Having lived in Kyiv a couple of year's now, I viewed the journey down to Odessa (1 May-5 May) as something that would be enjoyable, but mostly because my wife was going and I was meeting up with some good people. What a pleasant surprise to find Odessa a notch or two more liveable than Kyiv!?!

Nice Vokzal! Nicer Opera House! Even nicer streets!!

Restaurants served noticeably better quality food. Slightly higher level of service orientation and the militsia are even looking a bit smarter (in both the British and the American senses of the word)than the ones we have in Kyiv. Easier walking on the sidewalks (only tripped a couple of times), shopping areas a bit more spread-out, parks much neater and better maintained, comfort-level in the restaurants was up (BIG SEATS!) and the variety of food was greater. What wasn't there to like?

Hmmm, wife brought along a guidebook and we wandered around looking at architecture, famous monuments and seaviews. I liked 7KM market (at least I liked having the sashlyk and coffee with Nick while the gals looked for bargain prices on shoes) and the city seems to be proceeding along a more orderly growth path than Kyiv.

OK, the young people were a bit edgier and projected a bit more "attitude" than up in Kyiv. I was surprised at that, almost seem like those HS brats I tended in Southern California for a few years. In fact, saw my first "do rag" in over two years and even a few gold chains over black T's. What a laugh!

Living for two years in a country does not exactly make one an expert about it. In relative terms, however, two years provides sufficient experience to provide others an objective sense of life in a foreign country, in contrast to any views that may emerge from a brief vacation here. As well, there are perhaps 1,500 – 2,000 Americans living on a long-term basis in Ukraine, of a population of approximately 47 million. Ukraine is not a place for everyone…