Chapter 3: Meeting with Olga

July 16, 2002

After waiting in front of the building for a while, I became anxious. I had talked to her for a long time by phone and email, and now we were going to meet. I was nervous about how it would turn out. I always felt that she was kind of one dimensional and not much substance to her, based on our phone conversations, but I didn't really care because she was my physical type and she expressed interest and attraction to me, which were all that mattered to me now, since women that are my type in the USA do not tend to even acknowledge my existence. Therefore, anything above that would interest me. (You can see her photo and profile that I first saw at this link, but keep in mind that in person she looks way better: http://www.russianfriendfinder.net/showa.shtml?id=679)

As I waited, I became more anxious that I was in the wrong place, so I went up to a guy nearby sitting down and pantomimed to him that I was waiting for a friend, and asked him if he could call her for me. He agreed to and I gave him the number to call. He called her and spoke some Russian and then hung up and told me that she was already on her way and that I was in the right place. I kept pacing back and forth thinking "This is it." Finally, she ran up the stairs to the plaza and blew me away! She was blonde, tan and gorgeous. Much more than I expected from her photos! She looked like a bombshell. I thought "Oh my gosh!" and went up to her and gave her a hug. I think I kissed her cheek too, if I remember. Then I asked the guy who called her for me to take our picture and he did, which is how I got the picture with her in the photo album. (She looked way hotter in person than in that photo though.)

I pointed to the theatre and asked her "You don't live there do you?" and she said "No of course not. I decided to meet here because the taxi driver would know it better than if you had given him my address." Then after some small talk, she suggested we go to a cafe, so we went.

As we walked through the streets and the crowd, I kept thinking how flabbergasted I was at her appearance. Usually a hot blonde would never give me the time of day, now I was going somewhere with one! To me, this was a historical moment, like the breaking of a world record. (I know that sounds cheesy and geeky, but that's how I really felt!) I felt like all the other guys looking at me now were envious, wondering why she was with me. I felt a high from that because such a moment is so rare back in the USA. She pointed out to me the school that she taught at, which looked really old, and then we stopped at the entrance to her apartment building. She told me to wait there for her, while she takes the roses and gift I brought for her (some perfume from JC Penney) and puts it away in her flat. (their term for "apartment") I was hoping she wasn't about to ditch me! She came back down after a short while and we continued walking. I felt like we were running out of things to say, so I kept looking around for things to comment on.

Finally we reached the cafe. It was very nice inside, like a Valentine treat in red colors, for a romantic setting. When I saw the menus, I was glad that there was an English section too. The items seemed very tasty and were named with romantic sexy overtones. This was obviously a lover's cafe. I wondered if she was implying anything by bringing me here :) After we ordered some desserts and pancakes, we started making small talk and getting to know each other. I did not feel we really had much to talk about, and I had mixed feelings about the chemistry we were having. But I thought "Well she's so hot, it doesn't matter! I guess I'll try my best to get along with her and produce chemistry. I mean, man it's worth it. If I could ever bring a girl like this back to the USA, it would be a prize/trophy that would be bigger than winning the Nobel Prize!" What a thought! Finally, our food came and it was very tasty. It was also easy to enjoy since the prices were pretty cheap too. After we were done, we ordered some more and more. Since the quantity of the dishes were small, it was easy to eat a lot of them. They were very tasty and good, like French dessert cuisine. I offered to share some of what I ordered with Olga, but she refused. When I asked her if I could try what she had, she reluctantly agreed. Not exactly a very giving or sharing person, I thought. I wondered if that was a bad sign. Something was strange about her. She didn't seem all there. She spoke decent English though. When she didn't understand me, she took out her English-Russian electronic dictionary (that thing was very fancy!) to look it up. After we were done, I paid for the check and we left. All of what we ordered was only 500 rubbles, which was about 17 dollars, wow!

After the cafe, we went shopping for a bit and she gave me a walking tour of some of the area. Then we headed for an internet cafe that she knew of, so she could check her email. The one she usually went to to write me back was closed, so we looked for another one. Finally we found it. It was very hot inside and humid, and the fan barely helped. As she checked her email, I tried to get on the computer to check mine too. When I looked at the Windows screen, I noticed that all of the words and menus were in Russian. "Great" I thought. I managed to find a way to switch to English though. However, I could not check my AOL email because their browser would not load up AOL Anywhere, which probably was too intricate for their browser. So I went to my Yahoo email instead and wrote emailed my parents to tell them that I had arrived safely. After I was done, I went over to Olga to show her how to search for things on the internet. As I was looking over her shoulder, I kissed her on the cheek and she blushed and giggled. Then I asked if she wanted a massage and she said ok so I massaged her for a while. For some reason, her skin did not feel as good as it looked. There seemed to be something fake about her. I can't explain it, but maybe it was the way her makeup was put on or something, and she obviously had a lot on.

After Olga was done, we went out and found a park bench to sit at. As we talked, I kind of felt like we ran out of things to say, so I kept trying to look for more things to comment on. She seemed pretty dense alright. Then I showed her some footage from my camcorder of the sights I filmed so far, and then I took some footage of her sitting on the bench.

After a while, we got up and she said that she had to meet a friend at 6pm to help her pick out something for two hours, and that I could come with her, but she would have to leave me somewhere for two hours and meet up with me later. I agreed so we went down to the nearest metro station to go to the downtown area. I paid five rubles for the metro token, then descended this incredibly long escalator down this tunnel. It looked surreal in a way. There were so many people constantly heading down and up. You never know who you could run into here! When we got to the bottom, I followed her into the subway which was also very crowded. The signs at each stop and the announcement over the subway intercom were all in Russian. Like my tour book said, they consider it your duty to learn their language here. We got off at the huge metro station on Nevsky Prospect, the biggest street downtown, with shops and billboards inside, including a gigantic screen with advertisements and promotions running on it, with various networks of escalators going in all directions. If it wasn't for Olga, this would be like a gigantic maze to me, and I'd be lost among all the non-English signs. We both got some soft drinks while we waited for her friend, under the big promo screen. When her brunette friend finally showed up, she introduced us but I thought her smile was kind of strange. Then Olga told me to meet them back here under the big promo screen of the metro station in two hours. She showed me where I could take a walking tour of shops and cathedrals in the meantime, so I waved goodbye and set about exploring the area by myself.

As I walked the other direction I couldn't believe how crowded it was, and also how fast everyone was walking. It didn't look like everyone was in a hurry either, it just looked like their normal pace. I just kept on walking forward, making sure to stay on the same street, and let the moment guide me. After a few blocks, I came to a huge dark brown cathedral on my left, with a big fountain park in front of it. (I now know it as Kazansky Church, or The Cathedral of the Mother of God)

After I strolled around the fountain park, doing some people watching, I walked up to the entrance of the cathedral, hoping that it was free to get in. No one was taking tickets at the door, so I just walked in. Inside was a magnificent display of Christian art, paintings, colored glass, etc. It was also nice to be out of the heat too. I assumed that it was a Russian Orthodox Church. There was a ceremony going on in there, and a priest was at the podium reading something in Latin, while the people gathered in front were repeating back what he said. I toured around and took some pictures. You can see these pictures in my online photo album. Suddenly, a staff person came up to me and pointed to my camera and waved his fingers in a "no" fashion. I got the message and put my camera away. I found a curb along the wall to sit on to take a rest and marvel at the interior of this building, and the exotic Latin chants and songs I was hearing in the background. As the ceremony progressed, the group of priests started walking around, followed by the crowd. When I took out my soda bottle to drink, another staff person pointed at me and waved a "no" again. I felt embarrased and put it away in my backpack. After a while, I got up and headed back outside into the heat again.

As I looked around the crowds of seated people, I saw a little short blonde girl sitting by herself on the curb, so I sat near her to try to strike up a conversation. As I took out my Russian phrase book, I talked to her to see if she could speak English and asked her some questions about the cathedral. She didn't understand me, but she looked intrigued by me. So I continued and pointed to phrases in the Russian phrasebook to try to communicate with her. It was very difficult, even to just make small talk. All I could figure out was that her name was Natasha and that she was 19 and lived in the outskirts of this city. Since she looked curious and intrigued by me, I continued, even though we weren't getting anywhere, but it was amusing to try. Apparently, she showed the same patience toward me. We both spent a lot of time sifting through my dictionaries and phrase books to try to talk to each other. All I could gather about what she was doing there was waiting for her brother, which I wasn't even sure I understood correctly. lol After a while, I looked at my watch and realized that it was almost time for me to go back to meet Olga and her friend again. I signaled to her that I had to go back to the metro station, and she got up and said that she was going to go there as well, so we started walking back together. I asked her "But aren't you waiting for your brother?" but she didn't understand. As we walked along the sidewalk together, she asked me if I had a photo to give her. Puzzled since no one I just met had ever asked me that before, I said "Why would you need a photo of me if you already know what I look like?" Was she that fond of me already, I wondered? She didn't understand my question, so I said "No I don't have any photos with me, (I always carry photos of me in case someone asks for them. Right. lol ) but I can email you some. Ok?" She nodded, and I asked her if I could get her telephone number and email, which she understood because they use the same words for those things in Russia. She nodded but signaled that she had nothing to write with. Well neither did I, but I had paper so I took it out and attempted to stop a passing pedestrian to ask to borrow a pen. The first few people I asked didn't understand me, so they just continued walking on. I wasn't sure if it was normal here to ask for help from strangers, so I felt a bit embarrassed, hoping I wasn't making a fool out of myself. As I looked for someone friendly to ask for a pen, I suddenly realized how cute this scene was. Here was a little blonde girl who looked sweet and innocent standing in front of me looking intrigued and waiting for my next move, while hordes of people rushed by us like race cars. It was such a cute scene!!! Finally, a lady stopped to let us borrow her pen, and we exchanged phone numbers and emails on pieces of paper. Afterward, she motioned that it was better to write her rather than telephone her, since she could understand written English better than spoken English. Then she pointed across the street and indicated that the metro station there was closer, and to follow her. I said "No, I'm headed to the other station this way, because I have to meet my friend Olga there." I wasn't sure if she understood me, so I opened up my dictionary and pointed to the word "rendezvous" to her, and then pointed at myself and toward the metro station I was headed to. I wasn't sure if she understood me or not, but we waved goodbye to each other anyway. (To this day, she has written me some emails and surprised me because she is able to write decent English by email even though in person she could hardly speak any!)

When I got back to the big promo screen at the main metro station, Olga and her friend showed up only minutes later. She introduced us and said her friend's name was "Nata". They decided to take me back to the area where my hostel was and get something to eat in that area. I followed them along while Olga's friend kept asking me questions about me and America, due to her curiosity with foreigners. I wondered if she was interested in me or not, but it didn't matter because Olga was way hotter. On the subway, Olga explained to me that I needed to start learning how to ride the metro because she couldn't always be with me on it. I said ok, but asked how I would know which direction the train was going and when to stop. Her answer was very vague and she basically said to just do it. Not exactly very helpful.

When we got off at my station, which was called Ploschad Lenina, Olga's friend Nata took us to an eatery with a singer/keyboard player inside. We ordered some food and sat down. The music was very good. I took out my camera and set it on an adjacent table and filmed some footage of all three of us.

When the keyboard player sang a soft romantic song, Nata asked me if I wanted to dance, but I said "My dancing is very bad." I then asked Olga if she wanted to dance, but she said that this wasn't the right place to do it. At the end of our meal, Olga finished her bottle of mineral water and asked if I could get her another one. I said "sure" and took her empty bottle, brought it to the cashier, gave them the empty bottle and said "one more" while making the "one" signal with my index finger. They took out a bottle from the fridge with a different color wrapper on it, and I asked "Are you sure it's the same kind?" and they nodded "Yes" so I paid 20 rubles for it. When we opened the new bottle and tasted it, we found that it was mineral water with gas in it, like a Club Soda. Yuck! I took it back with an American consumer complaint on my face, and said "This is the wrong one. I wanted water with NO gas!" So they gave me another one without gas in it. I assumed they were fixing their mistake so I took it without paying for it. After Olga and I shared it and finished it up, we were about to leave when the cashier said something to me. Olga said that they wanted me to pay for the extra bottle of water. I told Olga that they made a mistake in giving us the wrong kind of mineral water, and that I shouldn't have to pay for it. She translated it to them and told me "They don't want to pay for the extra water bottle." to which I replied "Well I don't want to have to pay for their mistake either! I gave them the exact bottle that I wanted another one of, so they should have known!" But Olga said that things didn't work that way here in Russia, so I gave in and gave them another 20 rubles.

When we got outside, Olga explained to me that this was Russia, not America, and that here if they mess up your order, even if it's their fault, you still have to pay for it. That's the custom here, and that the exception to it was if you went to a fancy expensive restaurant. I shook my head and said "I still don't think that's right" to which she replied "It doesn't matter what you think. No one cares what you think here. You have to follow the customs here." When we got back to my local metro station, it was about 9pm now even though it was still bright daylight. I asked if Olga wanted to come to the hostel with me so I could introduce her to everyone and open the bottle of wine with her. She replied "But you told me that your room isn't very nice" and at that point, I kind of regretted staying in a hostel, but oh well, if she really liked me, it shouldn't matter. Then Olga told me that she would be busy all day and night tomorrow, Thursday, with her teaching job and babysitting job, and that I should call her Friday morning so we could plan to get together again. I said ok and thanked her for the meeting. I gave her a goodbye hug and moved in to kiss her, and she turned her cheek to me. After kissing her cheek, I pointed to my lips, and she blushed and shook her head, and then waved me goodbye. As she was about to leave, I suddenly said "Olga, wait. I have a question. Do you still like me after today?" because I didn't want to be guessing all night whether things would go anywhere from here. She smiled and said "Yes, why not?" and left. I had no idea if that was genuine or not. Back at the hostel, I told the Europeans hanging out there about my day, how hot Olga was and how I was on a high to be around her. I even showed them video clips from my camcorder and they all agreed that she was hot alright.