Well as luck would have it, our flight was delayed in Warsaw to Lviv by one hour. Had been busy chatting with the Americans; they were really nice people. At the same time, was scouring the crowd to find this mystery person that I had been chatting with on the Lviv chat channel. Did suspect a couple of individuals, but had narrowed it down to one guy. Still was not sure at this point, but decided not to take a chance and ask the wrong person at this time. It was a challenge, to try and guess who the other person was, because neither one of us had seen a picture of the other.

Flying from Warsaw to Lviv, I feel a bit of joy inside me as see from the air, the land of Ukraine where my father was born and where he spent most of his youthful life until the age of 24. Thankfully the sky was only partly cloudy and was able to see much of the land as we were closing in on our destination. As we head for landing in Lviv, notice many small farm homes outside the city, and as we near the airport, noticed many high rise buildings, which I thought to be huge office complex buildings, but was soon to find out this is not the case.

As we landed, Kathy Clark's remarks about the Lviv Airport flashed in the back of my mind. She was correct. The Lviv Airport looked as if it was 100 years old, was surprised as such a small building in proportion to the population of the city of Lviv, 850,000.

The turbo prop plane was a fairly new LOT Airlines aircraft; the flight from Warsaw was not bad at all. The plane was at full capacity of 48 people. Upon landing in Lviv, passengers had to depart from the plane, load onto a bus and then were transported the 300 yards distance to the airport. Had to chuckle as the transport bus was a 5th wheel rig that was towing what seemed to be a converted cattle trailer.

At this point, the mystery guy approached me and had guessed it was me that had been chatting with him on the Lviv chat channel. Am thinking that maybe the Levi jeans and white Nike tennis shoes assisted him in his choice of the 47 people on this flight. We kind of laughed a bit, and then Dmitriy(Dima) Cheh and I introduced ourselves to each other. Dima had been traveling for the last week; Lviv was one of his stops. He had mentioned that he was traveling to several places in Europe, and his trip would last about 3 weeks or so. Ohhhhh the joys of being single, carefree, and being able to freely roam all over Europe.

First in line for passport clearance, was told that mandatory health insurance was required and had to go to another line to purchase this insurance for the 6 days of my visit in Ukraine, needless to say, had to go to the end of the line. Dima and I both had to purchase insurance, had to bail him out, seems as if he as short of one $1 USD, and the insurance agent was out of change. So happily, gave him a $1 so the lines could progress on a bit faster. When the insurance purchase was completed, ended up at the rear of the passport customs line. Was thinking that my relatives were wondering if I ever made it on the flight to Lviv. Found it funny that while waiting in line, people were crowding in front of me, especially the older people. This was no surprise to me because had been advised of such behavior prior to my arriving in Lviv. Finally after being the last of the 48 people to clear customs, wished Dima the best of luck on his adventure and we headed off in different directions.

Entered into the Lviv airport main terminal to be greeted by my cousin Ariadna Khitsyak, her son Max, Max's wife Victoria, Max's baby son Max Jr., and my dear friend Hannah Burak, who had accepted the task of being my interpreter (babysitter) for the next 6 days.

Needless to say, was elated to greet my relatives for the first time ever, and 58 years after my father had left Ukraine to immigrate to the USA. Somehow I wonder if Hanna knew what she had volunteered for. Hannah and I had been communicating via email for the past 18 months. Met her on the Lviv Ukrainian chat channel, and if not for Hannah, would not have been able to make this visit to Ukraine, due to the fact that my Ukrainian was only about 2% and my cousins English was also about only 2%. Needless to say, effective communications was a major concern to me, but Hannah was the salvation of this trip.

Upon exiting the airport, first order of importance was to go to the local authorities and register in. A visitor to Ukraine must either register at a hotel upon arriving, or if staying with relatives, must report to the local authorities, present your passport, along with the passport of the person you are staying with. The registration is so they know where you are in case of emergencies. It is strongly advised as one applies for a VISA to Ukraine, that if you do not report to the local authorities upon entering Ukraine, and as you exit, this could cause a delay in your exiting Ukraine. And sure did not want this to happen.

Driving through the city to get to the local authorities, I seemingly entered into a 75 year old time capsule. Trying to understand the traffic flow in Lviv while my nephew Max is driving, had already determined that there is no consistent right-of-way, and most definitely if you are a pedestrian wanting to cross the streets, one is at the mercy of the drivers. At each intersection, noticed there is no pollution control on all vehicles, as I hold my breath as cars and buses are spewing major amounts of smog while idling, as we are waiting for traffic signals to change. Am guessing with the amounts of rain that occurs in Lviv, and the lower number of cars on the streets as compare to the USA, the pollution is not of any concern to the locals, as it does seem to clear the air of any potential smog.

Upon arriving near the local authorities, see the first signs of western living, a brand new McDonalds!! Problem is that for the locals, the $2.25 USD for a Happy Meal is too expensive as the $2.25 is one or two days wages for most people in Lviv. No wonder there weren't any long lines at this McDonald's.

Having to park a few streets away from our destination, we set out by foot for a brisk 5-minute walk. In Lviv you simply do not park in front of most buildings, as there is just enough room for two small cars to pass each other. As we are walking, I marvel and the architecture of all these buildings, something not seen much here in Phoenix. But also noticeable is the wear on most buildings. The city is not dirty or unsanitary; just most buildings are showing signs of wear after a few hundred years. As we arrive at our destination, we enter into a large building. Once inside it seems like I have just stepped into a 1930's movie, gazing around to look at such a very large but dimly lit room. Now we register with the local authorities. Try not to speak much, noticing when I do, get many strange looks. So as we go through the 1-hour process that should only take 5 minutes to register, am soon to realize what is meant by "hurry up to wait". Seems as is this will be the theme of my visit in Lviv.

After the registration is complete, we briskly hurry back to the vehicle where Max's wife Victoria has been staying with the car. Seems as if its necessary to have one person stay with the vehicle while parked in public streets. Not for sure if it is to prevent theft or parking tickets.

We drive back to Ariadna's apartment. Again, am amazed at the local drivers, and still cannot figure out it there is a logical pattern to their driving. Of course, my nephew being the spry age of 23, seems to have a bit of a heavy lead foot on the gas pedal :)

As we enter Ariadna's apartment complex, soon realize that these buildings were not the office buildings that I had thought I seen on the flight in, rather many very large housing apartment buildings. At this point amidst all these gray concrete towers, it is seemingly reminiscent of the Communist era gone by. Yet, am amazed at the number of people that live in these concrete structures. Together we clamber into the small elevator that will take up to the 5th floor. Not all can fit in one trip; so two others must wait for the return of the elevator. At this point in time, felt an urge to say a small prayer each time we used the elevator as I am not comfortable of the squeaks, creaks, and jerking motions of this elevator.

Entering Ariadna's apartment, find that it is the custom to remove your shoes at the entrance. Wondering if they realized that I had been awake for the past 24 hours wearing the same socks and shoes (gasp!). Ariadna's apartment is typical of most in this area of Lviv, consisting of a small kitchen, dining or living room, two small bedrooms, and a bathroom.

As we made ourselves comfy, the aroma of cooking filled the air. Ariadna had set a very nice table for all of us. As the dinner began, a toast to all of us as family, meeting for the first time in person in 58 years. At this point I made a request to my cousins to accept Hannah as part of the family for these next few days, because if it were not for Hannah, would not have been able to come to Lviv to visit, due to the language barrier. They agreed, but I had sensed that they were not so sure of the reasons I had chosen to have Hannah with me all the time, and to spend the evenings sleeping at Hannah's and her mom's apartment.

Dinner was great, all 6 courses, and 6 toasts of Cognac. Had been warned not to try and out drink my hosts, and took this advice with great heed. Needless to say this was to be the prelude to my visit, plenty of food to eat, plenty of toasts of Cognac, and the ever presence of highly carbonated mineral water.

As the evening progressed into the 4th hour, had decided to surprise Max in regards to a request he had mailed to me about 18 months ago. Max had asked if it was possible to loan him some money so he and his wife could pay off some debts and try to get financially ahead in their lives. Max mentioned in his letter that he had to borrow some money and that the interest was so high, close to 30%; he could not get ahead on the principal part of the loan. His request was to borrow the money, and pay me back slowly, if possible without paying me any interest.

Asked Max if he remembered this letter he sent to me in the past. Guessing the translation though Hannah was not really clear so, asked him again. Max seemed to kind of remember the letter, so.... reached into my suitcase can pulled out an envelope that contained some cash. Max's expression went from uncertainty to unsure, and then I think he remembered, and then his face went blank for about a minute. Then he remembered...........shock set in I think.

Ariadna was emotional, poor Hannah was seemingly already tired of having to converse back and forth due to the language barrier, and was feeling the effects of jet lag creeping up on me.

As the evening progressed into the 6th hour, had asked that Hannah and I head back to their apartment, which was about 10 minutes away from Ariadna's place. Could sense the sorrow on Ariadna's face as I had planned in advance to sleep at Hannah's and her mom's apartment. Hannah's mom had made room for me to sleep in their apartment. The language barrier was a concern to me, so this is the reason why it was decided to sleep at Hannah and her mom's place. I had been in this situation in the past when visiting my Uncle in Germany 15 years ago, and it is not a comfortable situation to say the least. My advice to anyone is to make sure you know the language of the country you are going to, or make provisions to have an interpreter along side. In this case of my visit to Ukraine, this decision proved invaluable for me.

After departing goodbyes for the evening, Max drove us to Hannah's apartment. Hannah and her mom's apartment are also of the same government housing structure. The 2 bedrooms are basically of the same floor plan as Ariadna's apartment. Upon arriving to and greeting her mom, there was a nice cooking aroma in the air... YEP, you guessed it, another round of food, a nice thought, but after an 8-course meal at Ariadna's, and not wanting to offend Hannah's mom, obliged with a sampling of her mom's cooking.

Hannah and I chatted a bit before going to sleep. It was around 10 PM, so I decided to take a shower. Then I remembered in some areas of Lviv, running water is only available from 6AM-9AM and then 6PM-9PM. So, my only recourse was to sponge with the water that Hannah and her mom will typically put in big soup pots when water is available.

Upon recommendations of people that had visited Lviv in the past few years, especially from Kathy Clark of Canada, they had advised me to buy some non-carbonated water, which I had forgotten to do earlier in the day. Needless to say, brushing my teeth and rinsing with soda water was quite the experience. Somehow I knew the meaning of "mad dog" or "foaming at the mouth". Decided the next day, would look for non carbonated bottled water.

Everyone this day has been so nice and hospitable to me. Especially enjoyed chatting with Hannah's mom; she is so low-keyed and calm in her voice. She was just a sweetheart, so pleasant and happy, and treated me as family.

After 30 hours without sleep, laid down to sleep; all I can remember is my head lying on the pillow. Next thing I know its morning.