I'm writing about a month after trip.
It turns out my flight from Istanbul to Odessa was delayed because of XZIBIT was doing a concert there. I learned afterwards it was him.
The roads were in much better condition than the last 2 times I visited. It was also much prettier not being there in the winter.
The food in Ukraine makes me viciously poop. So much so, that Olga became (and is still) concerned with my pooping habits. She now asks me if I am pooping every time I use the restroom at home. She also adjusted my diet to include bananas and Activia for poop regulation. This was after receiving advice from my family, after discussing my pooping habits with them.
I'm fairly certain that two bombs went off while I was there. They both happened around midnight. I keep tabs on local news. Nothing was reportds, but I do know that the russians like to blow up "free ukraine" signs in Odessa.
When we entered through passport control, the official laughed because I spoke english and Olga spoke Russian. I think he knew.
In the airport, two other english speakers were departing. Another American, searching for his wife (who took a taxi to Odessa from Mauripol), and a Canadian who was selling shrimp to various countries.
I didn't want people to know I was american. But Olga's sister Irina, found me to give instructions to the canadian about flights.
The minute they knew I was American, they started talking about how much they hated Putin. I have no issues discussing my opinion of Putin...in the United States. But this is not something I want to discuss in Ukraine surrounded by Russians. Olga didn't know what we were talking about, but she was very angry with me because we were talking too loud. Something Americans do.
Every time I visited Odessa, on the street, Olga told me not to talk. I asked her about this, but never got a clear answer from anyone. She says she is worried about ukrainians, or russians knowing that I am American.
After this we finally boarded the plan. Once an English speaker knows you speak English they swarm to you. I warned Olga, but she didn't get it.
Because of turkish airlines screwing up my flights, Olga and I had to sit apart from eachother. She kept looking back at me for assurance. I was very proud of her.
We finally landed. And turkish airlines did not delivery ANY of our bags. Olga arrived with only her wedding dress. We had to wait 3 days before she had anything. It might have been as well, because I didn't need to explain the Russian medicines in my bag to customs.
There's nothing like being in a country where your too afraid to speak, and then coming back to America. You feel the freedom after you exit the airport.
