NEWPORT — When Selma Williams of Boston retired as editor-in-chief of a group of 17 weekly newspapers, she found herself a little bored. As she cast around for something to keep herself busy, she discovered a job that could feed her need for travel and excitement and yet capitalize on her skills in journalism.

Selma and her husband, Plynn, who summer on Great Moose Lake in Hartland, took off for the Ukraine. Selma was fired both by her father’s heritage — he was Ukrainian — and by the challenge of explaining American journalism to newspapers just recently out from under the shadow of communism.

Their trip was sponsored by Knight Ridder Fellowships, and Selma told Newporters gathered at a Kiwanis luncheon Thursday that she realized “The Ukraine is not really No. 1 on anyone’s vacation schedule.” But the Williams’ decision to go to Kiev turned into “the most fascinating six months of our lives,” said Selma.

“At times, we felt we had stepped 100 years into the past,” said Plynn, as Selma described tables in the market holding only chunks of meat, empty store shelves, an inability to purchase sugar and a government where bribery is rampant.

And yet, he said, the country’s emphasis on culture made him ashamed of the lack of emphasis on the arts in America.

“The degree of their cultural awareness is amazing,” said Selma. She said a native turned to her at a performance of “La Traviata,” which cost 75 cents admission, and asked her how many times she had seen the opera. Selma said she meekly admitted it was her first time while the shocked native said she had seen the opera eight times.

Selma said that aside from basking in the culture, the countryside, and the customs, her primary goal was to “go to this country, with its emerging democracy, and talk to their newspaper staffs about issues that arise between the press and the communities.

“Their idea of what should be in a newspaper and ours is quite different,” said Selma. She said most Ukrainian papers are opinion papers and rarely will a reader find breaking, local news.

“We expect the facts. Basically, American journalists present the background and facts. In the Ukraine, the newspapers are one big editorial page. They like opinion journalism.”

Selma said she brought two samples of editorials from The New York Times with her, printed a day apart, and both dealing with the struggle for independence of some former Russian states.

“I used them to show that our newspapers present opposing points of view and let the readers decide which view to adopt for themselves. While speaking before the Press Union, however, they only wanted copies of one of the articles — the side they favored,” she said.

Selma said the country is still deeply rooted in “official thoughts” and opinions only sanctioned by the government. “They are not in the cultural habit of tolerating opposing opinions. I never appreciated how easily we accept varying points of view in America before,” said Selma.

“In the wake of this failed experiment called communism, the Ukrainian people are experimenting with democracy. It is not simple or easy. Living is much harder in a country where all the old rules are gone and the new rules haven’t been written,” she said.

As an example of how their observations instilled deep pride in America for the Williamses, they told of taking a walk in the city of Odessa on the Black Sea. Odessa is a seaport and the couple noticed an American battleship in the harbor.

“We decided to go see the ship and it was that time of day when they were lowering the flag. They had taped music and first they played the Ukrainian national anthem,” she said. When the “Star-Spangled Banner” began to play, the couple stood at attention with tears of homesickness running down their faces.

Selma said a young sailor put his arm around her and tried to comfort her. She asked him where he was from and he said Maine. “A little town,” he said. “You wouldn’t know it.”

“What town is it?” Selma asked.

“Dover-Foxcroft,” the sailor answered. “I never got his name,” she said, “but he was such a piece of home for us.”

Although Plynn said the Ukraine is trying very hard to make democracy work, he added that he often felt as though he had stepped back in time. “Remember, this is a country where they only whispered their Christmas carols five years ago,” he said.