Karina in Россия (and Ukraine): Visiting the Homeland

One thing I've come to understand much more now that I'm living in Russia is my family. Growing up, my family wasn't like my friends' families. Our celebrations were a little different, the food was different, the way we talked was different (I called badminton "bad-meen-ton for years before realizing that's the Russian pronunciation).

And because I didn't quite understand why we were so different, I kind of resented it growing up. There were a lot of times when I wished we were more "normal" or did things differently.

In fact, that's part of the reason I took such an interest in Russian at school. Once I began to learn how to read and write in Cyrillic, progressively speak better Russian, and memorize poems and watch classic films that my family loved, I began to see a little more into their world.

Living in Russia myself, I can totally see my parents easily blending in here. Their mannerisms are more similar to that of a local than mine, although my metro face has finally become more innate. But my family isn't from Russia, really. Therefore, as much as I would have loved to visit Prague, Budapest, Berlin, or some other beautiful city for travel week, I figured that this would be the perfect time to visit our homeland: Odessa, Ukraine.

I didn't know much about the city before visiting. I knew about the legendary Potemkin Steps, and that it has supposedly gotten much better since my parents left in 1978.

What I found was that it is a very charming city. It isn't the tidiest city, I guess. There were lots of cracks and rubble in the sidewalks, and graffiti everywhere. But the architecture is beautiful and very similar to that of St. Petersburg. There are more famous monuments and landmarks than I knew of. The beaches were beautiful. The sun was shining and the weather was warmer than in Russia. And the people, although I didn't interact with many, appear to be more laid-back than Pitertsy.

I stayed with my Mom's long-time friend and her husband. It was a nice visit, granted it would have been a little better if I had someone my age to hang out with too. Regardless, Odessa is beautiful and I hope to go back someday.