Back in the U.S.S.R.

I was fluent in Russian once. I even dreamed in the Cyrillic tongue. It took me two years to get good at the language while I lived in a Russian speaking country. I flew home in 1996, ending my stay in the Ukraine. Unfortunately I haven't returned. There aren't many native Russian speakers where I live and my fluency is now questionable. Now my non-fluent obsessive-compulsive brain got the wild hair to go back. In August.

I want to take my entire family, but three kids and a spouse makes the trip unaffordable. I want to take my wife but leaving three kids at home makes the trip unattainable. The next option was getting on the phone with a friend I worked with over there for several months. He might be able to go.

Now things get complicated.

I need to practice speaking Russian. I can still get directions and order food, but conversation would be horrendous. It is so hard to tell when one word ends and the next begins.

I renewed my passport a few years ago in case the mafia came after me and I had to leave the country in a hurry. Hey, don't laugh, you never know when you complain about a pizza delivery if you are going to end up on a secret mob hit list.

If I go I need to pay for a plane ticket and reserve a hotel. I need check on getting a Ukrainian Visa (permission to be in the country not the plastic rectangle in the wallet). Did I mention I need to practice Russian?

I am excited. It would be an amazing experience at this point in my life. Maybe I will dream in Russian tonight.