Here comes the sun!

Why do you always end up on the streets, Erika?

So, I made my way back to my old home in Odessa.  My friend, Dasha, helped me move and introduced me to her friend who works at this hostel.  It's funny, because she and I moved OUT of this hostel together, and now she is helping me move back IN nearly 3 years later.  I was greeted at the hostel door by the old owner, who looked at me, did a double take, and simply said, "You!  Are you sure you don't want to stay somewhere else?"  I groveled, said I wanted to be there and no where else. He welcomed me back to the family like the Prodigal Son.

My "Moving" Buddy

The church near my new home

So far it has been great.  I have new friends already, we are planning to go out to my old favorite bar, Shkaf, which has relocated.  Do you remember Shkaf from My Trans-Siberian Journey?  The best part, my new home has a cat!!  A real pet - with a flea collar and a Facebook page and everything!  We are already FB friends, and I have even gotten to brush her.

Old Shkaf

Remember Lenin?

I hope "new" Shkaf is as awesome as "old" Shkaf

Murlka Kisha

I even called my credit card company, and they seem sympathetic to my cause.  They set up a dispute for the charge at the old apartment, so with some luck I may get some money back for my stay there.  All in all, there seems to be sunshine on the horizon.

Ain't no sunshine...

Well, I made it back safely to the city as you must have gathered by the slew of blog posts you have just received.  Unfortunately the weather has not cleared up, it is still cold and I ran into some problems with me accommodations.  I found mold... I knew my room felt damp for some strange reason, and my friend had told me is smelled weird, but since I had so much work done on my face due to allergies and whatnot, it didn't really bother me.  Plus, I have only spent about 4 nights of the last 2 weeks there, and it was nice to have a room with a lock while I was out of the city.  Well, I got back to the city and decided to do some rearranging.  When I moved this little night stand, I realized it was all wet and dirty underneath it.  That's when I saw it... green, white, brown, all colors of the rainbow you never really want to see together.  I cleaned it all up with a sponge I found in the bathroom, but what to do?  After I moved the desk, the smell was horrible.  I couldn't even breath.  It was so terrible, I couldn't even bare to sleep in my room.  I asked to move into the common room, but even that room feels damp and gross.  

Now I am scared of what to do next.  I am not sure if I should move places and risk getting charged for my dad's late cancellation, or call my credit card company.  I called booking.com and told them about the situation, and they said they would talk to the hotel but I am sure this won't really be very fruitful.  Also, I am a bit mad because I think they are holding out on me... the website advertised kitchenette and a 4 bedroom apartment, but this is not where they put me.  Again, I am happy to have had a room with a key, but now I am not to sure...  I think I will ask them to fulfill their promise of the 4 bedroom apartment when my dad arrives tomorrow if nothing else, and see what happens.  Maybe if they cannot do that, then it will get me off the hook.  My friend, Dasha, is supposed to be helping me out today.  Maybe I will just move to another hostel... back to the last one I had problems with??  Wow, Ukraine you have just gone full circle.

Wish me luck!  

What's this?

Oh no...

Gah!!!

Yea, I guess that is one way to solve that problem...

The Countryside

Country Road

I love the Ukrainian countryside.  I have been running around the town while I am here at the summer camp and have seen some fantastic sites.  I jogged by a cow, saw chickens scratching, got chased by geese, and even paid my respects at an amazing cemetery.  The cemetery, like most parks, has a WWII memorial prominently displayed.  Just noting the number of memorials you see around the country demonstrates the impact the war had on its people.  I am grateful our country has never been devastated to that point before.

WWII Memorial

Unkempt cemetery

Succulents growing on the grave

My summer camp

The geese that chased me

"I'm a cow"... "Get in the truck" - Dennis Leary

Ukrainian Cuisine

I helped out in the kitchen today, and I would like to say it went well.  It’s pretty hilarious when people see me peeling potatoes and as me questions in Russian like, “Do you know how to cook?” or “Do you ever cook?”  I guess my inability to peel a potato with a 7-inch blade is a dead give away.  Today, one girl took the time to teach me how to peel potatoes the Ukrainian way.  I mean, I guess the rest of the world might peel potatoes like Ukrainians do, but I haven’t had the experience of cooking in other countries.  I was always taught to cut away from you, so that if the knife slips, you don’t cut off a finger.  This, however, is not the Ukrainian way.  I was terrified, not that I could cut my finger, but that I would embarrass myself in front of a bunch of 15 year old girls who already know more about preparing meals that I ever will.  How can I explain to them, that I usually cook for one or two?  If I buy potatoes, I buy two single potatoes, not two huge bags of them.  I peeled more potatoes today in one sitting than I ever have in my entire life – mind trip, right?  Well, it was a learning experience nonetheless. 

We do most of our cooking outside, since that is where the running water is, and the little kitchen inside is always so hot.  We do so much with so little, but we don’t seem to mind at all.   

Hot water station

A BBQ

  

We also sat around a tube of apricots that the boys gathered from a local tree.  I gutted them of their seed, and threw them into another bucket.  We later made Kompot with them.  This is a Ukrainian drink that is very similar to sangria, except its hot, and it doesn’t have wine…. It’s also not juice.  Do we have anything like that in the states?  I am pretty sure you just through fruit and sugar into boiling water and call it a day.  It’s delicious, but when it’s over 100 degrees out it’s not the most refreshing beverages.

Preparing fruit for Kompot

Heat Wave!

It’s so hot here, y’all.  And I am saying this as someone who has survived a Texas summer.  I thought it was in the 90s, but I was told today it was 103 F.  That is hot!  We don’t have AC, ice or even an electric fan.  We eat hot soup for lunch and dinner, and drink hot coffee and tea.  This country is so strange.  We do have the ocean, but after today, I got heat rashes on my neck and arm so I think I am going to stay away from the beach for a few days if possible.  I can’t even open the balcony door because I have the light on in my room.  Last night, the kids helped me fight off the infestation of mosquitoes.  There are black spots all over the ceiling and walls.  There is this little patch of something that you burn that kills mosquitoes that we used last night, so I had downed, half dead mosquitoes all over my bed.  I bought some super powerful chemical mosquito spray so at least I have been able to make it out without too many more mosquito bites.  Never have I been so happy to take a cold shower!

All around town

I was so exhausted when I finally got back to my apartment after dark last night.  I had gotten up early to run and exercise again, then after showering and getting ready I hit the streets.  I first had lunch for under $3 at Puzata Xata, a Ukrainian buffet style restaurant.  I got some dumpling like pelmeni with meat inside, and a cucumber and cabbage salad.  

Just a shopping center, not a museum

I just can't believe this isn't a museum

Typical off-main street road

My all time favorite statue in Odessa

 Next, I wandered all about, and eventually even found my favorite clothing store, MANGO.  Last time I was here, I was excited to buy a beautiful brown leather jacket there, since I had lost my black one in Germany.  After spending most of the day walking, I headed back to the apartment to shower and get ready to meet my old friend, Dasha, who I used to live with in the hostel three years ago.  You probably remember her from some of my old posts in My Trans-Siberian Journey.  She is seen in one of the photos in the blog post "Banned in the USA."  She also fell victim to the bed bug infestation, and moved with me to our new hostel across town.

I found a salad!! A REAL SALAD!

Dasha met me and it was like no time had passed between us.  We picked up where we left off and spent the rest of the day walking around town.  She took me to her amazing apartment in a fantastic part of town that is near one of the more popular beaches.  We walked through a local park, then eventually made our way to the beach.  It was already getting to be pretty late in the evening, but there was still blaring music playing and people swimming and hanging out.  I can't wait to hit it up when I get back into town.  For now, I am going back to our summer camp to spend time with the kids.  I will be sure to update you on new stories when I get back, possibly this weekend!  

Sights in the park

Famous Ukrainian Writer

Beach Volleyball

Busy beach in the evening

“I’m foreign and I know it”

This morning I felt like I was running and walking to the beat of LMFAO’s “I’m sexy and I know it,” except I had a different set of lyrics running through my mind.  I woke up in my pitch-black room at 8AM and decided it was time to go for a run.  My room is great, and its also terrible all at the same time.  It’s great because when to sun goes up at 4:30AM in Odessa I can sleep in.  But when there is a power outage or I need some motivation to get out of bed, it’s terrible.  I forced myself out of bed and changed into my running gear.  Mace and iPhone in had, I hit the streets.  People don’t really run here.  I have seen gyms around town that are mostly for muscle heads, so I am not sure where the average person works out.  People looked at me strangely as I bolted past them on the streets, but “I’m foreign and I know it.”

I did the Potemkin Stairs a couple times, which is rough since there are 192 steps all together.  Then I ran to the end of the large dock that overlooks the Black Sea, and back to the stairs.  I did some triceps, pushups and jumping jacks on the larger stairs then ran the rest of the way home.  I ran for 30 minutes and did the rest over the course of about 20 minutes – not too shabby.

Ready for some jumping jacks?

After I got back home and showered, I put on a dress and my cowboy boot and walked to my favorite café, Kompot, where I went with Claudia on our first trip to Odessa.  Again, “I’m foreign and I know it.”  People were definitely not rude to me, but I could tell maybe they weren’t used to seeing average people in cowboy boots.  On my way out, the lady that works here asked me if it wasn’t too hot to be wearing boots.  It’s funny, because I never really thought about how strange it is that Texans wear cowboy boots so often, even when its so hot out.  Anyways, it was nice to sit at my café, work on my personal statement for grad school and just people watch.  My application is definitely coming along thanks to friends like Lori and my sister, Diana, who are helping me read through some notes.  I am glad to have friends and family who support me in my desire to go to PA school.  I won’t let y'all down!

After changing into sandals, because, yes, it was too hot for cowboy boots, I went in search of the market place I remember frequenting last time I was in Odessa.  With some random walking, I managed to find it.  I had some basic items on my list, which I found with relative ease.  After doing a little shopping spree, I grabbed some lunch (which would also serve as my dinner) and headed back to the apartment.  I spent most of the afternoon working on my application, and reading The Gift of Fear, by Gavin De Becker.  It is so good that I am nearly done reading it after just a week.  I have a low tolerance for boring books and rarely finish them.  I plan on giving it to my dad to read when he gets here, then maybe a friend who I think will benefit from reading it as well.    

Well, that’s about all I have today.  It looks like it might start pouring again tonight!  I am glad it seems to clear up in the morning, because I definitely did not pack for rain.

Dirty street kitty on a moped

   

"You will never find a more wretched hive of scum and villainy"

The Discotech - Why such harsh words?  It was actually quite fun, but I wish I had some photos to document this event.  I decided it would be safer to leave everything at home, so the camera did not come with me.  "Discotech, what the heck is that?" you might be asking.  Well, a Discotech is found in non-US countries such as Ukraine, Russia and Mexico.  They are essentially an all ages dance club with a bar.  Sound fun at first, but think about what this means.  Remember the last time you went to a bar?  Maybe you drank, danced, solicited someone of the opposite sex to drink and dance.  Well, no imagine you are drunk, and you start doing all of the above with someone who turns out to be 13 years old!  Could be quite dangerous.

The discotech we went to was pretty cool.  It was open air, although it gave the illusion of being a building.  It was under construction, so I won't be too hard on it, but it definitely was a little rugged.  The bathroom sink was a hose for example.  There was a disc jockey who worked with the DJ to rally the crowd into dancing.  He was really funny, and a good dancer - if you are on 4th Street or in the Castro, if you catch my drift.  Had he been wearing less clothing, I would have taken him for a male go-go dancer.  Most European men can't dance, according to my personal experience, and those who can just look like they belong in a club with a topless male bar tender wearing a rainbow flag jockstrap. Cultural differences I am sure.  And if you are European and find this offensive, please feel free to dance with me next time we meet and prove me wrong.  

While I sat at our table with one of our 15 year-old girls, this older 40 year-old man who had been kind of lurking about tried to approach us and tripped on the step, knocking over our table and most of our drinks.  He looked at me and I just shook my head at him, since he was obviously just about to solicit one of our teenagers, or me.  Our coordinator must have told him we were not interested, because he immediately switched his focus on to her.  She must have told him 20 times she didn’t want to dance with him, but he was Mr. Persistent, which is now a huge warning sign to me to back away quickly.  The cultural differences are huge here.  I would have slapped someone who tried to approach me in the manner in which he did, and he might have gotten some mace to the eye if he had grabbed me after I told him “no” multiple times.  I should be careful I don’t end up arrested for hurting someone who is simply acting socially and culturally appropriate.

Anyways, the girls had a great time, and by the end of the night, they were on the stage’s platform.  Again, a little strange for me given how young they are and how old the rest of the cliental was…but then again, there was also a 3 year-old in the back of the club dancing with his parents.  When in Ukraine…

I was on high alert to make sure no funny business went down, but at the end of it all, it was all in good fun.

After we made it back to our sanitarium, we all had to jump the fences since everything was already locked up.  Good thing I have been working on those triceps, Nat!  Everyone was impressed at how quickly I scaled the fence and made my way to the other side.

I was super tired this morning because we ended up going to bed around 2AM.  But, at least I am back in the city for a few more days to hang out before heading back to the beach!     

Oh, and speaking of the Star Wars reference, check out this awesome photo taken by a couple during their wedding photo shoot.  My fiance sent this to me, and I think it would be an amazing idea to steal...

Wedding Party Attacked by AT-ATs

Another day at the beach

Today we went to the beach again, of course!  I believe we will be doing this every day from now until the end of the summer. Better restock that sunscreen supply!  We broke up into two groups, boys vs girls, and started making sand art.  The girls won with our amazing mermaid!  The best part was that since the girls won the competition, we got ice cream!  The boys got some too, but theirs was less expensive.  We got the good stuff. 

Mermaid sand art

Then the photo shoot began! All the girls took turns taking photos with me. It was really cute, and of course it made me feel special and loved.

Photo Shoot!

More photos

Ok, you get the idea!

Group photo!

After dinner, we went for a walk to another local beach, which its own little board walk.  It kind of reminded me of Burning Man with its open air little hang outs, sand, and open fire pits.  People were cooking shashlik – Russian kabobs, and just chilling out drinking beer and juices.  There is a discotech, dance club, there that we are going to on Friday.  Our coordinator here sweet-talked them into lettings us bring our older kids for free!  The girls are very excited to get dressed up and go.

On the Board Walk

At night, the music on the grounds starts.  Someone set up some speakers and a laptop that plays Russian hits.  It’s really fun to watch the kids dance around.  After dark, the games get rowdier too.  Check out this crazy seesaw!  It looks like a death trap – and a scratched myself on an exposed nail head.  Didn’t break the skin, but I am happy my DTAP vaccine is up to date.  I carry around alcohol pads, band-aids, moist towelettes, and neosporen.  I have gotten to take care of minor cuts on a couple kids, and they are starting to trust me and accept my help.  As you can imagine with a wild group of children with minimal adult supervision, there are a lot of cuts and bruises to be taken care of! 

Let the dancing begin!

Seesaw of Death!

Rowdiness

Evacuate!

An unexpected stay at the beach

I was recruited to go to our summer camp and was not sure what to expect.  I was told to bring a swimsuit, shorts and sunscreen – but for some reason I didn’t really realize I would be staying in a Soviet era sanitarium on a beach, somewhere in Ukraine.  I have very limited internet here, so I am not even sure where I actually am.  All I know is it is beautiful.  This definitely feels more like a vacation than volunteer work.  The children are all very sweet, though sometimes I wish they didn’t talk so fast!  They are really patient with me though, so I appreciate them even trying to converse with me.

The grounds

The grounds entrance from the beach

Today we went to the beach, which is literally across the street.  The sand, little swimming shrimp and jellyfish fascinated me.  When we first arrived to the beach, the children instantly ran up to the jellyfish and started picking them up.  I was alarmed by their actions, and told them that they are dangerous, but they just looked at me like I was crazy.  They told me they weren’t dangerous at all, as they held them up for me to see up close.  Maybe they were too small to be problematic.  Then we jumped into the water and splashed around.  One six-year old little girl immediately became my friend and her smile and laughter nearly brought tears to my eyes.  This is a very special vacation for all these children who the rest of the year living in poverty, children’s homes throughout Odessa, or worse.

Huge jellyfish!

My new best friend holding a jellyfish

Catching shrimp in the rocks

 I love being tan, yes, but there comes a point where enough is enough.  With my wedding around the corner, skin cancer on the rise, and just being too tan, I decided I would start trying to limit my exposure to the sun.  This proved very difficult because we go to the beach at least once a day, if not twice a day!  I think I went to the beach more this week than I have in a year, which is huge since for the summer, I lived in Orange County.  The kids would see me applying sunscreen and ask me what it was.  I would tell them it is sunscreen and they would look at me confused and ask why I would  want to put it on.  One Ukrainian woman stopped me on the stairs and asked me if I use sunscreen, so I showed her my little bottle I carry in my purse.  She said I had a beautiful color, and told me I was a very beautiful girl.  This was a huge surprise, since I was certain Ukrainians preferred fair skinned people, like their Russian counterparts.  I suppose when you have a fantastic beach on your border, unlike Russia, you value tanned skin as being a sign of leisure and vacationing!

The kids loved my dress, and were confused by my desire to stay out of the sun

We are having Ukrainian borsht for lunch today.  I will be helping in the kitchen, so I will take note of exactly how it is done. My attempts at home have been good, yet not authentic.  Well, time to hit those communal showers (which by the way only produce frigid water).   Don’t worry, I lock the door and make sure I am the only one in there! 

Update:

I later found out that if I use the shower to the left, it has hot water.  Sure it’s not a steady stream, and it gets super hot or cold for no reason, but it works great!

I also discovered that those shrimp people were catching were for eating.  I can’t imagine catching something by hand in a bottle, cooking it then eating it.  I am thinking about the time my sisters and I caught a bunch of crawfish in a local park in the river by our house.  They were alive, yet filled with worms… yuck…

While one of our girls cooked the borsht, I paid diligent attention and wrote down the recipe.  Goodness, it was delicious!!  I cannot wait to cook it when I get back.  It’s way better than anything I made while in the US.  Yummm!

Ukrainian Borsht