I have lunch with a woman arranged by my interpreter. She is beautiful, well-dressed,
and has a very good sense of humor. She designs clothing for women and children. She
is learning English as I am learning Russian and we both try to improve our conversation
with the help of my interpreter. She has traveled outside of Ukraine on several occasions
and has a very pleasant sophistication without being stuffy. She tells me that she would
be happy to leave Ukraine and would be happy to live in the U. S. She tells me that she
is in the process of applying for a Schengen visa. She tells me that she is impressed with
my knowledge of Russian culture and that I have at least attempted to learn the Russian
language. Her last question was about my religion, a question that has never come up
on previous trips. I am not a religious person and do not belong to any organized church.
To clarify, my interpreter asks if I believe in God and I tell her that I do not believe in God
as a distinct entity, but I believe that God is the goodness that lies in almost all individuals.
She is Russian orthodox and I am not sure if this is deal-breaker for her. I would understand
if this would be a problem for her as I have been in a similar situation in which I thought that
a potential partner would be happier with someone of the same religion. If this woman is
serious, I think that she is perfect. I hope that we will meet again.
I get a message from the interpreter of the woman that I am supposed to meet for dinner
this evening. I had discussed with her using my interpreter. My interpreter talked to her
interpreter and if she was bothered by this, she seemed pretty calm about it. Finally, I agreed
to meet with the woman and her interpreter at 1800 at the restaurant at my hotel. I receive
a message asking to change the time to 1930 to which I agreed. I get another message asking
to change the restaurant and I decided to cancel the meeting entirely. The interpreter called
back and said that we would meet at the original restaurant, but I was tired of the whole process
and I had reservations about this woman anyway. I decided to go to a place in Kharkov called
Club Misto. It is the only club that I know in Kharkov. They have concerts on the weekends.
They have a bowling alley and they have a sushi restaurant. I had sushi and it was very good.
The shrimp tempura was very good, but I did not care for the dipping sauce. The chicken and
beef yakitori were pretty good.
The next day I am scheduled to meet a woman and her interpreter for lunch at Pushka at 1300.
I am there early and arrange a table for 3, but the woman does not show up. I check the front
a few times to see if she is waiting, but she is not there. I decide to have borsch and sushi. The
borsch is good and the sushi is very good. After lunch, I try to go to a shopping center on the
edge of the city, but my memory does not serve me well and I do not find it. Later in the evening,
I go to a 24 hour grocery store near the University metro station on Sumskaya.
The following morning, I am scheduled to meet someone for brunch at Shato near the performing
arts center. I had been there before, but the restaurant has been remodeled since my last visit.
I meet a woman who does set design for the theatre. She does not speak any English. I can
understand some of her Russian and my interpreter conveys the remaining conversation. She is a
very nice lady and my interpreter felt that she really seemed to like me. I had some fresh fruit at the
restaurant as I had breakfast at the hotel. At the restaurant, I had a fruit plate with pineapple, kiwi,
bananas, and grapefruit. My interpreter had blinchiki with salmon and cream cheese and the lady
had a salad. Both of my guests had cheesecake and they both seemed to enjoy it.
After brunch, I decided to try to find the shopping mall with a grocery store called Caravan. I
asked my interpreter and I found that I took the wrong metro line previously. The metro stop
that I needed to find was called "Heroiv Pratsi." My interpreter told me that I could get my haircut
on the second floor. I went to the salon and had a haircut for 225 grivna and a manicure for
100 grivna. After the manicure, I went to the McDonald's in the mall for lunch. After lunch, I
picked up a woman's fragrance by Trussardi called "Delicate Rose" and I stopped at the Goshen
chocolate store to pick up some gifts to take home. In Odessa, one of the interpreters told me
the story of "Kiev cake" and I decided to pick up one of these as well.
Tomorrow, I will be meeting someone who I have met on a previous trip. I may meet with the
first woman that I met on this trip, but I told my interpreter to limit my schedule on the last 2
days. I will be taking an early morning bus to Boryspil in 3 days and then fly out very early the
following morning.
