Stampede

We are in Kras and it has been an interesting journey to say the least! We started out having an emergency landing in Atlanta...see previous post. Then we had to RUN to our gate there because we got in late and our next gate was a mile from our landing gate and of course, the trains were not working. We made the flight to Moscow during the final boarding call and we both have blisters on our feet because we are wearing new boots...genius! So that flight was pretty uneventful...Adam took some drugs and slept like a champ, I must have bragged too much about being able to sleep anywhere because I was not able to sleep well at all. We landed in Moscow and discovered there was another family flying in from New York. Once we had them and all the bags, we were taken to a fairly nice hotel where we rested, ate and showered and then the real fun began.

Our flight from Moscow to Kras was to take about 4.5 hours. We sat on the runway for a good hour and a half for some unknown reason because oh, we don't speak Russian. While trying to get on the plane, we witnessed a stampede. When they call to board, all the Russians get up and rush over to the gate. They are filtered through in no particular order to what I now call the underground freezer. Once you passed through the gate, you descend stairs to a room and wait for a bus to drive you out to the plane on the runway where, by the way, it is about 5 degrees. Then, you walk up the stairs and fight your way to your seat. Once at our seat, we realized this plane was designed to transport "little people." There is NO and I mean NO leg room. Of course all the Russians ran to the gate and now we know why...to get the overhead space. So here we are trying to fit our frames into a space designed for a four year old and we can't figure out how we will get our backpacks, our heavy coats, plus, um, our bodies into this tiny space. One of the ladies sitting by us tells (signs) us to put our bags under our own seat...we did. We got yelled at by the lady behind us who is Russian and we cannot understand a thing she is saying! We laughed that off.

Side note...when a Russian begins to talk to you, and you look at them like,"uh...I have no idea what your saying." and then you say, "English." They will continue to talk to you. You still so not understand. As Americans, I have found that we tend to continue talking in English only we ad some form of sign language. I am not sure who looks more silly of the two.

Anyway, we landed...the flight was smooth the food ok. Adam slept again and I did not, again. Our drivers were there to meet us and help us with our bags. We got into the car and traveled about an hour to the hotel. Once we were checked in, we went to the hotel cafe and had our first taste of Russia. it was interesting but Adam and I like the food. After this, we walked around a bit, went to a bank to exchange some money and then returned to the hotel to get ready for our ministry of education appointment.

To be continued...