Just a question concering email costs

[AndrewinOH]

I have recently started communicating with two or three ladies that I am interested in. I have a question regarding the costs associated with sending and receiving emails in FSU. What are the typical costs incurred by RW when sending emails via an Internet Cafe or Library? Also, if they do have access to these facilities, are there many of them or are they very restricted?

One lady told me that she has to pay the agency to receive and send emails and that it costs even more if she attaches or receives photo's. She has not asked for money so I beleive she is legit, but I was wondering what is stopping her from taking my email address and sending me private emails from another source. Or does the agency strip my email address from the notes so that she does not know my address? Sorry if these are stupid questions, but I am new to this and I need/want to understand the difficulties these ladies have as we tend to take internet access for granted here.

[wilmc]

... in response to Just a question concering email costs, posted by AndrewinOH on Dec 11, 2002

I have only experienced using e-mail in Moscow.
At first I tried using the service provided in the business center of the hotel, Marriott, that I was staying at.  It was ridiculously expensive, $10 US for 30 minutes.  Obviously it was designed for the expense account clientel.  A hotel employee recommended an Internet Cafe located just two blocks from the hotel that was very reasonable.  I also found a nearby College that had an internet cafe in the student union that was even cheaper.  It was available for the general public to use.  This was in central Moscow and the availability of inexpensive internet facilities in the residential areas may be much less.  I beleive that they are proliferating rapidly, though.

Reality check - We need to consider the big discrepency between our disposable incomes and the incomes of our RW friends.  What may seem cheap to us may be a burden for them.

[Jack]

... in response to Just a question concering email costs, posted by AndrewinOH on Dec 11, 2002

Andrew, none of these are stupid questions.

Does the agency strip your e-mail from the notes? Almost certaintly they will.

Do they have many Internet cafe's to access? Most your larger cities have many, many Internet cafes, almost on every other street corner. The mid-size cities will usually have several to choose from and the smaller size cities will have a few and everyone in town will know where these few are. Getting access to an Internet cafe will probably not be a problem unless she lives in a small villiage far from any decent size city. Based on the fact she is using an agency now with Internet access I would guess she probably has access to several Internet cafe's.

What are the typical cost's for Internet cafe use? A good rule of thumb is $1 to $1.50 an hour. Now when you get to Moscow or St. Pete that cost will be more.