Adventure Stage 1 - Odessa

As I write to you today, I’m sitting in an internet cafe in Odessa, Ukraine.  I’m trying to get on a boat that leaves at 6 p.m. to Istanbul.  Currently....it’s full, but I’m trying to beg my way on.  If I can’t get to Istanbul, I’ll just change the route of my trip.  Here’s some summary of the first few days of the trip so far:

The adventure began as I got on the train.  I opened the compartment when I got on the train and interrupted to people that were snuggled together, looking very cozy.  The man asked me if I’d change seats w/ him....his seat was in the next compartment.  No problem....I joined an older Ukrainian lady who is living in Germany.  She’s on her way to Southeast Ukraine to visit one of her friends....someone she has been friends with since she was a child.

The guy in the next compartment (the one that I switched with), figured out I was a foreigner (I speak Russian w/ an accent!!) and invited me to chat w/ them for a while.  We chatted for about an hour – about life here, about the differences in Ukraine now compared to communist times, and about his business (he manufactures oil from sunflower seeds).  My head was about to explode after an hour of Russian, so I left them to have a rest.  But...not before he invited me to visit his business....which just happened to be in the town (Alexandria) where I was going to visit my friend Roma the next day.

Roma and I had fun in Alexandria that next day.  We created a bit of chaos in the town ..... (especially in the train station) when we were pretending to speak to each other in Chinese.  Let me tell you.....people were STARING at us.......

We called the sunflower producer (Nikolai Nikolaiovich) and he agreed to pick us up in one hour to show us around his factory. 

He arrived on time in his modest Russian Lada car.  He took us to the factory....a few kilometers outside of town....and that’s where we learned how good of a businessman he is.  He employees 20 people and produces 2000 tons of sunflower oil every year – distributing it all over Ukraine to local markets.  We met the employees (several were drunk – Nikolai said it is a problem in the region since life is so tough – unemployment there is 50%).  Roma and I were surprised to learn that Nikolai pays his employees $100/month plus some benefits....(average salary in the region now is $50/month).  Many people come to him because they hear about how good it is to work for his company. 

After a tour of his factory, he took us to his ‘dacha’ (small summer home) just 2 minutes away.  We spent an hour and a half eating like pigs – fresh blackberries, raspberries, cherries, and 2 varieties of apples.  It was by far....the sweetest, best tasting fruit I’ve ever had. 

Here we heard more of Nikolai’s story – how he was the first to own land in the region when communism fell.....how he spent 1 ½ years getting all the paperwork and red tape sorted.   A phone call came and he left Roma and I picking apples (that we could take w/ us) while he darted back to the factory.  Roma and I continued eating, tossed a few apples at each other, and had a large bag by the time Nikolai returned.  The time at the dacha was one of the coolest....most peaceful times in my life...it was like a storybook setting.  As the sun set, Nikolai took us back to town and dropped us off.  He promised to visit me in Kyiv sometime.

Truth be told, I’m often critical of Ukrainian men.  They often don’t engage w/ people, are sometimes lazy, and just seem to enjoy crawling into a Vodka bottle while life passes them by.  Nikolai is not like this.  He gives me hope for Ukraine.  I’m glad I met Nikolai Nikolaivich.

Stay tuned for the next letter.....it starts w/ 2 drunk policemen and a Babuska (grandmother) on the train ride from Alexandria to Odessa).