MIAMI (AFP) — They may be far from the brutal winters of their homeland, but Russian immigrants basking in Florida's sunshine can still find a taste of home in their own "Little Moscow".
A substantial part of the 300,000 Russian natives living in Florida have settled in the city of Sunny Isles Beach just north of Miami, where they can find storefronts with signs in the Cyrillic alphabet.
The streets are lined with Russian restaurants and markets as well as pharmacies and barbershops where the Slavic language flows freely -- an important benefit for the older immigrants struggling to learn English.
"My mom and dad are 74 and 75 years old, and they feel at home," said Evelina Tsigelnilskaya, a real estate agent at SIB Realty.
"They can go to the doctor, they can go to the Russian store, to the pharmacy, (and) everywhere there is a Russian speaking person or somebody willing to help them," she said.
Tsigelnilskaya, who worked as a secondary school teacher before moving to the United States, said Russians are buying homes or second homes in Florida to "enjoy life".
"Sunny Isles is a very safe, friendly and cosmopolitan place," she said. "People help each other and that is very important especially when there is people that do not speak English, like my parents."
"Russian people feel here like (at) home," Tsigelnilskaya said.
A delicatessen named Gastronom offers food, wines, magazines and even television programs from Russia.
"We decided to come here because of the opportunities we saw in terms of business," said Igor, one of the deli's owners. "We choose to invest in food, something important for everybody."
Igor has lived in Miami for 16 years and arrived in the United States with a wave of Russian immigrants following the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991.
He observed that fewer Russians are moving to Florida, however, "because of the economic situation in the US, and Florida is expensive at the same time. There's so much taxes to pay."
About four million Russians or Russian speakers live in the United States, according to the Russian-American Association, which is based in Sarasota on Florida's Gulf of Mexico coast.
Florida is the third destination for Russians in the United States after New York and California, said association president Nikolay Safonovhe.
While there are no freezing winters in Florida, Safonovhe said, its Russian community gathers every March to eat bliny pancakes during the Maslenitsa festival, which marks the end of winter.
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