit; here you can relax your soul from the bustle of the city, learn an ancient craft or just have a wonderful time among amazing people.

As a matter of fact, the Old Believer settlement in the open spaces of Bolivia is an unrealistic spectacle: a traditional Russian village of the late 19th century, which is surrounded not by birch groves, but by the Bolivian selva with palm trees. Against the backdrop of exotic tropical nature, a sort of fair-haired, blue-eyed, bearded Mikuls Selyaninovichs in embroidered shirts-kosovorotkas and in bast shoes are walking around their well-groomed possessions. And ruddy girls with wheaten braids below the waist, dressed in long-sleeved colorful sundresses, sing heartfelt Russian songs at work. Meanwhile, this is not a fairy tale, but a real phenomenon.

This is Russia, which we have lost, but which has been preserved far beyond the ocean, in South America.

Even today, this small village is not on the maps, and in the 1970s there was only impassable jungle. Toborochi consists of 2 dozen courtyards, quite distant from each other. Houses are not log, but solid, brick.

The families of the Anufrievs, Anfilofievs, Zaitsevs, Revtovs, Murachevs, Kalugins, Kulikovs live in the village. Men wear belted embroidered shirts; women - cotton skirts and dresses to the floor, and their hair is removed under the "shashmura" - a special headdress. The girls in the community are great fashionistas, each of them has up to 20-30 dresses and sundresses in her wardrobe. They themselves come up with styles, cut and sew new clothes for themselves. Seniors buy fabrics in the cities - Santa Cruz or La Paz.

Women are traditionally engaged in needlework and housekeeping, raising children and grandchildren. Once a week, women go to the nearest city fair, where they sell milk, cheese, pastries.

Most Old Believer families have many children - 10 children are not uncommon here. As in the old days, newborns are named according to the Psalter according to the date of birth. The names of the Toborochins, which are unusual for a Bolivian, and for a Russian person sound too archaic: Agapit, Agripena, Abraham, Anikey, Elizar, Zinovy, Zosim, Inafa, Cyprian, Lukiyan, Mamelfa, Matrena, Marimiya, Pinarita, Palageya, Ratibor, Salamania, Selyvestre, Fedosya, Filaret, Fotinya.

Young people strive to keep up with the times and master smartphones with might and main. Although many electronic devices are formally banned in the countryside, today even in the most remote wilderness one cannot hide from progress. Almost all houses have air conditioners, washing machines, microwave ovens, and some have TVs.

The main occupation of the inhabitants of Toboroch is agriculture. Around the settlement are well-groomed agricultural lands. Of the crops grown by the Old Believers in vast fields, the first place is occupied by corn, wheat, soybeans and rice. Moreover, the Old Believers succeed in this better than the Bolivians who have been living in these parts for centuries.

To work in the fields, the “bearded men” hire local peasants, whom they call Kolya. At the village factory, the harvest is processed, packed and sold to wholesalers. From the fruits that grow here all year round, they make kvass, mash, make jams and jams.

In artificial reservoirs, the Toborians breed Amazonian freshwater pacu fish, whose meat is famous for its amazing softness and delicate taste. Adult pacu weigh more than 30 kg.

They feed the fish 2 times a day - at dawn and at sunset. The food is produced right there, at the village mini-factory.

Here everyone is busy with their own business - both adults and children, who are taught to work from an early age. The only day off is Sunday. On this day, members of the community have a rest, go to visit each other and attend church. Men and women come to the Temple in elegant light clothes, over which something dark is thrown over. The black cape is a symbol of the fact that everyone is equal before God.

Also on Sunday, men go fishing, boys play football and volleyball. Football is the most popular game in Toborochi. The local football team has won amateur school tournaments more than once.

Education

The Old Believers have their own education system. The very first and main book is the alphabet of the Church Slavonic language, according to which children are taught from an early age. Older children study ancient psalms, only then - the lessons of modern literacy. Old Russian is closer to them, even the smallest fluently read the Old Testament prayers.

Children in the community receive a comprehensive education. More than 10 years ago, the Bolivian authorities financed the construction of a school in the village. It is divided into 3 classes: children 5-8 years old, 8-11 and 12-14 years old. Bolivian teachers regularly come to the village to teach Spanish, reading, mathematics, biology, and drawing.

Children learn Russian at home. In the village, only Russian is spoken everywhere, with the exception of the school.

Culture, religion

Being far from their historical homeland, the Russian Old Believers in Bolivia have preserved their unique cultural and religious customs better than their co-religionists living in Russia. Although, perhaps, it was the remoteness from their native land that caused these people to protect their values ​​​​and earnestly defend the traditions of their ancestors. The Bolivian Old Believers are a self-sufficient community, but they do not oppose the outside world. The Russians were able to perfectly organize not only their way of life, but also their cultural life. Boredom is unknown to them, they always know what to do in their free time. They celebrate their holidays very solemnly, with traditional feasts, dances and songs.

Bolivian Old Believers strictly observe strict commandments regarding religion. They pray at least 2 times a day, morning and evening. Every Sunday and on religious holidays, the service lasts for several hours. Generally speaking, the religiosity of the South American Old Believers is characterized by zeal and steadfastness. Absolutely in each of their villages there is a prayer house.

Language

Unaware of the existence of such a science as sociolinguistics, Russian Old Believers in Bolivia intuitively act in such a way as to preserve their native language for posterity: they live apart, honor centuries-old traditions, at home they speak only Russian.

In Bolivia, the Old Believers who arrived from Russia and settled far from large cities practically do not marry the local population. This allowed them to preserve the Russian culture and language of Pushkin much better than other Old Believer communities in Latin America.

“Our blood is truly Russian, we have never mixed it, and we have always preserved our culture. Our children under the age of 13-14 do not learn Spanish, so as not to forget their native language, ”the Old Believers say.

The language of ancestors is kept and instilled by the family, passing it on from the older generation to the younger. Children must be taught to read in Russian and Old Slavonic, because in every family the main book is the Bible.

It is surprising that all the Old Believers living in Bolivia speak Russian without the slightest accent, although their fathers and even grandfathers were born in South America and have never been to Russia. Moreover, the speech of the Old Believers still bears shades of the characteristic Siberian dialect.

Linguists know that in the case of emigration, people lose their native language already in the 3rd generation, that is, the grandchildren of those who left, as a rule, do not speak the language of their grandparents. But in Bolivia, the 4th generation of Old Believers is already fluent in Russian. This is a surprisingly pure, dialectal language that was spoken in Russia in the 19th century. At the same time, it is important that the language of the Old Believers is alive, it is constantly developing and enriching itself. Today it is a unique combination of archaism and neologisms. When the Old Believers need to designate a new phenomenon, they easily and simply invent new words. For example, Toboro residents call cartoons "jumping", and lamp garlands - "blinks". They call tangerines "mimosa" (probably because of the shape and bright color of the fruit). The word “lover” is alien to them, but “boyfriend” is quite familiar and understandable.

Over the years of living in a foreign land, many words borrowed from Spanish have entered the oral speech of the Old Believers. For example, they call the fair "feria" (Spanish Feria - "show, exhibition, show"), and the market - "mercado" (Spanish Mercado). Some Spanish words among the Old Believers have become “Russified”, and a number of obsolete Russian words used by the inhabitants of Toborochi are now not heard even in the most remote corners of Russia. So, instead of “very”, the Old Believers say “very much”, the tree is called “forest”, and the sweater is called “kufayka”. They don't have television, bearded men believe that television leads people to hell, but still they occasionally watch Russian films.

Although at home the Old Believers communicate exclusively in Russian, everyone speaks Spanish to a sufficient degree for a trouble-free living in the country. As a rule, men know Spanish better, because the responsibility to earn money and provide for the family lies entirely with them. The task of women is to run the household and raise children. So women are not only housekeepers, but also keepers of their native language.

Interestingly, this situation is typical for Old Believers living in South America. While in the USA and Australia, the second generation of Old Believers has completely switched to English.

marriages

Closed communities are usually characterized by closely related unions and, as a result, an increase in genetic problems. But this does not apply to the Old Believers. Even the ancestors established the immutable "rule of the eighth tribe", when marriages between relatives up to the 8th tribe are prohibited.

The Old Believers are well aware of their ancestry and communicate with all relatives.

Mixed marriages are not encouraged by the Old Believers, but young people are not categorically prohibited from creating families with local residents. But only a non-believer must by all means accept the Orthodox faith, learn the Russian language (it is obligatory to read the sacred books in the Old Slavonic language), observe all the traditions of the Old Believers and earn the respect of the community. It is easy to guess that such weddings occur infrequently. However, adults rarely ask the opinion of children about marriage - most often, parents themselves choose a spouse for their child from other communities.

By the age of 16, young men acquire the necessary experience in the field and can already get married. Girls can get married at the age of 13. The daughter's first "adult" birthday present is a collection of old Russian songs painstakingly handwritten by her mother.

Back to Russia

In the early 2010s For the first time in many years, Russian Old Believers had friction with the authorities when the leftist government (Spanish: Juan Evo Morales Ayma; President of Bolivia since January 22, 2006) began to show increased interest in the Indian lands where Russian Old Believers settled. Many families are seriously thinking about moving to their historical homeland, especially since the Russian government has been actively supporting the return of compatriots in recent years.

Most of the South American Old Believers have never been to Russia, but they remember their history and say that they have always felt homesickness. Even the Old Believers dream of seeing real snow. The Russian authorities allocated land to the newcomers in those regions from which they fled to China 90 years ago, i.e. in Primorye and Siberia.

The eternal misfortune of Russia - roads and officials

Today only in Brazil, Uruguay and Bolivia lives approx. 3 thousand Russian Old Believers.

As part of the program for the resettlement of compatriots to their homeland in 2011-2012. several Old Believer families moved from Bolivia to Primorsky Krai. In 2016, a representative of the Russian Orthodox Old Believer Church reported that those who had moved were deceived by local officials and were on the verge of starvation.

Each Old Believer family is capable of cultivating up to 2 thousand hectares of land, as well as raising livestock. The earth is the most important thing in the life of these hardworking people. They themselves call themselves in the Spanish manner - agricultors (Spanish Agricultor - "farmer"). And the local authorities, taking advantage of the settlers' poor knowledge of Russian legislation, allocated them plots intended only for haymaking - nothing else can be done on these lands. In addition, some time later, the administration raised the land tax rate for the Old Believers several times. Approximately 1,500 families left in South America who are ready to move to Russia fear that they will not be welcomed “with open arms” in their historical homeland either.

“In South America, we are strangers, because we are Russians, but nobody needs us in Russia either. Here is paradise, the nature is so beautiful that it takes your breath away. But officials are a real nightmare, ”the Old Believers are upset.

The Old Believers make sure that over time all barbudos (from Spanish - “bearded men”) move to Primorye. They themselves see the solution to the problem in the control by the administration of the President of Russia over the implementation of the federal program.

In June 2016, Moscow hosted the 1st International Conference “Old Believers, the State and Society in the Modern World”, which brought together representatives of the largest Orthodox Old Believer concords (Consent is a group of associations of believers in the Old Believers - ed.) from Russia, near and far abroad. The participants of the conference discussed "the difficult situation of the families of the Old Believers who moved to Primorye from Bolivia."

Problems, of course, abound. For example, attending school by children is not included in the age-old traditions of the Old Believers. Their usual way of life is to work in the field and pray. “It is important for us to preserve traditions, faith and rituals, and it will be very disappointing that we have saved this in a foreign country, but we will lose it in our own country”, - says the head of the seaside Old Believer community.

Education officials are confused. On the one hand, I do not want to put pressure on the original migrants. But under the law on universal education, all citizens of Russia, regardless of their religion, are required to send their children to school.

The Old Believers cannot be forced to violate their principles, for the sake of preserving traditions they will be ready to break away again and look for another haven.

"Far Eastern hectare" - bearded men

The Russian authorities are well aware that the Old Believers, who managed to preserve the culture and traditions of their ancestors far from their homeland, are the Golden Fund of the Russian nation. Especially against the background of the unfavorable demographic situation in the country.

The plan for the demographic policy of the Far East for the period up to 2025, approved by the government of the Russian Federation, provides for the creation of additional incentives for the resettlement of fellow Old Believers living abroad to the regions of the Far East. Now they will be able to get their “Far Eastern hectare” at the initial stage of obtaining citizenship.

Today, about 150 families of Old Believer settlers who arrived from South America live in the Amur Region and Primorsky Territory. Several more families of South American Old Believers are ready to move to the Far East; land plots have already been selected for them.

In March 2017, Kornily, Metropolitan of the Russian Orthodox Old Believer Church, became the first Old Believer primate in 350 years to be officially received by the President of Russia. During a lengthy conversation, Putin assured Kornily that the state would be more attentive to compatriots wishing to return to their native lands and look for ways to best resolve emerging problems.

“People who come to these regions ... with a desire to work on the land, create strong families with many children, of course, need to be supported,” Vladimir Putin emphasized.

Soon, a group of representatives of the Russian Agency for the Development of Human Capital took a working trip to South America. And already in the summer of 2018, representatives of the Old Believer communities from Uruguay, Bolivia and Brazil came to the Far East to get acquainted on the spot with the conditions for a possible resettlement of people.

Primorsky Old Believers are very much looking forward to moving to Russia for their relatives who have remained overseas. They dream that long-term wanderings around the world will finally end and they want to finally settle here - albeit on the edge of the earth, but in their beloved homeland.

Curious facts

• The traditional Old Believer family is based on respect and love, about which the apostle Paul said in his letter to the Corinthians: “Love endures for a long time, is merciful, love does not envy, does not exalt itself, ... does not behave violently, does not think evil, does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth; love covers everything, believes everything, ... endures everything "(1 Cor. 13:4-7).
• There is a popular proverb among the Old Believers: “In Bolivia, only what is not planted does not grow”.
• When it comes to driving, men and women have equal rights. In the Old Believer community, a woman driving is quite commonplace.
• The generous Bolivian land yields up to 3 crops per year.
• It was in Toborochi that a unique variety of Bolivian beans was bred, which is now grown throughout the country.
• In 1999, the city authorities decided to celebrate the 200th anniversary of the birth of Pushkin, and a street named after the great Russian poet appeared in the administrative capital of Bolivia.
• The Bolivian Old Believers even have their own newspaper - "Russkoebarrio" (Spanish "barrio" - "neighborhood"; La Paz, 2005-2006).
• Old Believers have a negative attitude towards any barcodes. They are sure that any barcode is a "devil's mark".
• The brown pacu is "famous" for its creepy teeth, which are strikingly similar to human ones. However, human teeth are not capable of inflicting such terrible wounds on the victim as the jaws of a predatory fish.
• In their bulk, Toboro residents are descendants of the Old Believers from the Nizhny Novgorod province, who fled to Siberia under Peter I. Therefore, the old Nizhny Novgorod dialect can be traced in their speech today.
• When asked who they consider themselves to be, the Russian Old Believers confidently answer: "We are Europeans".