“Kompot”, a popular café on Odessa’s central pedestrian avenue was crowded on a recent night. Two middle-aged Americans at the corner table tried to communicate with two glamorous young Ukrainian girls.
The men with saggy skin and round bellies looked desperate, struggling to make the weekend plans with a few emotional gestures and simple English words. The two girls at their table looked 18-year-old or younger, while their dates could be older than their fathers.
