Chapter V.
Since the interpreter did battle for me at Customs Control, I let her eat 33% of the meals at the diners around Odessa.
The first night, all three of us proceeded to the restaurant for dinner. We had cooked rabbit with Caesar Salads.
I proposed to Oksana, on a hardwood floor on bended knee, after dinner that night. It was done in the gift room, of the three room apartment she had picked for me. She accepted my proposal.
We quickly went and washed our hands together (Ukrainian Custom), and went up the winding stairs to eat Russian Caviar on crackers. Oksana and I were so pleased!
The Ukrainian phrase: “Ja tebe koKHAju,” which translates, Real True Love; adequately describing the most delightful event in my life!
I had the ring custom fitted in Indianapolis, due to her European ring finger size. It was a Size 17. I also got her a sparkling set of diamond earrings.
It was July, and all of Western Europe was under a heat wave.
Arctic cold water was not seen by the masses as a problem. However, the salty tap water coming out of my apartment sink tasted terrible! I could only tolerate Bon Aqua. I drank Cherry Coke. The natives referred to it as Coca Cola Cherry.
We had to go to the market to buy all of these items. The can of Russian Caviar, for example, was $50 UAH, or $10.00 USD. I thought this was very reasonable.
Dannon Yogurt (apple flavored) was what I kept in the refrigerator for breakfast.
I was only there for five short days, so I had to make each moment count. The one warm shower I got was done with the assistance of Oksana holding a screwdriver into the fuse box.
I had learned to speak some Russian key words on the trip.
French was like a secondary language in Odessa. Oksana spoke Russian, French, and a miniscule amount of English.
When I researched the subject of what the Official Language is recently, I found that Ukrainian is the Official Language, and Russian is the Primary Language spoken.
By the end of the abbreviated stay, the interpreter had taught me the following key Russian words: klyuch, means “key”; padushka, means “pillow”; nyet, means “no”; and Da, means “yes.” Dush translates to “shower,” vada is “water,” and spasiba means “thanks.”