Odessa at last!

So we woke in groups of two and three, assembled gear, and headed out for the road. Someone had gotten instructions from Lucy and Sasha (whom were staying with a different host) on where to hitch out of Kiev, and the proper bus to take to get there. We opted to walk 30 minutes or so to the proper bus, instead of paying twice ($.25 or so), and to have a bit of a walk before ge/tting on the bus and then hitting the road. Once again, we paired off, this time I would be hitching with Julien, a french guy I had met last year at 8/8/8, and someone whom I have had many interesting conversations with.
Some wanted to stop and eat, while others (Julien, myself, and Jeppe) decided to hitch out directly. Fortunately for me, Julien spoke a passable amount of Russian, and in no time we had a lift with a pleasant woman all the way to Uman, a little over half way to Odessa. In addition to speaking English and driving a hella comfortable Subaru, our lift gave us chocolate, yoghurt and some milk to enjoy while we waited. We had a quick breakfast with some bread and sausage we had also picked up, and headed down the road. Soon enough, a pair of local teenagers walked up to us and were attempting to speak (completely in Ukrainian) to us about hitch-hiking. The girl pulled out a white-out pen (I had forgotten this trick) and improved our sign immediately. We had a second piece of cardboard, and eventually we put together a second sign for the other kids to use.
Eventually we managed to pick up a lift, with the local kids explaining to the driver that we were tourists and spoke no Ukrainian, but were trying to get to Odessa. Though slow, our lift was headed almost directly there. At some point, we were controlled by the police, but this passed without Julien or myself being controlled directly (we did not have our passports checked). The ride went smoothly, and though we took turns passing out, we were dropped approximately 3 kilometers from downtown Odessa.
We began to walk, holding out our sign and thumbs, and within a few minutes were picked up by a man and (I assume) his father. They initially asked for money (the younger [son?] spoke English), but when we explained that we were hitch-hiking and carried very little money, they agreed to take us to the trolleybus, and in the end gave us the two Krivna (Ukrainian currency) to pick up the bus directly to Shevashenko monument. On ths bus, Julien met a young woman whom spoke a bit of English as well as French, and she directed us to the correct stop. Beer, food, and a money changer later, and we were off to explore the park and find our friends!
Soon enough, we found the monument, and a throng of hitch-hikers conversing in a mixture of English, Ukrainian, Russian, and a smattering of other languages. We found some friends (Valentina, Shaun, Misha, Lucy, Sasha) as well as a few friends from last year and some of the locals. Almost immediately, I met a young Canadian girl named Viera, and soon we were chatting about the various modes of free travel in North America, most notably train-hopping and hitch-hiking. As time moved on, Reese, Jeppe, Sarah, Martin, and a other friends slowly showed up. As night fell, a group discussion was organized, which I graciously moderated (mostly by standing shirtless in the middle of a circle, and yelling at people to shut up when someone else was talking or translating to Russian). With this we brainstormed ideas for the next two days, organized some workshops, made some loose plans, and then headed for the beach! A small party ensued, though as everyone was so tired from the days of travel, most people quickly passed out.