Hitting the road with...Viera!

I managed to get a few hours of sleep, once again wrapped up in my tarp, before the warm sun and throng of friends returned. There was quite a commotion when folks realized, some still slightly drunk, that they had been robber, and naturally they were pretty pissed off. Mixed breakfast and goodbyes ensued for a few hours, with people figuring out where they were trying to go and with whom. I talked with Viera for a bit, and she put forth an interest in learning about camping from me, in addition to needing a hitching partner. I canned my trip to Moldova (Sorry Erin!) in favor of hitching with Viera to L'viv, and from there to the European Rainbow gathering. There were again eight of us heading off to the same place, and so after much commotion, goodbyes, hugs, more hugs, delays, goodbyes, etc etc (getting hitch-hikers moving in the same direction is slightly easier than re-stuffing a pillow with feathers after it's been emptied), we headed out. I had checked the “board” for directions on which tram to take out of the city, and someone had written “Tram 8- from main train station.” Shaun pointed out that Tram 5 SHOULD get us to the road to L'viv, but unfortunately I trusted the person whom wrote on the board. Well, a 20 minute walk, losing Timon on the way, a tram in the wrong direction, and finally seven of us were at the road to L'viv! Viera and I paired off, and Tyler, now partnerless (Timon had been lost in the tram confusion at the main train station) joined us to form a motley crew. Normally, 3 people hitching together is a difficult hitch, as with the added space of backpacks, the only possible lift involves one driver with almost no luggage. Well, as luck would have it, almost immediately someone pulled over...And wanted money. Viera, being Slovak, was able to converse and the person sped away when he realized we were not willing to pay for a lift to Kiev (550km). The next person, a young woman, agreed to take us to Uman, the halfway point, where we would be able to hitch a lift to L'viv. The ride went smoothly, with my offering chocolate to Tyler and the driver, while Viera slept (I got a picture...).
At the interchange in Uman, I began perusing the stalls looking for a snack. When I turned back around, Viera was heading for me, asking my help with something. Apparently, some guy had dropped his wallet, and when he walked away not realizing it, another guy (his 'friend') picked it up, and offered half the money to Tyler. Tyler had agreed, but the friend had returned too quickly, and the man had stuffed the wallet down the front of his shirt. It took a couple of minutes for Viera to explain to me what exactly was happening, and immediately I recognized it as a scam. I pointed to the guy whom now had possesion of the wallet, saw it pretty obviously outlined against his stomach under his shirt, and pointed to my own stomach and his. The guy attempted to search me, and I moved away and lifted my shirt. When I attempted to do the same to the guy, he slapped my hand away and became quite agitated. I gave him the finger (in Russian, this is done by placing the thumb under index finger, like a “T” in ASL), a polite “screw you moron”, and walked away, telling the others to walk as well. I walked to the gas station, bought myself and tyler some snacks (Viera did not want anything, but ate some of mine), and we took off hitching.
At the hitch-out spot, we met a Russian dude heading to the Carpathians (BEAUTIFUL mountains in the southwest of Ukraine, stretching from mid-Romania to Crimea...). He got a lift out, and soon Sarah and Valentina showed up! Strangely enough, when they were walking past the market, a dude dropped his wallet...
Eventually the three of us got a lift 60km in a taxi, free of charge. Apparently that night, 11 hitch-hikers camped out in the spot we were waiting, but we had just departed before many of them arrived. At our new location, after buying some water (Viera was wary of any tap sources, I had been drinking from the tap all along), we made camp, ate some pasta, all crammed into my tent and chatted for a while, and eventually we all crashed (Tyler outside, Viera and myself in the tent). It was WONDERFUL after two nearly sleepless nights to be able to be in my own bag, in a mostly quiet, cold area. Unfortunately, both Tyler and Viera were cold that night, and though I opened my bag to wrap it partially around Viera, she was still a bit cold (no ground insulation). Naturally, being close to another warm body, I was nearly sweating.