Donhollio's FSU Pursuit!

[JayH]

I dunno jone. Paramount I would think is to be yourself. You seem to be advocating differently?

From comments read frequently here many guys need a change!

If the forum raises some fundamental issues ( like jone's comments) of what can help a guy and none of that comes naturally to a guy-then he does need to create a "new" self.

To light up a few Americans here---one of the comments I have heard from girls quite often is that they doubt the sincerity of   many Americans ( also of Spanish & Italians who have a different agenda again!!)  . I understand what girls are saying--Americans can appear outwardly pleasant without meaning a word of it and have no substance in the words.

To try and expand a little--it is like a public face that is presented generally when first meeting people
that is in fact an act!!   I tend to think it is a self protective mechanism not to expose one's real self-- but it can and does work against a guy when it comes across as being insincere.

[Faux Pas]

From comments read frequently here many guys need a change!

If the forum raises some fundamental issues ( like jone's comments) of what can help a guy and none of that comes naturally to a guy-then he does need to create a "new" self.

To light up a few Americans here---one of the comments I have heard from girls quite often is that they doubt the sincerity of   many Americans ( also of Spanish & Italians who have a different agenda again!!)  . I understand what girls are saying--Americans can appear outwardly pleasant without meaning a word of it and have no substance in the words.

To try and expand a little--it is like a public face that is presented generally when first meeting people
that is in fact an act!!   I tend to think it is a self protective mechanism not to expose one's real self-- but it can and does work against a guy when it comes across as being insincere.

Yeah you mean as opposed to starting out as an asshole and remaining an asshole all the way through the process like most of the Aussies? 

[ML]

Americans can appear outwardly pleasant without meaning a word of it and have no substance in the words.

This has been said by more than one FSU person.

It just reflects a fundamental difference in outlook on life.

We are a generally happy people; we smile a lot; we say pleasant things to people, including strangers.

FSU folks are used to being treated rudely by those outside their circle.

So when they are treated nicely by someone (USA folks) they think they are something special and that we are going to do something special for them.

But we USA folks are giving most everyone this special treatment.

Has nothing at all to do with being phony, insincere, etc., as some think.

Spread cheer throughout the word.

Look at pictures of young children around the world.
They are mostly all smiling really big.

Looking happy is the natural state. 
Looking unhappy has to be learned and practiced.

Looking happy, talking happy and friendly, acting happy . . . this is the natural state.

We look and talk happy because we are happy.
There are no ulterior motives.
Doesn't mean we intend to lend you $10,000 or marry you tomorrow.

[Noch1]

I thought this was Don's TR, thread.
Why don't you fellows move your back forth to its own thread.
Then maybe Don will post more of his story

[ML]

Read Don's comments.  He is OK with we interlopers.

[JayH]

This has been said by more than one FSU person.

It is an interesting observation that not only fsuw make. Needless to say-- some will always want to attempt comparison to other nationalities--and to cross into another threads area on North Americans( AnotherKiwi & the inadequate -FP) -- Canadians are different  to USAians in this respect.

  Before I get more comments from the peanut gallery-- half my family are American and over the years I have spent a lot of time in the US ,have done and do business,have had many live with me etc etc so-- I understand the comment. The very same comment was also made to me by my nieces Italian husband in the period when he was first visiting the US .
  Even yesterday--only a short time after I posted the comment above- I was at lunch with  2 Ukrainians who do interpreting work. Both are well educated and qualified- are sporting champions of Ukraine in quite diverse areas and have spent substantial  time in the US and in one case has a mother who is now a US citizen.
  In their work they meet many Americans ( amongst others)- so they have a solid base to look at and assess nationalities and their differences-- and in particular-how they come across in the fsu.
What was funny yesterday is that I had just posted my comment and a few hours later-there was the topic being raised by others-so it got my attention to talk with them about it-- and many other aspects of relevance to guys looking.
ML has had a go at explaining more and I found myself trying to explain to my friends yesterday.Any way you cut it--it is not us here who has to understand it-- but for guys looking-- it is something to think about.
My advice-- take a genuine interest in everyone you meet. For me- I love meeting people in general-hearing about their lives and all that goes with it and learning about them and their country.

[Anotherkiwi]

It is an interesting observation that not only fsuw make.

...

My advice-- take a genuine interest in everyone you meet. For me- I love meeting people in general-hearing about their lives and all that goes with it and learning about them and their country.

Ditto.  If you can't be interested when you see or meet something new, it shows.  I've guided American tour groups where there has been a huge difference in attitude - some people are really eager to learn/experience everything that's new; a smaller proportion couldn't care less because it's not American (rare, but still evident - you wondered why they bothered travelling in the first place, and you couldn't possibly recommend that a non-American marries them); and most are somewhere in-between.

In addition, FSUW seem to have a very special radar which is attuned solely to this.  On the other hand, they may want to ask what you consider to be too many questions about your past life - you may need to find a balance between what you're prepared to share (especially on a first visit) and what she wants to know.

[Donhollio]

  Getting my plan B into motion with the help of Guy's girlfriend who knows this lady who will match western men up with local girls. However you first must pass her test of being suitable quality. I had a mark on my record already due to my association with Guy. She found him to be of bad fibre, not worthy of her services. And it took some talking to by Guy's girl to prove that I was not the same. Now Guy's not a bad person, he does have a different outlook on marriage, and that is where her disdain comes from. Many a night I sat with him, and took in his worldly views on life, and the pursuit of happiness. I just kept thinking this is what happens when a westerner is fully embedded in eastern Europe for far too long!
 One expat I know would have to take vacations away from Ukraine just to regain his sanity. And after I had finished my third trip I was in complete agreement. Nice place to visit, but... I dunno, tough to live it if you weren't brought up in that environment.

I was to meet with the Miss. M within a few days. Never did find out what the M stood for, I assumed Matchmaker, irregardless the meeting never took place. I was tainted from living at Guy's, and I was off her list. So Lena, Guy's gal, took it upon herself to try and find me someone. My talk with what I wanted went something like this...

 Her: "So besides her needing to be blonde what else are you looking for?"

 Me: uhh.. well.. I'd like her to be short, slim and kinda hot. And really want one without a kid. If she knows some English that's a bonus!
 
 Her: "What age range?"

 At this point I'm wide open I tell her.

  Within a day or so Lena informs me she has a friend for me to meet, she hits all my requirements, except has a kid. The weekend arrived and a group of us headed off to Arkadia, and took in the ITAKA nightclub.
 Even though she had a kid it was better than going solo, and who knows maybe I could change my thoughts once I meet her. So off to the club we go, it's a Saturday summer night & the Arkadia strip is the only place to be in all of Odessa! It's so nice to walk and see girls all done up nicely, and all set against the backdrop of the open air nightclubs on the beach. Our group of five included Lena, Guy, Hoosuan a roomate of Guy's from Korea, myself and Angela, the girl I was to meet. Lena did a good job with her first match!
 Angela was a sweet little 30 ish hardbody, with a set of abs to kill for. As the night progressed we were all having a good time, we managed to buy a table for 100 UAH, and than girls suggest we get a fruit platter. It's commonplace to have basically a full restaurant menu, something I found to be a nice touch when consuming hard liquor. Have a shot of vodka, and a chomp on a piece of fruit. So with four locals I let them handle all the details. I can only guess that the waitress noticed that the three guys were not of Ukraine origins, and so it goes....
 The server returns with a platter of fruit that weighed at least 3kgs! It all looked quite nice but shit the thing was like the A-380 of fruit platters! Guy sees it and he starts laughing, the girls are somewhat wide eyed about it all, and I'm thinking this thing is going to cost us a bundle. What was going through my head was more of the fact they would boost the price, because that's what you do to tourists.
 We had enough fruit to last us a week, and we managed to eat until we were all full. At some point Guy has a look at the menu to find this platter, and it's not anywhere to be found, sweet...
 Angela has a look for it, and I'm thinking it has to be in the menu, after all Angela ordered it. But no 3kg platter anywhere. I'm thinking great, can't wait to see how this customer service will play out. Sure enough Guy decided to take it upon himself to argue for the girls, atta boy.
 Well the waitress seems somewhat indifferent (big surprise). Informing him it's going to be 220 UAH. $50 for a plate of fruit...nice. Even with Angela and Lena both arguing with the waitress and me taking the backseat, I had hoped to have this charge rectified to a more palatable amount. Nope we lose, the customer is always wrong, and I just sat there wondering how these people have no problem eating their own day after day. The night ends nicely, and while Angela and I enjoyed our time, I just wasn't ready to take on a ready made family. She knew this going in, so there was no surprises by the end of the night.

 A friend of mine who travelled to Odessa before offered up an Odessa contact. This woman had a small agency with some girls and Gregg gave her a thumbs up. So I met up with Natasha and we went over what kind of girl I was gunning for. She tells me she would get back to me soon. Natasha is a really nice person, I met up with her a few times just for bit of conversation.

 Continuing work on plan B, I had Svetlana in Dnepropetrovsk who I missed out meeting by one day. As some may recall she was the one I sent a email to while I was staying in Dnepropetrovsk for a few weeks, and she never replied until the day I landed in Toronto. But now she is waiting for me to come to her. I had also called up Katya, and she has been giving me grief over not returning in April, and is asking if I'm seeing girls in Odessa. Well Kat after disappearing on me during the holidays last winter, and having very little correspondence, I can't really be too bothered to spend time with you. She had suggested Odessa for her summer holiday earlier, and now she doesn't want to give me a answer... whatever.  I told her call me when you know.
I decided I would meet Svetlana on her day off. From there I would head to Kharkov to meet up with little Oksana again. I do need to see her and see if we will have something click. I've decided to spend some time with her on her days off. Way better than sitting around waiting for the 7pm hour, then calling it a night three hours later. Having a full Saturday with her will do more good than four or five weekday evenings. From there I'll return with my tail between my legs, or plan a longer stay in either of the two cities for the following weekend. Depending of course how it goes with one or both of them.

[Donhollio]

  With my plan B finalised I would be leaving Odessa Wednesday evening and arriving in Dnepropetrovsk on Thursday morning. Meet with Svetlana, and go to Kharkov for the weekend to spend it with little Susha. She's happy I'm coming to see her, and I'm happy to be meeting her again after a two year absence.  In 2004 I had very little clue on how one travels in Ukraine, and this round I was not going to be left walking down pitch black streets at 5am, nor was I going to stay in a hotel.
 
 I booked a nice one bedroom at $40 p/n. Svetlana has no English ability, but I was interested enough to go meet her, and work with an inturpertor. It was the only way, and this was to prove very frustrating for me. It was to be my first time with a third party, and I had no idea what to expect. I had a good comfort level in Odessa, English was abound, and any girl I met had enough English to carry a basic conversation.
 I find that if a girl can speak at that level, its often is enough to have the two of you sit and get an idea if there is enough attraction between you both for future dates. Some may differ I'm sure, but if the girl can ask and understand you, and you can read her body language, progress does get made.

 During my ten week vacation I had one young guy all of twenty two year old from Peurto Rico, asking if I would meet him when he arrived in Odessa. He was quite nervous about flying to this foreign land alone, and I found it to be very strange as he had just finished an eighteen month tour in Iraq. He explained he felt safe in the company of his brothers in arms. He also told me if I didn't meet him, he wasn't going to be taking the trip.
 Now how was I going to let a guy not see the greatest summer city in Ukraine? I told I would meet him and be his guide! Hey why not, I knew the city well enough and I was going to be seeing my friend Anna the same night of his arrival. It would be a great introduction to the women of Odessa!

  His arrival was uneventful, he was tired understandably after twenty plus hours of flights. I got him back to Guy's place where he'd be spending the night. The ride to the suburbs had big Jon taking it all in. It was at this point that I reflected on how I must of been when I first walked out of the Odessa train station a few years earlier.
 I let him know we'll be meeting Anna and her good frind Arina with her husband Nikolay. Both don't speak English, yet Nikolay and I seem to have a basic understanding, and he gets a few words out in English, mostly swear words and some lyrics of his favorite metal bands!
 Jon and I meet up with them at a restaurant in the centre. I can see Jon is enjoying the view of the sites of Odessa, he makes several comments on how he will return!
 It was great to see Anna again, she has been so overworked at her job that it was my first time seeing her in the four weeks that I had already been in Odessa. She looked really good even with her darker hair, maybe the skin tight shirt helped offset the new look.  She had a slight tan happening as well, and when we compared tans with mine being darker, her reply was,''Odessa people don't get this dark, as we have jobs."
 I hated thinking how her job was running her down, I'm sure the salary was low, I knew the hours were very long. It reminded me once again that life can be very hard in a country like Ukraine. We get to talking and Anna asks Jon how he likes Odessa, and Jon replies he loves it!  I suggest to Nikolay that we need to have some vodka to celebrate our meeting. So he orders up some vodka and when it arrives Jon seems curious why there is no mix for the liquor. I fill him in on how it's done, and he says he can't chase it with beer, so we order some juice, and we have a few shots. By the way borsh is not the best chaser!

 Since they had to work the next day, it was a earlier than normal night. Jon had enough steam left in him so I suggested we head down to Arkadia. Being a weeknight the clubs weren't that busy, but Jon only had this one night in Odessa, and I didn't want to head home to sit around. We settled in a club called IBIZA.  It's a cool place right along the beach with the sea breeze blowing through the place. Topless go go dancers doing their thing in little wading pools, it's really a unique place.
 Now being that I was in my late thirty's, and Jon being twenty two, I never gave much thought to what effects vodka has on a Puerto Rican who has never tasted vodka before. Although he seemed to be drinking it just fine, and the music was to his liking. I was happy, he seemed to be enjoying himself and that's really all that mattered. I was trying to be a good host and all seemed good. As the hour passed he asked me where the toilet was, and I motioned down to the left side of the club. Off he went. I saw him enter the room, and like I said the place was not that busy, infact I would be able to spot him anywhere that night in the club.
 
  After about ten minutes I am getting concerned as to why he has yet to return. So I have a look around and can see everyone but him, I take a walk to the WC and he's not in there. I was hoping he would be, even passed out would be better then not knowning where he was. he was getting drunk, but I didn't think it was something to be concerned about. I do a search of the club, and there is only one way out, yet I was standing only a dozen steps from the doorway. I search again and now I'm getting worried, a young very drunk guy who is so far out of his element is now missing in Arkadia.
 I leave the club to walk the promenade in the hope of finding him walking aimlessly around. Had Jon known the city and his surroundings I would not of worried, but he was with me and I was his lifeline. Jon had no phone, no idea where Guy lived, no address of Guy's, and he had no phone numbers to call anyone in Odessa for help. The situation was turning desperate as each minute passed. If he was out walking he would of had a ten minute lead on me, and yet I didn't know what direction he staggered.
 Did he walk downhill to the beach? Up to the entrance? Over to the back drive entrance? I walked up and down looking for him to no avail. I searched the club again, but it was hopeless. I knew I couldn't leave, and if it took me all night I knew I had to find him. With the less desirables prowling the strip, and all the things that could go wrong, I just had a sinking feeling that this was going to be a long night.

 After checking the areas again I head up the hill and take a seat near the main entrance. I was hoping he'd come up that promenade and all would be good. What seemed like a half hour had passed, I get up and take another walk, hoping to find him. Take a fruitless look again inside the club, nothing. I start plotting a way of telling Guy how I lost Jon, and where I would go to find him in the morning. Finally to my relief I see this young couple standing over him while he lays on the bench passed out. The couple both seem to speak English, and if they were really just passing by, they did seem concerned about his condition. I get to him and they leave, I notice Jon's pockets have been pulled out, I knew now he had been robbed. I told him to bring no more than fifty dollars, and yet he took over two hundred. He barely had enough to make the rest of his trip to Nikoliev the next day to see this girl he had been writting to. Now he had no bank cards and was left with only his passport. I didn't know he took that much money with with him, until he told me the next day. There was no point giving him the, ''I told you so.'' 
 All I could figure out was that he walked out of the club, and did so by walking behind me. Since I never saw him exit the WC, this is all I could surmise. I had heard of some being drugged from something the bartender slips into the drink, but I kept an eye on the pouring of the drinks, not to say it wasn't possible to not have noticed. But really he was only a year above drinking age so he had very little experience, especially with vodka.

[Donhollio]

 Not surprisingly the next morning big Jon was not looking too healthy, and I only wondered to myself what he would of done had I not found him. But that was last night, and he now had to get cleaned up and ready for the bus ride to Nikoliyv. 
 Since he was now on a very strict budget, it was going to be public transportation to and from the small city. We headed into the city centre enroute to the bus station on the tram, and things with him aren't getting better. At one point the I hear the words, "I need to get off now!"  WTF!  We're not in Cancun dude! 
 But seconds later the tram screams to a abrupt halt, and Jon heads for the nearest tree! Fortunately it was at the edge of a park metres away! A big grin rises up on my face as I hadn't been in this position in many years, and I handled it as I did back than, by just watching the people walk by and I pretend to not know the guy who is vomiting against the tree.
 Anyway I get to the bus station after getting lost, and get him into his bus for Nikoliyv. Poor guy, having taken this ride a year earlier  I tell him that we'll meet up in a few days and wish him luck. Plan is we'll meet up after the weekend, a day or so before he has to return home. My time in Nikoliyv was brief weeks before. What I had done was hire one of Guy's top students to make a newspaper ad that would run in a weekly paper called, Aviso. There was no photo, just a few lines in the personal section. I didn't hold out any hope, and yet I got one email from a girl living in Nikoliyv. We exchanged photos via email and decided to meet. I managed the trip solo, I only had some help getting a ticket from Valentina. Can't tell you how awesome it is to have people who can do the talking for you. All I would do is make a call to her, pass the phone to the ticket booth, and presto, all arranged!
 It was nice to meet Natasha, a skinny and shockingly busty girl in her early twenty's. Well spoken in English, and mature years ahead of her age. Traveling solo is not without its moments. While trying to get to a location she told me was easy to find, I soon found myself on the mini bus asking questions in Russian where the place was. Didn't take long before a couple of guys are trying to get me off the bus to stay at their home for the night. Maybe they were trying to get me to rent an apartment, I don't really know, all I did know is they didn't want me heading to my meet up spot with Natasha. Another passenger intervenes and tells me to stay on the bus, that these guys are not going to help me get where I needed to.
 Eventually after a phone call to Natasha I get where I need to be. We had dinner, went for a walk, and  had a good conversation throughout the evening. I left thinking she was a good person, but there was no romance on the horizon. I never saw her again. The bus ride back to Odessa was fine, and my gypsy taxi ride back to the house was one of the more memorable rides I had. Seems the young guys probably around eighteen were very happy to have me in their car. I know you shouldn't get in with two guys but these two seems harmless, and with their basic English they wanted to talk to me. So I get them to drive me home and it wasn't long before I realise they had both been smoking the demon week.
 So here I am in a Lada with two stoned guys laughing and asking me questions in English. The music is cranked up, laughs all around and I arrive safely.
 
 With my mini trek all planned out, it will be to Dnepropetrovsk to meet Svetlana, and then the weekend in Kharkov with Oksana. Since the train Dnepropetrovsk / Odessa has 44 stops, and takes 17hours, I decided on trying the countries road system, via the bus. Why do I seek out such adventure when I could take the long rail ride? Well I have a need for new things, I tend to go in for adrenalin sports, and I guess in a warped way this gives me something new to experience.  Of course I'd be lying if I never had some serious second thoughts as to why I do what I do without a safety net. But that's just me!

  The Odessa bus station is a bit of a walk uphill. There's a long uneven set of stairs leading to the place, and it's typical in design of all things Soviet. Having gone there before to buy my tickets, and after yet another hopeless attempt I made a call to Valentina, and was told that I can just show up and get my ticket from the driver. Ok seems simple enough, pick a day, any day, and walk up and hop on.
 So the day comes to leave and I took the tram from Guy's to the point I remember to hop off at. It's all very scientific... I look at a building I think is the one, and hop off. If I'm wrong I walk around until I get there. It ain't pretty but it works out most times.
 Heading up the stairs I see an older woman lugging a couple of very large bags. I see many local guys breeze past her, and I'm thinking how difficult would it be for one of them to offer some help. I caught up to her while she rested her sore hands, I motioned that I would take them both for her up the stairs.
I don't know what she had in those bags, but they were too heavy for any long distance walking. I asked what bus she needed, and dropped the bags off. She seemed so happy and I knew walking away I had left a good impression of a foreign guy who has come to take some female bounty.
 In all the times I have helped some old baba out, I had always secretly hoped she'd stop me from leaving, and pass her mobile phone to me to speak to her smokin hot niece! All the while the baba pulls out a photo of the niece, to show me who I'm talking to!  Ah but the mind wonders, not once did it happen, but I bet if I made a day of helping out, one of them would toss the phone my way. Anyway back to reality...

  I start looking for my bus and I don't see any highway bus with a Dnepropetrovsk name tag. I'm thinking I missed the bus or had some other wrong info, but then I see it, a mini bus! This is a long ride, and if I'm going to be in that thing this is not going to be good. Sure enough that's the regular bus to Dnepropetrovsk. What to do...what to do. I have little choice, either I get in or my micro trip is cancelled.
 I had everything planned out with Svetlana and Oksana. I knew since Svetlana didn't speak English, it was going to be difficult even with a interpreter, so I'd meet her for the day and head to Kharkov. If things went good with Svetlana, I would than plan to come back and see her for a longer period. But with no English, I was wondering how things were going to move forward if we couldn't communicate. But again it all goes back to trying something new, and this was to be my first encounter with a non English speaking girl. I had no idea what to expect, but I was willing! Actually I'm a fan of well endowed girls, and she had a pair of Kalashnikov's that made it into next week! So I arranged to meet on her day off, this way we could spend the day together and see what progresses. I had everything done via SMS, with my end being covered by native Russian speakers.

 It's time to board and I very reluctantly get in the bus/van, and off we go into the dusk. Nine hours in the stupid thing...nine long long hours. I had no idea how I was going to cope, and soon we're out on the highway. I managed to get the worse driver I have ever had, he was beyond reckless, even by Ukraine standards. Even the locals were gasping at his extremely hazardous ways. It was unreal, but in typical Ukraine fashion, no one spoke up. I've been on these highway buses before going to Nikoliyv and I thought the driving was just stupid, but this guys driving was dangerous! And to top it off, he wore flip flops! So after getting literally tossed from side to side, and having no leg room I arrived, alive.
 
 Svetlana said she would meet me, and I waited until about 6:30am but never saw her. I walked around the station, and there was no girl to be found. I thought maybe she never made it and was still sleeping, so I decided to go eat first, and call her in a few hours. Off to the local McD's where they didn't have a breakfast menu, and that suited me just fine as everything was either greasy meat or eggs. So I had my usual lunch meal, cola, two hamburgers and some fries.
  At 7:30am my phone rings and it's her English speaking friend, saying she's been waiting at the station since 5:30am. However I'm now standing in line getting my ticket to Kharkov. I tell her to wait at the bus station and I'll soon be there, then another call. I than tell her maybe it's easier for her to come to the rail station and meet me. Another call and now she's getting impatient.  I tell her to stay there, and I'm next in line getting my ticket. Twenty minutes and I'll be there I tell her.
 Ok, so back again to the bus station I go, and she's nowhere to be found. I call her friend because Svetlana's not answering her phone. Again I call her friend, I'm told Svetlana decided she couldn't wait any longer and went to work. "Went to work I replied?" 
 She wanted to see me on Thursday, this is Thursday. I told her pick a day she has off work, but I guess 9am is having half a morning off? I'm told I'm supposed to meet with her when she has time.
 So there went my Dnepropetrovsk date, I pissed her off and now I had nothing to do but wait for my train ride to Kharkiv later that day. I thought about calling up Katya, but there was no way I could just say I 'popped in' for the day. Besides I was still annoyed but her actions earlier. So I went to the I-net cafe and killed some time.

 By early afternoon I was boarding the train to Kharkiv. Taking a second class ride I was in with two Americans here on those social tours. I got some interesting info from them both on just what goes on at them. One older guy seemed to be a 'social pro'/sex tourist. He told us stories of his conquests with younger girls, and some of the dysfunctional girls he had with him in different countries. It was everything I hoped not to be like in my coming years. However the other guy was in his early forty's, and had good intentions, but he wasn't ruling out getting action at the drop of a hat either.

  I suppose from having twenty minutes of sleep, from the mini bus ride until I got on the train. I thought for some reason it was a overnight ride. It's not, the ride was about five hours. I told the guys we're on it for the night, but they insisted it wasn't. Turns out I thought I was leaving Odessa. Ah yes sleep deprivation is wonderful! I arrived in Kharkov at 6:30pm, phoned Sergey regarding the apartment I was to rent and settled in. I didn't want to sleep, as than I'd wake up at 3am bored out of my mind, and unable to sleep any further. So I went to eat and find a I-net cafe.
As well I called Oksana and told her I was here. I didn't want to see her Thursday night as I was just too wiped out. So I crashed finally at 11:30pm.

[Anotherkiwi]

The Odessa bus station is a bit of a walk uphill. There's a long uneven set of stairs leading to the place, and it's typical in design of all things Soviet.

It depends which direction you're coming from.  I got the tram (number 5) which starts at Arkadia and eventually comes down the hill from the central city, terminating not far from the bus station entrance.  From the tram stop it's a gentle downhill stroll for all of 30 seconds! 

Heading up the stairs I see an older woman lugging a couple of very large bags. I see many local guys breeze past her, and I'm thinking how difficult would it be for one of them to offer some help. I caught up to her while she rested her sore hands, I motioned that I would take them both for her up the stairs.
I don't know what she had in those bags, but they were too heavy for any long distance walking. I asked what bus she needed, and dropped the bags off. She seemed so happy and I knew walking away I had left a good impression of a foreign guy who has come to take some female bounty.
 In all the times I have helped some old baba out, I had always secretly hoped she'd stop me from leaving, and pass her mobile phone to me to speak to her smokin hot niece! All the while the baba pulls out a photo of the niece, to show me who I'm talking to!  Ah but the mind wonders, not once did it happen, but I bet if I made a day of helping out, one of them would toss the phone my way. Anyway back to reality...

I had the same experience (and hope) in the underground passages on the opposite side of the square from the Railway Station.  She thanked me very nicely at the top of the stairs, but no sign of the gorgeous niece or daughter.    This was the same day when about six different people asked me for directions, which I thought was the funniest thing to happen on the whole trip.

[jone]

I remember trying to buy a ticket at that bus station.  I was surrounded by teenage boys who were all willing to 'sell' me a ticket.  I got on the bus and found out that I buy ticket directly from the bus driver.  All of a sudden, all of the boys disappeared.  Hmmm

[ML]

Don, thanks for your continued posting; although it pains me to read about some of your misfortunes with the flaky gals.

[Donhollio]

 Thanks guys, good info there Anotherkiwi.


  Friday night rolls in and I'm really looking forward to seeing Oksana! I call her and she's still working at 6:30pm Then the news, she suggests maybe we'll meet tomorrow. It was hardly what I wanted to hear after a brutal day in Dnepropetrovsk. Now I was looking at spending my second night in Kharkiv in my rented bed, and no sign of little Oksana. Well there's always Saturday......I hope. 
 
 I kill the evening doing nothing but going out to walk before retiring for the night. The next morning I wake and I'm free of the Dnep girl and just thinking of Oksana. I was hoping that we'd be meeting by noon, but no, her parent's have her redecorating the home, and hitting the markets for supplies. Now I'm starting to get a little pissed, I told her I want time with her and I was only coming if she had it. This little mini trek was starting to take on a very bad theme, and I pondered for a minute if I was reading too much into Svetlana and Oksana's words. I told them if they wanted I would come see them. I told little Susha (Oksana) that I was still interested, but only if she felt there may be some interest still in her to see what may develop. She wanted me in Kharkiv, and I know I never put words in her mouth, and with Svetlana I was to meet her on her day off. It's all going up in a column of smoke.
 Anyway it's bad enough she worked until 8pm on Friday. Must be fun in the sweat shop/office 11hr shift, no air conditioning and the sun beats down through the window on her all day, and rarely gets lunch she told me. Sign me up.
I was getting pissed off at her for bumping me the Friday, but I kept my cool while I kept telling myself family's in Ukraine aren't like my family in Canada... take a deep breath, and wait it out. I have to tell you how 'exciting' it is waiting for a date. It's moments like this that one really wishes for a plan B just to maximise ones time. But that's never been my style, and yet I wished so damn much it was.

 So now it's Saturday mid afternoon, she's free from the family duties. While on the phone we agree to meet under ole Vladdy Lenin, that sits in Freedom Square. It's the largest square, and the largest Lenin I have seen to date. I walk over and wait for her at the time we agreed upon... of course she's late. She's always late, but it's not like I have anything else to do but wait for her...  Taking a spot near Vlad, I look out on the parade grounds and picture all the history that these grounds have seen. 20% of this cities population were killed in WW2 or known in the FSU as The Great Patriotic War.
 Now, the grounds are peaceful, and young lovers are to both sides of me. Minutes pass and finally I see her, she still looked very nice and was still the sweetheart I remember from first meeting her in 2004.
 We walked (as usual) down along the square, and took a spot off to the side where we could talk. We spoke about a lot of things and it seems two years on, her priority's have changed. Her job that she was so happy to have in 2004 was now number two on her list, as she put it. She wants a man and family. After two or so hours of talking, we head for some food at a nice log cabin type of place next to Vlad. What could be better, Susha in front of me, and Lenin in the background. We talked some more, and later went for...another 90 minute walk.
 
 Now I'm in hiking shoes, and she's in 10 or 12cm heels. I'm always impressed by this skill they have to walk in high heels shoes. We went to a park walked around it, through it, and back out. huff-huff! When does it stop? For a little chick with tall heels she can really move fast! We're out on the street and she takes me back to Vlad, this is where she needs to catch her bus. ''Your bus?'' I said. I was hoping for a longer night out, but her damn mom called twice and wanted to know when she's coming home. Now I'm thinking they're not behind the daughter getting married to a foreign man. Regrets about coming are starting to surface. I ask her what mom was asking about me, and if she's ok with it all. Oksana says ,"Yes she is, but I'm her daughter and they both worry all the time.''  A Saturday night and she's going home by 10pm,great.  I offer to pay for a taxi, but she declines and within moments is squeezing into the mini bus.
 This date was like the movie Groundhog day, it went just like my several dates I had with her in 2004, now two years later nothing seems to have changed. In 2004 we'd meet, talk and she'd go home, with a date planned for the following night. Nothing ever progressed, it was always the same ole date night after night after night.
 Now I'm convinced she is not interested, and that's fine, but she wishes to see me on Sunday, my final day before I head back to Odessa.

 So we plan for Sunday, she's into it, and again I'm hoping to have lunch with her, but! The parent's have her shopping again. So I trek to the train station to find the times for the trains to Odessa. Looks like I missed both of them from what I can tell. Which didn't make any sense as they usually do these trips at night. So into the metro, and off to the bus station. Turns out I was in the wrong train station (still have yet to figure that one out) and they do have four beds left. But I hate the train, so up the street I go to buy my bus ticket. Now I make this sound easy, but it took almost three hours! Thankfully Valentina was available to translate. I go from one kiosk to the other, all the while having a long talk with Valentina. Her holiday so far is going good, she was outside of Ukraine visiting her grandparents. We agree to meet up once both of us are back in Odessa, at this point it sounds so much better then my last few days.A SMS comes in and Susha is finally free. I'm back home so I ask what time do we meet? My bus leaves at 3:35pm I tell her. ''I meet you at 3pm.''  It was already 1:30pm so by the time she gets across town, it'll be near 3pm. Fine, I'll meet you at the bus station I tell her. I was going to tell not to bother, but she can move across town, after all I travelled across country to visit her, and after almost four days I have logged maybe 7 hours with her. It was pointless in having her come down and see me, but at this point I didn't care. She wasted my time, now she can waste her time.

 Again she's late, but only by 10 minutes, ''a record.'' Great we have twenty minutes before I leave, I'm looking at her and thinking why she wasted so much of my time. Date after date, and all I got was a kiss on the cheek. Until the final date in 2004 where she very unexpectedly kissed me on the lips. My immediate thought back in 04 was I should given her that stuffed beaver much sooner! Anyway back to 2006... She wanted me to go on a later bus, but it's the only bus that goes to Odessa. She seemed sincere in her request, but I tell her as politely as I can, "Oksana, if I'm coming back to see you again ,you have to make more time for me, your parents will have to wait, ok?" Between the apartment rental and the stupid amount of time it takes to go 500km's in this country, spending seven hours with you is not enough."
 It was a pointless rant, but I wasn't going to let her return home knowing that I was happy with her face time with me.
She understands and she could see my arrival time on the ticket, I think maybe it really sunk in at that moment, either that she felt guilty. I hope not, but what I said was the truth, I'm not coming back to spend 1000 UAH for a weekend and see her only seven hours. But she wants to see me again so maybe next weekend, depends on her work of course, and if she will have to work Saturday. 
So we give a little kiss, and I get on the bus. She waited until the bus left, which made me feel like she is interested, and yet what she does leaves me thinking she's not. It's all quite annoying for me, it's not like I have twelve months to sit in Kharkiv and watch you sip tea all night.
 As my bus pulls away I see little Susha standing there, and this time I know that I'll never see her again. It made me sad, but that's the way things go. She very likely could of been too busy to see me more. Or she may not of been able to tell her parents that she had to go meet me. I was the only one who didn't know the full story, and I was never going to know.
 
 Getting back to Odessa and my bed was all I could think about after the bus ride. I was hoping my first bus ride would be a good way to travel in Ukraine, but really it's not very good at all. The train is far more comfortable, and is cheaper. Not that the bus was expensive (under 100 UAH) but if you're going to pay to ride somewhere, the train is the best comfort in my opinion. So I get into my place, and Jonathan is sleeping in my bed. It's all I wanted for hours, and even that was taken from me now. Oh well it's his last day in Ukraine, and I know he'll have the next 20+ hours to try and get that level of rest again.
 
 So my mini trek cost me about 1000 UAH, spent hours on the highways (25-30hrs) waited for a no show date in Dnepropetrovsk, and waited a weekend only to spend several hours with Oksana. I took what she told me about returning to see her again as nothing more than lip service. I was thinking things have to get better for me soon, I have five weeks left in this holiday, and if they go like the past five, I'm not going to be returning to the FSU for some time.

[Donhollio]

  With Jonathan gone back home and what seems to be a never ending plan B for Odessa under way, I arrange to meet a girl through Natasha. She had a small portfolio of girls, and was recommended by a trusted source.
  I was hoping for the best outcome of course, and after Natasha had met another tourist from the States who turned out to be a sex tourist, who was with me. Left me explaining to Natasha that I was not a sex tourist, would of sunk in. So with her arranging a 3-way meeting with a girl named Anna, I guess she new I was not cut from the same cloth. Thank goodness.

 This was going to be the first time I would be meeting with a girl who spoke only the most basic of English. I was really thinking to myself, was it worth it ? How can anything of interest come from speaking through a third party? Having never done it before I didn't know what to expect, although I hoped for the best, and planned for the worst. I figured with my track record to date, being a realist is the only path to go down. I expected that the date would be over in a hour, and I'd go home.  A short date but it was still better than sitting around doing nothing at home. We decided meet at an outdoor patio in the city centre, beside the 007 strip club. A club I never bothered to visit, not even once. My days of strip clubs in Dnepropetrovsk made sure I wasn't into that scene anymore.

 The chosen place Natasha picked left me thinking why we couldn't have of met somewhere else. I had already dodged Kristina once when out with Natasha and the sex tourist guy. I really didn't want to bump into her again, even more so while on a date! Anyway Natasha, Anna and I had a 3 way conversation for about 1.5 hrs. It was quite strange talking to Natasha and then she would repeat in Russian what I said.
I was ready to pack it in thinking she wasn't all that interested, her body contact wasn't up to what I would call "tuned in" ok maybe she was checking out the scenery passing in front of her instead of on me. more than I would of liked, but I kept in mind that she didn't know #English and I'm sure it was somewhat awkward for her as well.
 I keep my back to the sites, so I don't get busted looking around. It can get very distracting, the click of the stilettos, the way enough of them dress, and being in Odessa's city centre all adds to getting busted by any potential date. So I keep my back to the scenery and try to resist the urge to turn around.
 The time went by fast enough and Anna was asking very good questions about what I want, and expect from life and a wife. I told her "I'm not looking for a housewife, I keep a clean house and I like to cook." She really sucked back the martini to the last drop! Just a note here, they drink martini as a straight drink, no silly mixing. Just a few ice cubes and even that is often an option!

 Time was up with Natasha, but Anna wanted me to continue our date. I was happy to but again what would we do? We hardly can talk, but I had nothing to lose, so off we went to the seaport. If I have to go see this port again I'm going to lose it! However the lack of conversation was difficult, but the seaport had enough visual things going on to not seem totally useless...I guess.
  She asked if I had been here before and sheepishly I said, yeees. Seems to be somewhat of a destination to take a date, so we sat at the waters edge sipping some water as it was steaming hot that day. I guess I never realised that without Natasha, we couldn't say anything at all. It was like being out with a mute. She pointed out where she lives down the shoreline in a suburb, I said "near Malibu beach?"
 Anna looked surprised that I knew about it, but than again I've been there, Angela's home is near there, and I've been here too damn long! We walked along the pier stopping to watch a small yacht getting hoisted into the water from it's dry dock. I am drawn to mechanical things, and of course the pending disaster but thought, don't bore her watching it unfold. Again she surprised me as she wanted to go in for a closer look. Ok so we watch and wait, not much happening in the conversation department, but it's ok...I guess.
 We end the date after 3.5 hours, and she says to call Natasha about us. I walked away thinking if maybe I've wasted months going after girls who speak conversational English, when maybe I should be a little more open to the idea of a girl who speaks very little English. But it does hurt the chances, due to the fact that any talk or SMS takes forever to do, even with my mobile that has Cyrillic letters.

 With Guy's girlfriends Miss M, who still is not willing to take me on as a client, I had Guy's girlfriend Lena doing her best to get me someone. Soon enough she sends me a SMS saying she has a new victim for me! I'm told she and Guy will meet with us, and I was to wait on a street corner until the girl shows up. Sure that should be easy...  Anyway I ask Lena what this girl looks like, ''Her name is Ira, shes short, blonde and wearing a dress.'' Nice work Lena!
  So I'm standing on the prescribed corner, waiting and checking out any blonde that moved, it all seemed quite natural. Finally this petite girl approaches me and says hello. Her English is poor, but she seems to have a very relaxed fun attitude to her. I also got the feeling that what you see is what you get from her.  The first night out went good, and a couple of days later I was talking to Lena and asking about Ira. She didn't get my lust going for her from the first three seconds, but like I said she seemed nice, and I was getting fatigued by the lack of finding someone. So I asked Lena if Ira was interested, and she said she is, and Lena suggests I call her as soon as possible.
 As a bonus she even comes with food allergy's! Great just what I want a more diminished menu at home. I saw her once more during that week, she was now starting to rub off on me. I was feeling positive for the first time in five weeks. Another weekend is upon me and a group of us went out to the Ibiza nightclub, there were about eight of us, and we had a good time. If your looking for the best club with the hottest girls, you need to go to Ibiza!
 While seated beside Ira my phone rings and it was a friend from Canada calling. With the music too loud to have a conversation I ran out of the club, leaving Ira sitting there without any explanation. I was thinking that she may think I ran because another girl was calling me. But I returned fifteen minutes later and she was cool. I guess I was yelling to him before getting up, and she knew it was no girl...whew! The night ends on a good note, and agree to meet up the next day.

 With the planning or the chase finally in full speed, I needed to keep working at finding girls to date. I find myself not wanting to rest on just one girl unless things progress to a much higher level, and so far that hasn't happened yet. I was also thinking about visiting Oksana again this weekend. I'll find out if she works the Saturday, if she does than I'll most likely throw in the towel on her. But deep down I know it'll be a useless trip.
 
 On the other hand, heartbreaker Sexy Sveta wanted to share her love of horses, and invited me down to try and ride one. Having never been near a horse, I was up for it, but warned her that that last time I was near one (20 years prior) I had a bad allergic reaction. But her love for the horse was infectious, and how could I pass on her invite?  So I hopped on my recently purchased bicycle and rode down to the stables. There I saw Sveta dressed in her riding gear, she looked really good in the skin tight riding pants and a pair of running shoes. She commented that she wears them because it's better for riding, and she likes how fast she can walk in them. I smiled and got to thinking that for some of these Ukrainian girls, they never walk out in public with trainers or sport shoes on.
 Sveta led me around the place, showing how she cleans the stables and grooms the horses. Well it didn't take long for my allergies to kick in. I told her I'll wait outside and she understood. She departs from the stable with her horse, and wants to show me her riding skills. So I take a spot off to the side and get ready to watch. Seeing her ride was a sexual frustrating experience to say the least. Never paid much attention to horses or the girls on them, but damn! I wanted to be under that saddle!
  I took some photo's of her, and offered to retake them with my better camera later. Maybe it'll happen, maybe it won't. It was then my turn to ride. She new I was concerned, but assured me I was in good hands, and she would walk with the horse. So I hop on, doing my best to recall the only horse movie I ever saw, 'Blazing Saddles,' and how they did it. It had been many a year since I saw that movie, and my first attempt reflected that! Well so much for being as smooth as James Bond. Finally I was on, and the two other girls were looking on at this scared guy on a horse for the first time. It didn't take long for my allergies to kick in again, maybe five minutes, and I told S.S I have to get off. Sveta has only rode a bicycle once and she really wanted to ride again, but I had only one bike. I offered to rent one for her if she could find a place that may rent them, but it never happened. Too bad really, as it would of been fun. She declined trying mine, may have not wanted to look as bad as I did on the horse. Odessa has some nice places to ride, and having her with me would of been great! We ended out time together on a good note as always with sexy Sveta she leaves me feeling all revved up inside for hours afterwards.

   I also made contact with another Odessa agency. I spoke to the manager, and told her what I want in the way of contact details. She tells me its $25 USD for a meeting arranged by her, or I can buy the address, email and telephone number for $12 USD. I don't have time to wait for an email reply so I asked her if just making a call to them is wise. She told me yes, the girls are ok with it, but it's a little different than what I am used to doing. So I give my list a going over and see what girls I want to meet the most.

 While I'm at it I call up Katya from Dnepropetrovsk about coming to Odessa. She can't leave saying it's a paper problem. So I offered to come up and see her, if it would make her happy, she said, "I don't know." Uhh Kat...... I do now, that's the wrong answer. I said I'll talk to you later and hung up. I'm done with her. The chick has two personality's, the one in person is way better then the one on the phone which is brutal!

[Donhollio]

  My friend Anna, we'll refer to her as Anna 003 as in the year I met her. I was walking in the city centre and decided to call Anna 003 to see what she was up to. She tells me she was out visiting a friend whom I met the year before, and invited me over to her friends place. I taxi my way there and shortly after Nikolay and his wife pop on over, it feels like a party in the middle of the week. So they get to talking and I tune in to about 1% of it but it's cool, it really doesn't bother me, and Anna 003 let's me know the important stuff.
 Soon they wanted to know how my road trip to Dnepropetrovsk and Kharkov turned out for me. I do a 30 -70 percent Russian/English job of it. Telling them about Svetlana only. I never got to Oksana in Kharkov. Nikolay wasn't too pleased with Svetlana and leaving me in the city alone. He asks me for her telephone number, and I reluctantly give it to him. He has her on the phone for about five minutes. The girls were trying to hold back some laughter, and it sounded like he really went to bat for me. Afterwards I asked Anna 003 what the hell he told her. All I got from it was she will come to Odessa. I have seen her bikini photo's, and in the words of Beavis and Butthead,"I have seen the top of the mountains, and they were good."
 I never did get any SMS or email from Svetlana, and that was the end of her. I suppose Nikolay's phone call didn't inspire her to come down to Odessa.

 Now with another Odessite named Anna, lets call her 006 (for the year I met her) I sent a SMS in Russian, being bold and to the point, (like I know enough Russian to have any flow to a sentence), telling her I want to see her again before the weekend. She comes back with a,"Yes!" So far so good I'm thinking, so I tell her I will call. I call at 6 ish and it goes bad, the lack of her English is crippling, I couldn't even get a day across to her, as my Russian was on a slightly higher level, although useless most of the time. I kept saying tomorrow in Russian instead of Saturday. But she was patient with me, as I knew more Russian then she knew English.
 The bubble bursts and its back to reality. She and I can't speak in the most basic terms. I told her I'll SMS her to tell her where we'll meet on Thursday. She seems to be able to read English much better than speaking it. I did think of asking 003 to do it for me as she did with Svetlana before, but it got busy in the kitchen and I forgot until I said goodnight to her and had already left. I know I could of called her and had 003 do it in minutes, instead of an hour having me do it.

 In keeping the faint hope alive I also phoned Oksana, we spoke for a minute and she was working as usual. She asked if I would call back in thirty minutes, and when I did she never answered. I called again later on and she was clearly sending me her polite way of saying 'not interested'.  And with that the chapter on Kharkov and Oksana was finished. No shock to my system, if the girl was interested she wouldn't of wasted the day to meet with me, only to make it a rather short date by my standards by heading home early. Anyway.

 My time with Anna 003 seems to be very normal like two friends. I would go to her home, and we'd hangout. And after knowing her for three years I finally asked her when I would meet her mother. Being that it was summer, the mother was out of the city at the datcha, which is what we in the English speaking world refer to as a summer cottage.
 To my suprise Anna says that her mom was asking her the very same question. But she isn't sure if we would ever meet unless I was to go to her. Anna asks me if I wanted to spend a weekend at the datcha with her, and I was all for it! She abandoned me on the street in 2003, kept in contact over the years, and here I was about to be invited away with her for a weekend at a future date. For whatever reason her and I never lost contact, unlike the majority of the girls I had met in Ukraine.

  For the upcoming weekend in my diabolical mind I thought instead of trying to see Anna 006, I'll just arrange for her to come meet up with us Saturday at the beach. I'll get my translations done by Anna 003, and we'll all have fun. So It's time for the beach, I'm living in the sticks of Odessa, and Anna 003 calls and says to be at her place at 10:50, not 45 or 30, but 50. Ok I guess she runs a tight ship, turns out her friend Marsha is driving us along with one of her friends and her daughter.

 Guys, now if your an Angela Jolie fan, you would of "pulled" like George Micheal in the LA park public washroom years before. I was stunned! Wow! I never seen lips like those before, and with the Milan knockoffs for sunglasses she was wearing,(not that I have a clue if they were or not) I thought I was with a model. During the ride to the beach Anna asked me if I liked her. Not sure what to say, and knowing better then to say what the little head was telling me, I replied very calmly,"No." Keeping any emotional facial expression on hold. "Don, she has very strong character Anna replies."  I'm feeling a little rise in the Levis myself, but it's only been five minutes and I have yet to hit the beach!
 So of course being that I'm the man and he always pays, (Anna's words) I thought great I'll fork over 100 UAH to just look at her, then again, it wouldn't be that much to pay for that rack attack!

 We're now at the beach and I have 003 call 006, and arrange for her to be there at the Malibu beach gate. 006 is running late, so I play beach boy and get the chairs to the seaside for the girls and myself. 006 calls and says she's at the gate, no problem off I go to get her. I didn't have to pay for Jolie and her daughter that surprised me, 003 said I wouldn't have to, and I didn't want to push it.  I knew I would be buying for the four of us so that's enough.

  As I'm returning from the gate with 006, I take her over to the area we'll be sitting at. OMFG! Without a top! I look like a deer in the headlights! I'm thinking don't stare, but I do! It felt like five seconds, but I really hope it was less, although I knew it was more. I'd been to the beach before with 003 and never had she done this, so it did suprise me a bit. I get a few beers for me and the 00"s and settle in. So there I am surrounded by four women, and enough topless beauties close by to make me feel well... pretty damn good!!!
But now we have a problem, 003 is sitting three chairs away from 006. This could be tough, but we have until 3pm and it's only noon. 006 told me that she had to go by 3pm, and that would be perfect if things for me worked that way.......they never do, do they ?
 So after maybe an hour 003 comes over and starts talking to 006. They chat it up and I hear American and Canadian coming up a lot. Like I mentioned she did ask good questions that you'd expect from a serious girl. She also wanted to know how it is that I knew 003. "Don I told her we are friends nothing else." Reluctantly I say ok that's good, but could you put your top back on. It's a little distracting...no wait!  Jolie has turned over! Beavis was right!
 I really can't believe she's not pouting, and why doesn't she model. I just wanna reach out and touch those ...
 I almost feel bad with my sleazy thoughts, but I'm surrounded by busty & topless girls! I feel like an impoverished Hugh Hefner! It's been a while since I had such a bevy of beauties around me, and today was making up for it! Now I know why I always had guys telling me, how I was known as the guy with girls around him all the time. Was I feeling like them only ten years later? Yeah, I think so. 006 motions she wants to swim, and I think it's a good idea, the temp is about 30-32c and not a cloud in the sky. We hit the water and its very refreshing, it helped cooled my jet's and got me refocused on the girl I wanted to see.
 I thought "what a great day" We head back to the shore and 003 and her pick up where they left off. I keep the beers flowing for the two 00's Remembering 006 has to go at 3pm will work out fine, as I have a 5pm date again with Ira. But it's never easy it seems. Well 3pm rolls along and I mention to 006 that it's 3pm, I'm not trying to get rid of her it's been really nice with her so far, but I don't want her to miss whatever she needed to do.
Well I guess she had a plan B of her own, if the day sucked she would leave at 3pm. She just smiles waves her hand in a forget about it manner, and splashes some dirty sea water in my face. Hmm now what, I'm suppose to be at Zara Pizza at 5pm.
 I'll wait and enjoy the day, 5pm is two hours away, and I'll worry about the problem when the time nears. So Jolie is tanning her tanline free body, and the other four are out playing in the water. I offer her a beer, she says no, and I go to the bar to replenish the empties. It's at this time as I lay looking at the scenery saying to myself,'this is better then spending my time in Kharkiv.'
 Now crunch time is approaching. At 4:10pm I excuse myself and go to the open sewer, otherwise known as the public washrooms. The breeze is blowing just enough that I have to gasp for air as I walk by, and I make the call to Ira. I tell her let's make it for 6pm, she's not happy about it, and I tell her I didn't think 003 and her friends would still want to be here so long. I really didn't think they would, but she understands that I'm a long way from the centre, and it will take me a while to get back. Returning to the girls I go and lay down on my chair rolling onto my front and then I see what I can't believe, this yummy mummy is topless, and has her legs wide open! There is zero, nadda, zip to be left to my imagination. I can't f'n believe this place! It's worth the trip to the burbs!  I now have 003 topless in front of me, and to the right a smokinhotkova topless with her thong riding between the parts its suppose to cover, and I need to phone Ira again!
 "I'm leaving and I'll be there at 6:30pm'' I tell her. I guess than the girls had enough too, 006 was crashing on the chair, 003 was getting red, and Jolie was looking perfect. So we all pack up and I walked out with 006 to the street. I was going to take the tram back, but then she called 003, and they drove me instead. 003 offered to drop me off near my tram line, but I would never of made it back to my home, then all the way back to the Zaro's pizza by 6:30pm. So I said to just drop me off somewhere along Deribascova. 003 seemed like it was a little weird, but they did just that. Turns out the route home was crossing Deribascova street so Marsha stops her car in front of Zaro's Pizza! Yikes! What if Ira sees me? I take a quick look around to see if Ira is standing on the corner, I'm good.  006 is gone home from Malibu beach, and I get out with three minutes to spare.

  Now I'm not into all this running around, but things do happen. I call Ira and she comes fifteen minutes later. I want to eat and she wants to walk. Please no more walking! 003 said to me once "it's good for health." Yeah well I'd rather ride my bike. So up the Deribascova street we go, and she wants to go to the beach.
  Well at least the suns gone down, and we head to Arkadia stopping near the Ibiza club at the waters edge. It's a perfect night, the skyline of the outdoor clubs lights the beach just enough to make it feel like you could be there alone with the girl. Except we are too sleepy for it to be a late one.
We talk and laugh a lot about many things, she's really a sweet person, and I do find 006 to be too much work at times with the language barrier. Maybe it's just not for me, at this point I don't know. I'll continue to see what may happen, but I can't limit myself to chasing after someone who I have so much trouble communicating with.
So now it's Sunday, and I'm seeking the shade of the dim I-net club. Anna 003 and I were suppose to hit the beach again today, but I just don't have the will to sit and get roasted again. Besides Ira and I have made plans to go on Monday, it'll be a first for us during the day, The only times we have been there was at night.

[Donhollio]

  I was now down to my last two weeks on my 4th trip. The time had been flying by, and I can't believe I had been in Odessa for all but a few days. It's a strange thing for me when I'm striking out with finding a girl I will continue to waste days, even weeks on end knowing that I should be making better use of my time. But it all seems like it's the right thing to do at that time. This 4th trip started off much the same as the previous three did, all visit one and did the 'wait and see' what happens.
 I know I get very lazy when it comes to making contacts, and yet it takes so little effort to yield good results when you're in the country, and you let the girls you're writing that you are indeed nearby and willing to meet. It's also far less annoying, you send off a quick rundown on yourself and she'll either give you her mobile number in the first letter, or you failed to get her interest.

 Life in Odessa is very easy for me, I have girls I can call up, places to go, and English men to have a beer with. All that also plays into my laziness, and not wanting to get into any hassles while taking a bus or train to another part of the country. Yet I always knew I needed to make my way to a different city, but it took a considerable desire to get the wheels in motion.
 However I had been seeing Ira a fair bit until she went to visit her family in a nearby town. So not wanting to sit around for the weekend, I went out with Sveta on a Sunday night. She was up for anything, not what I really wanted of course but still wanting to meet up. Ah well, keep the dreaming alive I suppose.
  I made the suggestion to go see the dolphin show down at Shevchenko park. I had seen the promotional posters all over the city back in 2005. I even once asked crazy Kristina if she would be into going but it never materialised.
Plans with sexy Sveta were made and since its easy for her to move around the city I told her to come by the dacha, and we'd go by taxi. I wasn't sure of any of the show times, but I did have the telephone number from the poster. I gave her the number and she made the call, two shows on Sunday, great I'll finally see the show I had first heard of months ago.
The prices vary weekdays 20 UAH, weeknights 30 UAH, and Sunday night last show 60 UAH. Walking up to the kiosk Sveta turns and tells me that there is only one more show tonight and it'll be 60 UAH.
 Shes not sure if we should go in, but I wanted to see it, and I knew she really wanted to see the dolphins. And really it cost me about 10-12 dollars CAD each. Not sure what a 1.5 hr show would cost elsewhere, but I'm betting it would be far more than what this show was. I tell her not to worry about the price, and we enter the outdoor arena. The place is packed, I'd guess the seating at 1000.

 Anyways the shows really good, even at 60 UAH I'd say it's a excellent deal. About 1.5 hours long, with different human acts at first, then out come the seals that are really entertaining. The action continues with four dolphins and two trainers doing stunts along with pyro and of course lots of loud music! I swear if the volume in this country were to drop below 85db, I think the people would wonder whats that ringing in their ears. Seems everything in this country is cranked up to 10. Small pubs, restaurants, cafes, beach bars, it's everywhere. Public transit is loud and everything screeches to a halt with plenty of clicks and clangs, rattle and hum of this and that, it just leaves my head spinning! It's almost impossible try to find somewhere quiet to go have a drink and converse with a girl. Almost but not impossible.
 
 Sveta really enjoyed the show, and as part of the night they offer you to get a photo taken with the dolphins. 25 UAH if you supply your own camera. Sveta is never fully comfortable having me dole out money, yet I assured her this was a special night that we'd likely never get to see a dolphin show in the future. Well I guess she could just come back the next day, but it would be a flight to another city for me. So we got in line and I paid the 25 UAH to have a photo taken with my camera. It was nice to kneel beside the dolphins as they beached themselves on the edge of the pool, and once you place your hand on them the person snaps a photo.

 I would just like to say that this dolphin show took place in 2005, it was before I gave any thought to the idea of captive dolphins and other cetaceans. I am a lover of living creatures, even insects which I have always found fascinating. I think it was 2008 while holidaying in Cuba that I came in contact with some other tourists who mentioned something about the Dolphinarium  (the circus-like place where they perform)
 She commented on the horrible conditions the dolphins were being kept in. Nowhere to swim and dirty water. It was only than it occurred to me that keeping them captive was wrong, they didn't get to swim all around the tank unless its for training and performing. For the rest of the day I was embarrassed by my naivety. I reflected back on my time with Sveta at the show, and realized that they were living in nothing more than a bath tub. In the wild they'd cover a hundred kilometres in a day while hunting for food. Now they swim in circles doing unnatural tricks for dead fish. They're only eating the dead fish because they're hungry, if they had enough food before the show they wouldn't need to do the tricks for a fish or two.
 It wasn't long after I saw the Academy Award nominee for best documentary, The Cove. I was totally stunned, and knowing that the dolphins I saw came from Japan in such a sickening manner outraged me. I no longer buy from Japanese manufactures, it my personal boycott. 
 I'll just get off my soap box by saying that I was going to omit SS and I heading to this show, but thought maybe giving the above sidebar may give readers something to think about.

 Anyway we're finally out by 11:30pm and I thought because she had to work, she'd want to go home. But I guess she was finally having a good night out, and didn't quite want it to end just yet. We walked out of the park past a Canadian guy with his date. Sveta heard the man speaking English and wondered if he was American or Canadian. I told her Canadian, as often its easy for me to notice the difference.
 While the couple strolled arm in arm, and I walked beside SS, I couldn't help but wish things were different between us. Nevertheless I was happy to have Sveta as a friend, and I was going to leave things at that. My only option was to do that or say goodbye and never communicate with her again. It's not my style to say goodbye.
 Out of the park we continued walking and talking about all kinds of things. Sveta has a good personality that just keeps the night flowing with ease. Seemed like an hour had passed since we left the Dolphinarium, and I found it nice that she wasn't worried about getting home to start the work week.

 I let her know I will be gone soon, and she seemed a little sad about all, either that or she was thinking about having to go out later in the week to dig potatoes at her grandparents. This chore will consume the rest of her summer holidays. What a great summer vacation, first off near Chechnya by bus, and then working a shovel for her family. All the while she says shes a city girl, not a farm girl. But it's family, and she knows she must do these things.
 In my mind I reflected back to how it may have been quite normal for everyone to do these tasks. In our early phone calls Anna would tell me she had to help with preserving all the veggies and fruits, and how it seemed all quite normal. Yet in Canada for my generation its a novelty.
  If anything my time with her has I think opened her eyes a little to her future, and how it may not improve much in the years to come. She has been complaining about it, and even Guy told me he's noticed a difference in her this summer. He thinks I have something to do with it, but I'll reserve judgement for now.

  Little Ira is still holding on, she continues to excite me, and I'm just trying to keep my options open and not jump to any conclusions just yet. Guy felt that taking Ira on a short cruise to the Crimea would really play in my favour. It sounded like a nice idea, a overnight cruise, do some siteseeing for the day, then re board and diesel it back to Odessa.
 When I tossed the idea to Ira she seemed somewhat interested in it, I did mention in a wide eyed grin that we'd have one bed. She paused to do the translation, and came back and said two beds. ''No one bed, I can sleep on the floor.'' She didn't buy it. 
Not knowing what the near future held with Ira, and always wanting to see if I can find another girl that will rock my world more then the last, its a nasty trap to fall into, because in the end, you'll be alone in life forever chasing to find something that you've had a dozen time before.
 I looked into another agency here in Odessa, as it's my last kick at the cat in this town. And with less then two weeks left, I was willing to give it my best attempt. A friend gave me a number to contact, I wasn't too sure about the agency, the manager tells me that I can give her $100 USD and have all the contact info from as many girls as I want, or pay $20 a piece for one girls info. Hmm... I guess this would be one of the many reasons if your going to run a agency, you better be in that city or the kids will play. With a location set for the drop off I wait for the managers arrival. On time a car pulls up and the deal is done. $100 USD and a handful of pages with girls information. Some had email, most had phone numbers.
So I send off an email to my first choice, and she replies giving me her mobile number and asking me to call.  No drawn out letter writting campaign!
 Also during the week I went to the beach again with Anna and Marsha. No Victoria or Anna 006, and unfortunately no return to Malibu beach. Just some concrete beach that was a short drive from the city centre.
 I had yet to meet Anna's mom, and the coming weekend she has invited me out to her moms dacha . I wondered how it could work if Ira was suppose to be back in Odessa by the weekend, and yet I was wanting to meet her mom and aunt. I also had a couple of possible dates with that agency list I bought.  But we'll see anything can happen...

[ML]

Why didn't you say that SHE could sleep on the floor ?

Equal opportunity.

[Noch1]

Don, you gotta pick up the pace at this rate it will take as long to post this
as you did to do it

[bobcat]

He'll do it, it is copy/paste from another site. Don, keep it up bro--it's Tony here. Not long till I am in the TR

[BillyB]

Not long till I am in the TR

Hey Tony, you bringing drama? If so, speed it up Don!

[Donhollio]

Sorry for the delay people, I'm upgrading some stuff on my pc and as soon as the thing is ready to go I'll get a couple chapters out. Don't want to drag it out but things get time consuming  in doing trip reports.

[bobcat]

Hey Tony, you bringing drama? If so, speed it up Don!

No drama Billy, you have to wait and read 

[mendeleyev]

....waiting....for more. 

[Noch1]

Much longer, going to have to start at the beginning.
At this rate Don, I will be 80 reading the final chapter