I'll try to share what I've learned about Chechens over these past couple of days. To be honest, I didn't get to spend much time with them, and overall these guys seemed more closed off than the Ingush or Ossetians.

1. Young couples don't go on dates alone. Not at all. Not until the wedding. At minimum, at least one more person comes from the girl's side. But often someone from the guy's side is there too. Someone needs to verify that the young couple behaved properly. So if you see a Chechen couple on the street, it's probably husband and wife. Or relatives.

2. For bride kidnapping, Chechen authorities imposed a fine of 1 million rubles payable to the girl's parents. Although under the Russian Criminal Code, kidnapping a person carries up to 5 years in prison.

3. The Islamic bride price (kalym) is paid, and they've even officially set it at around 40 thousand rubles (can be more, but optional). At the same time, there's a reverse tradition that the bride should come with a dowry. It usually ends up being significantly more than 40 thousand. Otherwise, the husband's family will remind the bride for years that she came with empty hands. Because of this, a wedding can be scheduled a year or even longer after engagement, so the girl's family has time to gather goods. Sometimes an impatient groom could speed things up with a kidnapping. In that case, a dowry isn't needed. I was told that kidnappings don't happen at all these days, but I'm not entirely convinced.

4. Many girls on Grozny's streets wear head coverings. But some go without any headwear at all. A girl's own desire to stop wearing a headscarf isn't enough—she also needs permission from the head of the family.

5. You mainly hear Chechen spoken in Grozny. Before the war it wasn't like that. During the fighting, most of the city's population (especially educated people) left the republic and never came back. When the city was rebuilt, guys from Chechen villages and mountain settlements actively resettled there. They're more comfortable speaking Chechen.

6. The number of working women has noticeably increased. Especially among the young. Older generations clearly aren't happy about it, saying it's not customary. And there are peculiarities: for example, during Ramadan women might be let off work a couple hours early so they have time to prepare food for sunset for their families.

7. It seems local guys don't feel much like part of the country. I've been told phrases like "in your Russia" more than once.

PS. I hope I won't have to apologize for this post.