April Fool's Day

Odessa is a pretty amazing city. It dates back to around 1500BC, a time in which Greeks lived here. Their name for the city relates fairly closely to the current name of Odessa. It changed name when Turkish invaders conquered the city. In the Russo-Turkish War Russia pushed out the Turks. The name Odessa became the Ukrainian name of the city.

This area is a major shipping port for Ukraine. It sits in a very large natural bay on the Black Sea. Millions of years ago the city itself was under water. After the ocean receded, the leftover sand eventually compressed and turned to rock. The city is built from that rock. People literally dug down to build up. The city is built on a series of catacombs that were constructed as the city was built. The system was carefully built so as to prevent the ground from caving in. The result is 200km of catacombs built under the city, some as many as three levels deep.

During WWII when Nazi Germany invaded and controlled this area for some time freedom fighters lived in the catacombs. For four years they lived underground, only coming to the surface to help with the resistance. Yesterday Alina and I visited the Odessa Literature Museum. On part was dedicated to the efforts of local writers during the war to help with moral. They wrote many short books that were distributed to the troops. As Irina said, the Ukrainian army did not have the strength, numbers, or guns of the Germans, but they won the war because they had writing and songs to keep their spirit up. Amazing.

Also in the WWII part of the museum were original flyers and letters from the Nazis to Odessa citizens concerning Jews living in the city. On pamphlet showed a Star of David with a rat in the middle. Irina said it translated to say "The Jews are like rats eating your country." A letter on Nazi letterhead was sent to each house detailing how all Jewish men were to report to the ghetto (prison within the city) with "all required paperwork" and that if anyone were to be hiding a Jew they would be forced to do the same. It is terrifying how much hate is in the world. Fortunately good triumphed over htis evil. Unfortunately, it still goes on in other places to other people.

So, on to April Fool's Day. Odessa is recognized as the cultural capital of Ukraine. If a joke is to be told, it is to be told here. Irina says it is a funny city. It was the Hollywoood of the Soviet Union, with many major movie lots and companies. Anyway, people come from all over Ukraine on April Fool's Day to celebrate. There is a big parade, concerts, and partying into the night. Irina invited me to go, but the idea of being in a very crowded place with a little girl in a backpack didn't appeal to me. I respectfully declined. She said she was going to the parade because it will probably be the only chance in her life she gets to be here on this day. She was very excited. I'm interested to hear how it was.

Things I wish I had: sweat pants, a computer that would play the movies I brought rather than just the sound, the ability to turn on the faucet and drink the water straight from the tap, Anne's cooking (any of it).

Thing's I like: bacon flavored peanuts - we need these in the US, borscht is still really good, drying laundry by clothes line isn't so bad (on a nice day), when you don't speak the language and you go for a walk or shopping all of the conversations are just white noise - it is almost like the people aren't there.

Things I'm looking forward to: Noah, Caleb, and Meg's reaction to seeing Alina, seeing Anne, seeing Anne see Alina, four kids climbing into bed to watch Scooby Doo/Blues Clues/etc., gardening/yard work, school, getting back to normal.

Pictures are still an issue right now. I'll try to post whenever possible.