good to be back:)

I'm back! Missed you! Missed blogging. Missed my computer. Missed my house. Missed the comfortable North American way of life. It's good to be back.

It's been an interesting month. The flight there was filled with unexpected. Little Margo got the stomach flu in the middle of the flight to Vienna. I'm not plunging into the gross details, but lets just say we all smelled less than pleasant by the time we've reached our destination. So, the first few days were difficult, to say the list. On the bright side, the weather was just perfect pretty much all the time. I rented an apartment in the very heart of the city for the first 5 days and visited all the places I loved as a kid. I've met some best childhood friends. It was so cool to see where life took them. Overall, I felt that things haven't changed all that much. Odessa remained unique and people (although rude and cocky) were super fun!

However, in terms of artistic inspiration, I gathered little to none. Taste was hard to come by and western pop was overpowering all local talent. It was obvious that status had everything to do with peoples choices in cars, cloth, art and attitudes. 

I found it funny that all the souvenirs were 'made in china'. Needless to say, I didn't bring any back.

I was so busy with kids and making sure that everything went according to plan - I didn't make a single sketch. Can't wait to dive into work. 

More stories and pictures are on their way...