Trip Report, Dnepropetrovsk, Oct. 15-22

[Michelangelo]

I'm laughing, cuz we had many of the same experiences!  My washing machine also ran for 8 hours.  I ate at Spartas in front of that same fishtank.  And I boght an iron at the same store.  And maybe from the same girl!  

But she sold me on the expensive one, and SHE gave ME her number   just kidding

[MandM]

yes, that same sweet cheese I can't stand!

You'd better start liking that sweet cottage cheese if you are going to get yourself an Ukrainian wife!

[dorogoyroberto]

You'd better start liking that sweet cottage cheese if you are going to get yourself an Ukrainian wife!

Read this to Lilya and she is still laughing! She loves this cottage cheese. (I do not.)

Roberto
Kiev, Ukraine
 

[jb]

groov,

If you ever decide to bring a "sweet cheese" girl over to the USA, I can provide you with a bit of the culture that she can put in milk to make her own "sweet cottage cheese".

My wife makes the stuff every week and we have an abundance of the culture stored in the freezer.  The stuff grows every time you use it.  As near as I can figure, it is some kind of mushroom-like fungus.

[Leslie]

Heh Groov,

Great trip report!

When are you going to post the final installment???

Impatient minds want to know

 

[Goombah]

jb -

Is your offer of sweet cheese culture starter open to other list members as well?  I've checked with my fiancee's mother and she does enjoy the product.

Please let me know.

Kevin

[jb]

Goombah,

Sure, just remember, it has to be shipped in a small container of milk, so to get it really fresh I'll need to ship it to you overnight express.

PM me with your mailing address and we'll see what we can sort out.

[groovlstk]

groov,

If you ever decide to bring a "sweet cheese" girl over to the USA, I can provide you with a bit of the culture that she can put in milk to make her own "sweet cottage cheese".

My wife makes the stuff every week and we have an abundance of the culture stored in the freezer.  The stuff grows every time you use it.  As near as I can figure, it is some kind of mushroom-like fungus.

Thanks jb, I'm flattered by your offer. As much as sweet cheese turns my stomach, I'm hoping to have a sweet cheese girl in my future

[jb]

groov,

If you do bring over such a girl, there will be more than "sweet cheese" you will have to deal with.  Marriage to such a woman is a combination of culinary concessions you will have to make.  The least of which will be her taste in cottage cheese.  Her perferences in foods will drive you batty until you learn how to smoke fish, make cheese, do shaslick to her way of liking, even to making home made Russian rye bread in the worst case.  

Marriage to a Russian is a lifestyle you have to like, even desire.

Half measures won't cut it.

[Photo Guy]

Maybe he can convert her to other sweet cheeses, like 'Entenmanns':brightidea:

(April 05)It was the end of a long day of sightseeing. We paused at the end of Independence Square. To my horror, she looked over at at the nearby McDonald's. Before going back to our hotel, she raced over to the fast food. I didn't follow. She returned with McNuggets. At that moment I KNEW she wanted to become an American.

back to Groov's cheese-filled report...

[tim 360]

Haven't tuned into the board for a couple months and Groov---just a great trip report.  Well worth tuning in to read.  A good read for everyone,  thanks for taking the time to write it.  Nice style to your words,  keep it up.  Cheers, Tim

[groovlstk]

Day VII
[/b]
[/font]I woke up and showered while Julia dozed. When I emerged she was half awake, and I asked her if she wanted some breakfast. She found her dictionary and pointed to "smoked fish" and "beer."

"Piva?" I said, doubtfully.

"Da, piva."

I walked to the market while thinking of a line from a Kris Kristofferson song, the name of which escapes me: "the beer I had for breakfast wasn't bad, so I had one for dessert." It was a beautiful day, a bit chilly but bright and sunny. I wasn't sure what kind of beer she liked but I avoided the type in plastic bottles reminiscent of Mad Dog or Colt 45. On my first trip, I was surprised to see people slugging down bottles of beer the same size as our 64-oz. soda bottles. I found some smoked fish, or at least I hoped they were smoked. I mean Hell, all the fish in the market were dead and I had no way of telling which were smoked and which were stoked, so I took a wild guess. I also picked up some coffee, sour cream, vareniki, and bread.

When I got back to my flat, J was up and dressed and had cleaned the place thoroughly after our previous night of Roman debauchery.

J had also asked me to put 50 grivna on her mobile, so I stopped at a place nearby and they charged it up. I was pleased when, after I handed her phone back, she steadfastly refused my offer to pick up the tab and stuffed a 50 grivna note into my shirt pocket.

She made breakfast but I wasn't very hungry so I picked at some vareniki. I marveled as she laid waste to the smoked fish and sipped her beer. I wanted to go out walking but she wanted us to remain in my flat. So we watched some DVDs I'd bought along (Rushmore[/i] and The Abyss[/i], two of my faves). With the subtitles turned on, J said she could understand everything that was transpiring.

In the early evening, after school let out, we met Ira at Reporter. J again had cake while Ira drank tea. J explained to me that one of her greatest yearnings in life is to have children. She claimed that she spends every weekend with the girl she was babysitting on our first night together. She also explained that the poor girl had pitched a fit the previous Friday when J and I had our first date, since J had to leave her. I really admire this quality in so many FSU women, the desire to have a family. It's such a natural, simple desire yet in NYC the only people who seem to feel this way are new immigrants. Most women I know plan for children in a cold and analytic manner more befitting the management of an investment portfolio then the creation of a family.
 
Through Ira, I discovered that J believed I'd come to Dnepr to visit her and no others. I was dumbfounded... we had exchanged only two letters prior to my arrival. But I was the first guy to ever write to her, so she's not accustomed to the usual BS. however. I also came to understand that she believed the girl in the photo (Eugenia) was one of the Cindy office workers who'd helped me a lot during my stay. After making the mistake of being brutally honest during past trips, I kept mum and didn't bother to set her straight on the facts of the matter.

J was unable to spend the night with me again as her mom had given her a hard time about our previous night, so I walked her to her marshrutka stop and we kissed deeply as we parted. We agreed to meet at 9 the next morning, and she would accompany me to the airport.

I settled up with Ira and gave her a hug and kiss, and she wished me well. She thought I'd done good work, telling me that it was obvious to her that J adored me. I thanked her for all her help over the week told her I hoped to see her again, soon. If any of you guys are headed to Dnepr, I highly recommend Ira as an interpreter.

I was back at my flat 10 minutes later, in shock at how quickly the previous week had passed. I didn't want to go home, but reality beckoned.

[anono]

great T/R mark. we need to talk again now that we are stateside. i'll send you my number by PM if you do not already have it.

doug wrote

Putting all of your eggs in one basket, eh? Sometimes that works.
...Are you feeling lucky?

 

doug, i am not saying it does not work, but i hope you are not convinced it works because you think your situation is working or is going to work. filing a k-1 with a woman you have 'known' a week and not kissed cannot be decribed as something that "works". it has not yet begun. you must indeed be feeling lucky.

[Photo Guy]

Robert,
I wasn't referring to you. At all. And that includes your wisdom or your stupidity. I sincerely wish you the best, in your Visit Many strategy.  ...and yes, 'luck' is an actual part of the puzzle.

[anono]

doug, i didn't think you were referring to me.

[Photo Guy]

Anono,
If you read your remarks, above, you'll see that you are responding to something I wrote, in a way that creates the impression I was addressing you. Doesn't make much sense to me, but hey, whatever... And where do you get off pretending you know something about me and my personal life? I can only guess that you're having a bad day or something. Anyway, get some rest and relaxation. Meditate on the events of the past month. I hope you come to some wise conclusions about your own love life, rather than finding fault with mine.

[jb]

PhotoGuy,

I know nothing about you other than what you've posted here.

Based on that, it is my opinion that you are totally devoid of any real experience with FSU women outside a one-week-wonder experience in Kiev, where you didn't even get kissed....  By a girl who doesn't even live in Kiev~!  Talk about the blind leading the blind...

Please don't try to assume a position of greater knowledge based on your own re-write of your trip report.  It won't wash.  You still don't know squat.  You may know squat by the time you've finished your third or fourth trip, but right now  you are just out of your league.  You remind me of Bruno, depending on Google to make him look good, I hope that's not what you want for the future.

[Bruno]

deleted by myself...
 

[MandM]

Hey guys,

Why don't you take your arguments elsewhere so you don't ruin a great TR?

[Leslie]

Smoked Fish and beer is a Ukrainian (and Russian) hangover cure!

Well you have a girlfriend now. 

What happened on the last day?

How is the relationship going now??

Hurry up my pop corn's going stale !

PS M & M is correct. It is bad manners to argue on a trip report. 

Post a thread in no holds barred and hammer away.

 

[groovlstk]

Smoked Fish and beer is a Ukrainian (and Russian) hangover cure!

[/size][/font][/quote]
Thanks for the insight, Leslie. I was very curious about that strange breakfast menu!

[KenC]

Smoked Fish and beer is a Ukrainian (and Russian) hangover cure!

[/size][/font][/quote]
Thanks for the insight, Leslie. I was very curious about that strange breakfast menu!
[/quote]
Lena has always said that salty fish and beer is by far the best Russian snack combo going.  It replaces our wings & beer, chips & beer, pretzels & beer (you get the idea)

KenC

[MandM]

Smoked Fish and beer is a Ukrainian (and Russian) hangover cure!

 

Reminds me of my time in University when we would crash at somebody's place after a party; the next morning when everyone was dying from a hangover, the bravest would go to 'Pivnaya' and get something like 5 litres of beer. It would be brought back in a clear plastic bag, tied up at the top. I can't believe that my friends back home are still curing their hangover with pivo and salt fish, whereas I am so westernized I couldn't do it again. Tablet of Alka Seltzer does it nicely for me.

[ConnerVT]

Lena has always said that salty fish and beer is by far the best Russian snack combo going.  It replaces our wings & beer, chips & beer, pretzels & beer (you get the idea)

Twenty large shrimp (cooked and peeled) and several beers is our favorite snack after putting our son to bed on those long, exhausting days.

Although I remember my wife, MIL and SIL tearing apart the few large, dry fish we bought during the train ride back from Sochi ("Riba! Riba! Riba!").

[KenC]

Conner,

I have been grossed out on many occassions while making my morning coffee when I see shrimp tails in our garbage disposal from someone's late night snack.

KenC