March 2006 - Zhitomir - Kiev

[docetae]

First part : Before

Finally after 3 months, I decided to write my trip report . I'm divorced and 32, with children. Last november, after a joke from a coworker, I subscribed to CC and started to write to around 10 or 12 girls. After one month, there was just 3 of them. I get at this time already some issues with CC like same letter sent several time from differents women ...

At the same time, I tried to start a branch for my company in Ukraine and as people working for me were located in Zhitomir, I choosed this city as destination.

Correspondance with one of the woman was really different than other and I was not feeling that letters were fake. At the end of december, I ask her if she was ok to wait for next march to meet me. She answered yes and asked me if
she can meet me at the airport.

I ask CC about the price to go from Borispol to Zhitomir ... 240$USD ... I checked on the net, asked contractor working for me, and realized that this was at least 2 or 4 times more than the normal... Same for hotel room, price were
totally oversized ...

Finally I decided to meet Anna at the aiport as she really wanted to meet me there, but to get my own appartement in Zhitomir. CC told me initially this was possible and after I have paid the 50$ taxes for the meeting, they told me I have
to buy the complete package for a meeting at the airport !

To tell that I was upset is just an euphemism. Finally, my contact in Zhitomir get a three room appartment for me for the third of the price of the hotel ... I manage to get a mercedes and a driver from Borispol to Zhitomir at a good price and pay only the translator at CC.

I was planning to be the saturday evening in Zhitomir and my meeting with Anna was only possible the monday. I will learn why after.

My trip was divided in two parts, business and leisure.  I planned to spend 4 days in Zhitomir and 4 days in Kiev. I discussed about it with Anna and she decided to take this week off.

As I was planning initially to travel there with a friend who has married a russian woman, I have rented a large two bedrooms appartement in Kiev, same in Zhitomir. Three weeks before leaving, he told me that he can not do the travel as work was keeping him in Canada and I leave alone for Ukraine ....

[docetae]

Part 2 : Zhitomir

As the plane was leaving from Amsterdam to Kiev, I have my first contact with
Ukrainian : no discipline, speaking loud, not polite at all and was just feeling
sorry for the personal on board ...There was a kind of big fat man on the seat
near me, an another one, made on the same model asked me with a strong accent If
I can exchange my seat with him. As my seat neighbour had not yet discovered
soap, I say da with a large smile. This could not be worst I thought ...

And I was right. Instead of fat Yuri, I just discover I will spent my flight
seated near a tall good looking blond in her last 40 . Heating in the plane was
not working and as she ask me if I find this was cold (we were in March),
that was a good way to start the conversation.
She was working in Africa since several years and that
was her first come back to Ukraine in Winter and she was terrorized by this. She
was staying near Odessa and spent most of the time asking me if I was sure to
want to go to Ukraine as everybody are corrupted and there is nothing to do in
this country.


A the plane was taking off, I just answered I have no real choice to go back
now. Time in flight was ok but she was a little too old for me to exchange
adresses.

It was raining in Kiev, a kind of mix between snow and rain. The first contrast
for someone who had never traveled to the east before was there, at the aiport.
Everything grey, people not smiling....
It took one hour and half to go trought the custom and finally I was able to go
out ... after crawling trough 100 people asking taxi, taxi, I saw my driver
handling a sign with my name. Direction Zhitomir. Second contrast : Roads in
Ukraine. They are awful ! large holes everywhere and old lada at least 20 years
old driving at more than 130 km/h. Playing russian roulette seemed to me more
safe ...

After a little more than 2 hours of road, I arrived in Zhitomir, I met my
contact there and we went to the appartment.

Imagine you arrive just after the sunset, this is not totally dark, there are
around 500 ravens flying in circle around the grey building where i will stay,
it's cold, and I feel really really far from home.I started to ask my
self what I was doing there...

We went to the building, of course my flat was at the top floor without elevator
and I discovered Ukrainian keys.... 4 turns for each one. 3 keys. I asked dmitry
(one of the contractor working for me) if this is something common and he told me yes ...

One time the door is open, the surprise is very good, one large appartement,
extremly clean, with a kitchen totally equipped and a heating floor. A large
bathroom, a home theater. I let my luggages in the appartement and go
back with Dmitry to the supermarket to do a grocery for 4 days.

I went back in the appartement and felt asleep , totally tired after 3 days of travel
 (I stopped before in Europe and had spent around 30hours in airport and planes in three days)

[docetae]

part 3 : Meeting

After sleeping something like 12 hours, I get a call from Dmitry, that was the birthday of one of the other guy working for me and he invited me.
We were 6 and there was food for 20 at least... I tried to make honor to my host and tried for the first time Ukrainian food.

A lot of potatoes and fried pasta... That was difficult for them to understand my english mixed with my french accent and finally we talked together in German.
I don't know if this is right everywhere but I discovered that german is known by a lot of people there.

Monday was split in two ... work in the morning and meeting with Anna at 2pm ... I remembered everything I knew about CC and was ready to leave if something was bad.
I enter the Ukraina hotel and there was around 5 people waiting in front of the elevator.

I just heard a voice behind me asking my first name with a nice accent ... I just look and ... there was Anna and another nice looking blond.
She was more beautiful than on photos ...Anna was keeping a large smile and the blond girl introduced herself as Anna's cousin and our translator. So I will not have to go to the CC office.

I asked Anna if that was ok, she answered with a large smile she really wants to know me more ... she was at least as much nervous as I was ...We decided to go to lunch together.
She started to receive SMS from the agency telling her that we must go back to the agency office ... Her cousin was a former employee of CC. I learned that girls were not writing first letter and only after a few letter were exchanged, they called the woman to answer herself the letter. 
One time this done, romance was added to be sure that the correspondance continues ...

Translation software were used and letters were not sent to women accurately too.

So at this end, after 4 months of correspondance, we discover that we knew almost nothing about each one ...
Most of the top 100 were social daters too..

The day after she was going back to the village where she was living as I get work, and the day after we decided to spend the day together. With the help of her cousin , we were able to communicate a little but that was not really easy. We decided to go to a club for the night, she invited her sister.
I arrive before them at the club and as they enter, I discovered that her sister was one the women I was corresponding with too !

In fact , she just received one letter from me and all other letter were sent and written by the agency. So CC slogan : all girls are real is totally true ... but this does not go more far than this...A good thing, I had written to her two months before that I was interested only in a woman called Anna and perhaps she will knew her as she was using the same agency office ... I imagine the laugh about myself in CC office ....

We exchanged our first kiss with Anna during this night ...

The day after we decided to go all together (Anna, her son, her sister, me, her cousin and the brother of her cousin) to Kiev. So 6 people in a small Lada ...

Stay in Kiev as very good despite bad weather and I realized that if I was interested by Anna and the reciprocal is true, we needed in all cases more time to know each one better.

We decided together to spend one week of vacation together ...Since march she is learning english and we hope communication will be better,  this will happen soon now and I really hope that the story will continue ...

[tim 360]

Thanks for your trip report Doc. You did the right thing by not using CC for much and dealing directly with the lady. Good luck, Tim360

[Michelangelo]

Right on Tim....CC will take a guy to the cleaners. 
Buyer beware!
Doc and I discovered that we had both written one girl in particular, and both of us found  she did not know us..rotten agency. 
Really lousy they take guys money.  Even worse that they play with your heart. 
CC taught me that it is not wise to pay for and write a bunch of letters. 
It's best to get in there and meet the girl and get her contact info and then KICK the agency out of your communication!