We Speak Russian!

Rather than pay $50 to $60 a day for parking in Chicago, we took the bus to and from the American Needlepoint Guild Seminar.   I bring this up because when we took a cab from our hotel to the bus depot, Dennis asked the cab driver where he was from.  The cab driver said, "Kazakhstan."  Dennis heard only the "...stan" part and said, "Oh, Pakistan?"  The cab driver in an offended tone said, "No, Kazakhstan.  We speak Russian!"  That, I think, in a nutshell explains the differences that arise in the former Soviet republics (such as with Ukraine) where some people relish their ties to Russia and others do not.