You hear about the whole "Russian Bride" thing and people going overseas or online to places like Thailand or Eastern Europe to get themselves some young, naive girl to bring back to North America as their life partner - but you picture it being some older (really older) bachelor with lots of money, a real Hugh Hefner type.
Not so.
Today was a real eye opener in the world of foreign brides. We stopped for lunch at an Odessa landmark that serves traditional Ukrainian food in a farm style setting where all the wait staff wears Ukrainian costume. Quite a unique place - in a Disney sort of surreal atmosphere. Somehow we managed to get a table right next to an American guy - a Stanford and Morton graduate - sitting with what we quickly realized were a marriage broker/translator and the petite blonde intended bride.
It was the weirdest conversation we've ever heard. The broker would ask Mr. Stanford Guy (SG) about himself, he would talk on and on about his education, background, work, etc., and then she would translate it into Russian for the extremely disinterested blonde. The whole time SG would order food and drink for them all and talk to about what they might like for him to buy as gifts, where they would like to go shopping, etc.
SG was not ugly, a regular geek sort of guy and obviously well off. He was fit, well kept, and dressed well. We couldn't understand why he would go to Eastern Europe to get a date or future life mate. Especially one he obviously couldn't communicate with. What would life be like back in the US? What kind of conversations would they have? How exactly is he introducing her to his family?
In the end who is using who? Is he getting himself a trophy wife from Eastern Europe - a nubile young girl who must depend on him for everything due to the language barrier? Or is she getting herself a meal ticket out of Eastern Europe in the form of a rich middle-aged guy who is going to take care of her and perhaps her whole family? The lines get a little blurry.
Showing posts with label Odessa. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Odessa. Show all posts
Monday, September 7, 2009
Sunday, September 6, 2009
Descent Into Darkness
Today was a day for facing fears head on.
We met up with our guides at the train station bright and early. Both students, Egene is born and raised in Odessa, and his girlfriend Olena graciously provided the transportation for the day. If she could predict the future, she may have rethought that a bit.
We headed outside the city - although the catacombs run under the city as well, many of the entrances here are either very touristy or are used by homeless or thieves and can be very dangerous. As the catacombs run 2500 km through Odessa and the neighbouring countryside, it is safer to venture outside the city boundaries to the more remote entrances.
Eugene has been exploring the catacombs for about 5 years, both alone and with friends. He knows the passages by heart now and sometime goes in for two or three days, sleeping inside the maze of tunnels, trying to find new entrances and mapping out new routes for further exploration. If anyone was going to get us in there and back out safely it would be Eugene.
We parked down a dirt sideroad in a town called Linka (sp?) and started a long walk to the entrance we would use. A photo taken by Photomat is posted of what we entered through, nothing more than a hole in a hillside - something that most people would just walk by. Eugene and Olena had brought jumpers to wear inside - giving us an idea of the sort of exploration we were in for - but having shown up in Ukraine by plane, we could only bring so much with us so in we went in our own protective gear of jeans, jackets, hiking shoes, hats, and head lamps.
I can completely understand how someone can get lost in these tunnels. Without a lamp it is pitch black inside. The tunnels were initially carved by hand and were used as a stone quarry with the limestone used to build most of the original buildings in Odessa. In the 60s, machinery was brought in to carve out additional tunnels and cut out the limestone pieces. The mine closed down in the 70s as there was no more limestone to cut out and the catacomb maze was just too big.
Eugene took us through too many branches of the maze than I can count. I also stopped counting the amount of time that I hit my head on the limestone jutting down from the ceiling, which wasn't all smooth or the same height. Luckily I wore a hat or my head would have been bleeding a little, I think. In some places you could stand tall, in some you had to crouch a bit, and in some you were almost on your knees as you went through the main tunnels. My back aches just thinking about it now. The only animal we saw in there was the occasional fleeting bat and it was having a much easier time getting through than we were.
My moment of sheer fear came when we seemed to hit a complete dead end and Eugene motioned to the small hole in the bottom of the wall, just big enough for someone to crawl through on their knees or belly. Visions of the movie The Descent flashed through my mind - the spelunking movie where they also have to crawl through small holes in the rock just to wind up dying at the hands of some weird cave monster. I wasn't worried about the monster, just having to crawl through tiny holes. My claustrophobia bells were going off like a bad car alarm. But, I sucked it up and just did it. What choice did I have? I can wimp out and force the whole group to go back just because I can't overcome a simple, crippling fear of dying while stuck in a limestone rock hole, or I can use mind over matter and get over my fear of small enclosed spaces and go forward. I was amazingly proud of myself for going through that hole.
Throughout the rest of the journey through the maze of tunnels, Eugene showed us several interesting sites such as a room that was used as a stable for the horses that were in the mine, a well that no longer held water, and an opening in the ceiling that we climbed up and led into a farm's root cellar - complete with 2 jars of pickles. We couldn't leave the catacombs through that exit as the woman who lives there hates explorers because they steal her pickles so she'd be quite angry if she saw us come out of her root cellar.
My second moment of "what the hell am I doing?" came when we approached a pile of limestone rocks with a tiny opening in the top. When I was told that we would be not only climbing into that opening but then continuing along a tunnel that was just as small for a bit of time I thought that there was no way I was going to make it. How could I possibly scramble along on pointy, hard limestone rocks on my stomach, pushing my gear ahead of me, sandwiched with rock above and rock below, for 15 feet or more? Easy - everyone went ahead of me so I had no choice but follow or I'd be stuck by myself in a maze of tunnels not knowing where I am or how to get out. Fear can be crippling and it can be a great motivator too. And if Photomat can do it, then so can I. I was amazingly proud of myself for making it through without breaking down.
I wasn't so thrilled that we had to do it again at least 5 times.
When we finally got out of the catacombs, it was raining outside and I managed to get my jeans covered, front to back, top to bottom, in mud. Heavy, wet, thick mud. Photomat managed to not get a bit on himself. Unfortunately for him, Olena's car was now good and stuck in the mud on the path that we had taken down to the entrance of the catacombs. We managed to get turned around but that was about it. With Eugene and Photomat pushing the car, everyone managed to get it to the main road but it took quite a bit of effort and we had to go about 50+ feet in the puring rain and mud. Olena kept flooring it and not only was the car covered in mud from top to bottom but so were Photomat and Eugene. It was in their hair, on their clothes, and even inside Photomat's ear. We felt so bad for Olena - when she picked us up her car was pristine, by the time she dropped us off at the hotel it was covered in mud.
This is one adventure that we will never forget. Eugene and Olena were fantastic guides and I amazed myself at what I accomplished both physically and mentally within those limestone walls.
We met up with our guides at the train station bright and early. Both students, Egene is born and raised in Odessa, and his girlfriend Olena graciously provided the transportation for the day. If she could predict the future, she may have rethought that a bit.
We headed outside the city - although the catacombs run under the city as well, many of the entrances here are either very touristy or are used by homeless or thieves and can be very dangerous. As the catacombs run 2500 km through Odessa and the neighbouring countryside, it is safer to venture outside the city boundaries to the more remote entrances.
Eugene has been exploring the catacombs for about 5 years, both alone and with friends. He knows the passages by heart now and sometime goes in for two or three days, sleeping inside the maze of tunnels, trying to find new entrances and mapping out new routes for further exploration. If anyone was going to get us in there and back out safely it would be Eugene.
We parked down a dirt sideroad in a town called Linka (sp?) and started a long walk to the entrance we would use. A photo taken by Photomat is posted of what we entered through, nothing more than a hole in a hillside - something that most people would just walk by. Eugene and Olena had brought jumpers to wear inside - giving us an idea of the sort of exploration we were in for - but having shown up in Ukraine by plane, we could only bring so much with us so in we went in our own protective gear of jeans, jackets, hiking shoes, hats, and head lamps.
I can completely understand how someone can get lost in these tunnels. Without a lamp it is pitch black inside. The tunnels were initially carved by hand and were used as a stone quarry with the limestone used to build most of the original buildings in Odessa. In the 60s, machinery was brought in to carve out additional tunnels and cut out the limestone pieces. The mine closed down in the 70s as there was no more limestone to cut out and the catacomb maze was just too big.
Eugene took us through too many branches of the maze than I can count. I also stopped counting the amount of time that I hit my head on the limestone jutting down from the ceiling, which wasn't all smooth or the same height. Luckily I wore a hat or my head would have been bleeding a little, I think. In some places you could stand tall, in some you had to crouch a bit, and in some you were almost on your knees as you went through the main tunnels. My back aches just thinking about it now. The only animal we saw in there was the occasional fleeting bat and it was having a much easier time getting through than we were.
My moment of sheer fear came when we seemed to hit a complete dead end and Eugene motioned to the small hole in the bottom of the wall, just big enough for someone to crawl through on their knees or belly. Visions of the movie The Descent flashed through my mind - the spelunking movie where they also have to crawl through small holes in the rock just to wind up dying at the hands of some weird cave monster. I wasn't worried about the monster, just having to crawl through tiny holes. My claustrophobia bells were going off like a bad car alarm. But, I sucked it up and just did it. What choice did I have? I can wimp out and force the whole group to go back just because I can't overcome a simple, crippling fear of dying while stuck in a limestone rock hole, or I can use mind over matter and get over my fear of small enclosed spaces and go forward. I was amazingly proud of myself for going through that hole.
Throughout the rest of the journey through the maze of tunnels, Eugene showed us several interesting sites such as a room that was used as a stable for the horses that were in the mine, a well that no longer held water, and an opening in the ceiling that we climbed up and led into a farm's root cellar - complete with 2 jars of pickles. We couldn't leave the catacombs through that exit as the woman who lives there hates explorers because they steal her pickles so she'd be quite angry if she saw us come out of her root cellar.
My second moment of "what the hell am I doing?" came when we approached a pile of limestone rocks with a tiny opening in the top. When I was told that we would be not only climbing into that opening but then continuing along a tunnel that was just as small for a bit of time I thought that there was no way I was going to make it. How could I possibly scramble along on pointy, hard limestone rocks on my stomach, pushing my gear ahead of me, sandwiched with rock above and rock below, for 15 feet or more? Easy - everyone went ahead of me so I had no choice but follow or I'd be stuck by myself in a maze of tunnels not knowing where I am or how to get out. Fear can be crippling and it can be a great motivator too. And if Photomat can do it, then so can I. I was amazingly proud of myself for making it through without breaking down.
I wasn't so thrilled that we had to do it again at least 5 times.
When we finally got out of the catacombs, it was raining outside and I managed to get my jeans covered, front to back, top to bottom, in mud. Heavy, wet, thick mud. Photomat managed to not get a bit on himself. Unfortunately for him, Olena's car was now good and stuck in the mud on the path that we had taken down to the entrance of the catacombs. We managed to get turned around but that was about it. With Eugene and Photomat pushing the car, everyone managed to get it to the main road but it took quite a bit of effort and we had to go about 50+ feet in the puring rain and mud. Olena kept flooring it and not only was the car covered in mud from top to bottom but so were Photomat and Eugene. It was in their hair, on their clothes, and even inside Photomat's ear. We felt so bad for Olena - when she picked us up her car was pristine, by the time she dropped us off at the hotel it was covered in mud.
This is one adventure that we will never forget. Eugene and Olena were fantastic guides and I amazed myself at what I accomplished both physically and mentally within those limestone walls.
Saturday, September 5, 2009
Bustiers and Brides in Odessa
It's been a surreal day in Odessa. We arrived at 6am on our overnight express train. This was my first time traveling in a sleeping car and although I managed to sleep through most of the night, trying to roll over on a bed that's narrower than me without falling off and banging my head on the little table was a gymnastic feat worthy of a gold medal.
After a brief nap, we headed out to explore the city. It's a complete 180 from Kyiv. Here there are very few majestic churches, much more decay evident in the ancient buildings, and the energy is more raw. I likened it to the Corleone of the Ukrainian cities - you can see it's beauty and softness but are always on alert for the wild animal simmering below the surface, ready to pounce at any minute. You're never quite sure of the intentions of those around you and it keeps you on your toes.
Wandering around the main streets and side streets is always a great way to really get a sense of how the city works. You get off the main track where the tourists go and can really see the dark underbelly where the working class lives. We wandered into two such areas today - once when we landed in the docks and once when we stumbled into the back lot of the local market.
We thought the docks would be interesting to explore - as they are in most cities. They looked great from above in the park walkway so we made our way down. Like in Toronto, this part of the city is a maze of tracks, highways, streets, overpasses, and industrial buildings. Quickly upon entering the dock area we realized that it is a government controlled zone (and they have dogs), so we made our way out of there. Luckily for me, the streets around there had many industrial buildings full of rusty crusty photographic goodies that I could capture.
The market zone was another strange anomaly. The market itself was just massive - rambling on and on and on - with stall after stall just full of junk from jeans to cell phones. We really thought we were never going to get out of the maze of garbage when we finally found a way through. We ended up in this strange and glorious back section that was part underground market, part slum. Ramshackle stalls lined one side and contained everything from pipes to housewares while the other side of the street was lined with derelict homes. Dividing the two were several tracks for the electric trams to run on, which competed with trucks and cars for the road. And all around were people - so many people walking back and forth in front of trams, through the market, and along the street. It was surreal. I felt like I was no longer in the world class city that I had arrived in just hours before.
To juxtapose the morning, we then ran into the weirdest sight I will ever see. As we left the market area we made our way to the Opera House were there were at least 40 brides, grooms, bridesmaids and best men, all with mothers and photographers in tow all throughout the garden and around the fountain. At one point, there were 4 different brides having their photos taken around the fountain with their husbands (to be?) - each in a different pose - competing for that perfect spot. You couldn't swing a cat without hitting a bride in that space. We just couldn't figure it out: Was it a special day for weddings in the city that happened every year? Did a cruise ship come in full of men wanting a Ukrainian bride and they were all lined up, dressed in gowns, waiting at the bottom of the gangplank and ready for the picking? Is it a mass wedding and should I be worried about them all drinking the cool-aid at the end of the day? It was surreal. I'm not even getting into some of those dresses - let's just say that Odessa is the land of plenty, and they're not afraid to show it.
We never did make it to the beach no matter how hard we tried to get there - always seemed to be some sort of obstacle in the way. Instead, we're going to go and try the Black Sea sushi tonight.
After a brief nap, we headed out to explore the city. It's a complete 180 from Kyiv. Here there are very few majestic churches, much more decay evident in the ancient buildings, and the energy is more raw. I likened it to the Corleone of the Ukrainian cities - you can see it's beauty and softness but are always on alert for the wild animal simmering below the surface, ready to pounce at any minute. You're never quite sure of the intentions of those around you and it keeps you on your toes.
Wandering around the main streets and side streets is always a great way to really get a sense of how the city works. You get off the main track where the tourists go and can really see the dark underbelly where the working class lives. We wandered into two such areas today - once when we landed in the docks and once when we stumbled into the back lot of the local market.
We thought the docks would be interesting to explore - as they are in most cities. They looked great from above in the park walkway so we made our way down. Like in Toronto, this part of the city is a maze of tracks, highways, streets, overpasses, and industrial buildings. Quickly upon entering the dock area we realized that it is a government controlled zone (and they have dogs), so we made our way out of there. Luckily for me, the streets around there had many industrial buildings full of rusty crusty photographic goodies that I could capture.
The market zone was another strange anomaly. The market itself was just massive - rambling on and on and on - with stall after stall just full of junk from jeans to cell phones. We really thought we were never going to get out of the maze of garbage when we finally found a way through. We ended up in this strange and glorious back section that was part underground market, part slum. Ramshackle stalls lined one side and contained everything from pipes to housewares while the other side of the street was lined with derelict homes. Dividing the two were several tracks for the electric trams to run on, which competed with trucks and cars for the road. And all around were people - so many people walking back and forth in front of trams, through the market, and along the street. It was surreal. I felt like I was no longer in the world class city that I had arrived in just hours before.
To juxtapose the morning, we then ran into the weirdest sight I will ever see. As we left the market area we made our way to the Opera House were there were at least 40 brides, grooms, bridesmaids and best men, all with mothers and photographers in tow all throughout the garden and around the fountain. At one point, there were 4 different brides having their photos taken around the fountain with their husbands (to be?) - each in a different pose - competing for that perfect spot. You couldn't swing a cat without hitting a bride in that space. We just couldn't figure it out: Was it a special day for weddings in the city that happened every year? Did a cruise ship come in full of men wanting a Ukrainian bride and they were all lined up, dressed in gowns, waiting at the bottom of the gangplank and ready for the picking? Is it a mass wedding and should I be worried about them all drinking the cool-aid at the end of the day? It was surreal. I'm not even getting into some of those dresses - let's just say that Odessa is the land of plenty, and they're not afraid to show it.
We never did make it to the beach no matter how hard we tried to get there - always seemed to be some sort of obstacle in the way. Instead, we're going to go and try the Black Sea sushi tonight.
Tuesday, August 25, 2009
Catacombing
We've booked another great tour that should be a lot of fun - the Odessa Catacombs. Although we had the option to do 2 days in the catacombs (staying overnight in sleeping bags), my lower back gave me a big NO! when I even contemplated this.
BACKGROUND
The Odessa Catacombs labyrinth approximately 2500 kilmetres under the city and surrounding neighbourhoods. They developed over the last two hundred years, beginning as natural formations and completing with the addition of man-made tunnels. The major part of them are made up of former limestone mines used to build the city's 19thC homes, with the remainder being natural caivities and sewage tunnels. The full extent of the catacombs has not been mapped and is a primary reason a subway system was never built in Odessa.
The first stone mines appeared in the second half of the 19thC with building growth in the city. They were used as a source of cheap construction materials. During World War II, the catacombs served as a hiding place for Soviet partisans and their struggles were detailed in the book The Waves of the Black Sea by Valentin Kataev. Armies were able to house enough food and weaponry to keep them underground for almost six months at a time. In 1961, the Poisk Club was created to explore the history of the partisan movement in the catacombs and it expanded the catographical boundaries of the area.
By the 21stC limestone mines were discontinued in Odessa. Today, the catacombs are a great attraction for "extreme" tourists but you must go in with a guide.
(Some information from Wikipedia - Odessa Catacombs)
(Photo from Wikimedia Commons - Polyschuk Dennis Anatolyevycz)
BACKGROUND
The Odessa Catacombs labyrinth approximately 2500 kilmetres under the city and surrounding neighbourhoods. They developed over the last two hundred years, beginning as natural formations and completing with the addition of man-made tunnels. The major part of them are made up of former limestone mines used to build the city's 19thC homes, with the remainder being natural caivities and sewage tunnels. The full extent of the catacombs has not been mapped and is a primary reason a subway system was never built in Odessa.
The first stone mines appeared in the second half of the 19thC with building growth in the city. They were used as a source of cheap construction materials. During World War II, the catacombs served as a hiding place for Soviet partisans and their struggles were detailed in the book The Waves of the Black Sea by Valentin Kataev. Armies were able to house enough food and weaponry to keep them underground for almost six months at a time. In 1961, the Poisk Club was created to explore the history of the partisan movement in the catacombs and it expanded the catographical boundaries of the area.
By the 21stC limestone mines were discontinued in Odessa. Today, the catacombs are a great attraction for "extreme" tourists but you must go in with a guide.
(Some information from Wikipedia - Odessa Catacombs)
(Photo from Wikimedia Commons - Polyschuk Dennis Anatolyevycz)
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)