[This message has been edited by Zoidberg]
Hi Everyone...
Well, I have a little time so I wanted to start my trip report. First a little background information.
About 10 years ago I met a Ukrainian woman where she came to visit me in San Diego and I went to Lugansk to see her. We never did get married but we had a great time. All these years later, I dated, but never found what I was looking for. Last Sep I decided to try this again because I kept thinking about how wonderful my experience with a Ukrainian girl was and I was ready to take the plunge again.
My approach was to write 5 girls till I met one I liked that I would want to visit. I had specific things I was looking for in a woman and I would not compromise. I am soon to be 40 years old and I know what I am looking for, I just haven't found it. One girl I was writing I started to like and it was easy to narrow it down to her to visit. Many things we realized we were the same. Around Jan we decided we wanted to meet and planned for late May and Jun where I can come out for 3 weeks.
She lived in Dnepropetrovsk, Ukraine and I decided to fly there to see her. I booked my flights through The Russia House in Atlanta and had no problems and the prices were as good as the best prices I could find on my own. I flew from San Diego to DC (United) to Vienna (Austrian Air) to Dnepropetrovsk (Tyrolean) and the return was just the opposite. Whew, what a long flight. I left San Diego on May 22 and it took 25 hours before I met Svetlana at the airport in Dnepropetrovsk. Needless to say I was very tired.
On my previous trip to this country, I landed in Kiev. I felt like I was in a different time. The airport looked like the old WWII footage I saw on TV and all in black & white. At that time, you had to help yourself to get the luggage off the trucks. They had no baggage claim area except for the truck and you climbed up to get everything but that was 10 years ago. I am sure it’s different now. Thankfully it was not like that this time in Dnepropetrovsk. My bag was waiting in the baggage claim area. Customs was very easy. Didn’t even have to fill out a paper. The customs officer just asked me to show her a few things I brought as gifts and then waved me through. She was very attractive.
When Sveta and I were writing we became very close. A little too close and I tried to keep things cool but she was convinced it was right. I told her we should wait till we meet, as that will decide everything. She was convinced things would be perfect. I can honestly say I liked her very much but I also knew we shouldn't have our expectations so high. When we met at the airport, we were like strangers, just as I feared might happen.
I learned a lot about the so-called chemistry people talk about. I feared that maybe we wasted 8 months of our time writing because it would end right then. Later, Sveta told me she feared the same thing. Even though there was no huge spark we were very comfortable with each other and we couldn’t ignore that. We talked and talked and talked so we both thought maybe we were destined to be friends only.
My first impressions of Dnepropetrovsk were not so good. It was very hot and allergy season was definitely upon us. I have some allergy problems but it is not that bad in San Diego. In Dnepropetrovsk, I could not walk 2 minutes without sneezing. Our plans were to stay in Dnepropetrovsk for 2 nights so I can get some rest after the long flight. Then we’d head to Crimea for a week. The 2nd day we spent all day just talking. At one point we talked about 6 hours without getting up except to get a drink and use the restroom.
MORE COMING SOON....
Z
