Everyone loves their hometowns, just because. But Odessans have their reasons why.
Odessa won’t stop. Don’t listen to those who preach that “everyone left” and Odessa is “not the same”. Odessa is an ETERNAL city. Odessa would “digest” anybody, no matter who they are and where they came from. And when asked “What are your roots?” that anybody, and their children, and grandchildren, and great-grandchildren would proudly say: “I am Odessan.” Odessa’s sun, her sea, her food – will imprint on anyone who experienced it at least once. The imprint becomes deeper with each sweet tomato, or luxury grape cluster or velvety apricot or any other piece of fruit you eat there. Only in Odessa, when you are sick, they wish you, literally, to “plump up” instead of “get well”. We are “what we eat in Odessa”.
Odessa is a mother to so many children. But she never could keep her children by her side. They always wanted to check out what is across the pond. They’ve lived happily in Odessa, but have left her happily, as well. They’ve left to see “the big difference”. Having seen it, they search the world for a place that is at least a little bit like of their hometown. They bring along the pieces of their home city, the ones that are beloved since the childhood and are packable in a box. Odessa’s children are all very lucky – because when it becomes known that one hails from Odessa, it makes other people, familiar with this phenomenon, smile and show their affection. The prominent Odessan and well-known stand-up comedian, Mikhail Zhvanetsky once said: Odessans realize themselves beyond their city. The world is full of famous Odessans scattered all over.
And here I am, one of those, dispersed but not famous yet, I want to congratulate my home city, which means all of us Odessans, on her birthday! I want to present you with a trailer for Susanna Alperina’s film “The tone of Great Odessa”. This film is gallivanting across the film festivals and reaps prizes so far, but it will be released next year! Look forward to watching it! As well as, the old Odessa’s photos of my father, tanned Slavka from Vorontsovka. He, like all Odessa boys, wanted to be a mariner, always talked like it was his turn in the stand-up comedy club, loved girls and booze, and spent his free time wandering around the eternal city with his camera to “catch its moments”. Have a look and you will see that Odessa and Odessans do not change. The decorum changes, but the essence remains the same, ETERNAL…
