Back to Dnepr

[groovlstk]

Any of you bums going to be in Dnepropetrovsk from Oct. 15-22?

If so, first round's on me.

[anono]

i guess i'm a bum because i'm answering ;-)... 

groove, i am in kiev and so is jim naseum. we might be making a road trip together and may swing through dneper. if we do, we'll look you up ...sending my telephone number to your email addy

or give me a call if you come to kiev. about the only thing kiev is good for is to bring your girl here for a few days.

i'd stay away from that "n", unless you want to see for yourself what a beach she is...

[groovlstk]

After 8 straight @!&* days of rain in NYC, I arrived in Dnepr to... yet more rain!

Had a great first date my first night here, unfortunately I wasn't able to hook up with her again on Sunday but will try to see her again today. Went out with another girl last night--she sings in the city's opera company (don't believe what they say--it's not necessary to be fat to be a soprano!).

I'll write a full trip report later, but I have to tell someone: last night I got into a bar brawl! There's a very nice, very small, quiet cafe near my flat called Iceberg. After my date, I went there for a beer and about 10 minutes later a group of young thugs came barging in, chased by another group. There was a struggle at the door as the first group tried to hold the door shut, but then a huge rock came crashing through the window and all hell broke loose. I was in a corner and I picked up my chair and made sure my back was to the wall. Drinks went flying as all the other patrons fled to a back room, but I was on the opposite side of the room so I was trapped. The staff hid behind the bar and phoned the police. Whenever someone came within arm's lengthy I'd send him flying back into the fray with the help of my chair. One guy I probably saved his life, someone decked him and he fell heavily and his head landed on top of my foot, which is a lot softer than the concrete floor. The police arrived and within 10 minutes everyone was cuffed. It looked sort of funny, because the police seated all the thugs on barstools while they sorted things out, as if they were going to serve them drinks, I wish I had my camera!

Anyway, it's 11:30 AM now, I'm just waiting for the agency to open at noon so I can schedule my day.

[anono]

hi mark, thanks for the sms messages last night, glad you were not injured. this is the first real act of violence i have heard of while here in ukraine.

you might want to read my latest post about agency women and sushi bars. my advice (if you are not already keen to the women) is to take them out for coffee, tea or juice for a first meeting. i have been running into a lot of ladies who want to go to a sushi bar on the first meeting. i decline and tell them it would be a nice place to go on a second or third date.

next thing you know, the first meeting is short and they suggest meeting for a second date. i am sure they are thinking you'll go to the sushi bar for the second meeting.

they women are sharks and they look at us as if we are fresh meat. no wonder they want to go to a sushi bar...  raw fish!

ps, yes, it has been raining on and off for six days.

[groovlstk]

thanks Robert, that's good advice. My first date on Sun. night was OK w/going to a local cafe (same place where the brawl was!) so we didn't have any food and it was a very inexpensive night. And it's not just the girls who are sharks looking for dumb Americans--seems to me as if everyone from the interpreters to the girls translating letters to the restaurant waiters have the same attitude.

[anono]

you got that right mark..  i have been told beware of any ukrainian who wants to be your "friend"; they are only interested in your money.

fortunately, i have developed real friendships with those who were at first just there for the money, like drivers and interpreters. of course, i still pay for my services, but it is more of a friendship relationship than it is employer/employee.

i never take a girl on a first meeting anywhere but a cafe. if they start ordering a big meal i stop them and ask them what they are doing. i explain to them they are not my girlfriend yet and i am not going to buy them a big meal until they are.

weeds them out pretty fast.

[groovlstk]

I thought I didn't get hit during the brawl last night, but today I noticed some bruises on my shoulders and chest, so I guess the cretins managed to to get in a few shots. Good thing for them I didn't realize it until this morning, otherwise I'd have used some harsh language last night, maybe even profanity, and they'd be in a world of hurt feelings, now.

I had two dates today, one a 2nd meeting with the girl I met on my first day. Both went well, tomorrow I'll have date #3 with her (lunch) and she wants to make dinner for me in the evening. I like her a lot, she's very independent and refuses to dine at restaurants with me (so far we've had just drinks at cafes). But like Anono, I take everything with a grain of salt and there's no way I can know for sure (yet) if it's not simply pure calculation. But I can tell she digs me, whenever I turn to talk to the terp, I can see her eyes dart towards me. (Well, either she digs me or thinks I'm so butt-ugly that she's embarrassed to look me in the eye, but we'll see...

I had some time to kill before my 1st date, so I went to a pizzeria near the agency. A guy in line with me heard me speak English, so we struck up a conversation. He went to univ. in Washington and his company does business with some US companies, so he visits NYC several times each year. He invited me to dine with he and his wife, but I declined since I was on my way to the internet cafe to write my family/friends. About 10 steps away from the pizzeria, I realized how foolish I was and ran back and found the table they were dining at. They graciously offered me a chair. I told him why I was there and he offered to introduce me to some of his wife's single friends. So now I've got some prospects I hadn't anticipated, not to mention new friends.

I've also got a great terp, Ira from Cindy Agency. She's just a kid, but she's very honest with me and plays devil's advocate with me when we talk about my dates. She's also very professional--when we're at a cafe and my date and I order drinks, she always asks my permission to order juice or tea (unlike the other terps I've been with who seem to think they've got carte blanche to order filet mignon.) When her mom calls to check up on her because I have her out at midnight on a school night, she always apologizes and asks my permission to speak w/mom

 

[Michelangelo]

I spent a week in Dnep the week before Groov arrived.  I also had lots of dates, but mine were all full and would just order water or a drink....I guess the last guy had filled them up with food    I had a great time and I think I struck gold with one girl...but will post all of this news later.  After my week in Dnep, I jumped to Europe to work for two weeks, and then I go back to Dnep the first week in November.

I tried to find the Icehouse where Groov had his fight...guess it was just as well i never made it there

Dneps a great city for girl watching....amazing what you see walking down the street!

Thanks here to Bruno for helping me find great airfares between Ukraine and different places in Europe I have been working...saved me thousands of bucks!

Good luck to you, groov....hope you strike gold too!

[anono]

Dneps a great city for girl watching....amazing what you see walking down the street!

same is true in just about any city, even the small villages, in ukraine.

good luck mark

[groovlstk]

I had a good trip and I met someone there I like enough to return in December.

But if I had to do it over again or if things don't work out with this girl, I'd do less agency work and simply get a terp and hang out in the trendier cafes at night. On Fri. night, I went to Reporter (the thrifty cafe on the 1st floor, not the expensive restaurant above) and I was in awe as beautiful girl after even more beautiful girl after even try-to-top-this-sonny type of girl walked in to have coffee or wine. Almost all the girls were alone or with other girls, rarely with men. Unfortunately at the time I wasn't alone and it was my last night there, but man the opportunities were unlimited.

[Michelangelo]

I got back from my trip about noon today...and now I'm very sleepy after all those late nights and the long flight home!

I'll post my trip report later...but for now...one thing that caught my attention was:

Many beautiful ladies walking arm in arm.  I've never seen such! But then I figured it out!

They walked arm in arm so they could safely walk on the cobblestone of Lennin Square!

Four feet are better than two