We are here in Russia at last!!

As is custom with me I slept very little the night before we departed. I am not sure if this is due to the excitement of the upcoming adventure or because I seem to fail to get everything together until moments before we must leave for the airport. Regardless of my reasoning this has become somewhat of a tradition on my part. I guess my ability to sleep on airplanes could in some way be attributed to my severe lack of sleep preceding the flights.

This pretty clearly describes my experience while flying, on this trip or any other. I navigate my way through the check in process, security, and boarding the plane all in a daze of confusion, insomnia is the best drug ever. Then I vaguely remember sitting down in the seat, they all look the same after a time, and my pillow comes out as my eyes close. Occasionally I have a pesky stewardess who decides it is her personal mission to ensure my compliance with aviation regulations. In this case sleep is often interrupted by a reminded to buckle up or confirm my music player is turned off. I always assure the annoyingly helpful lady that I am in full compliance, which is often a blatant lie.

Several transfers and flights later we arrived in Moscow. As we walked off the plane I was greeted by familiar sights from last year’s customs experience. It sort of felt like visiting a dear friend whom you never seem to get the chance to visit. I spent some time reminiscing on our trip last year. On that trip we had met up with Jean and the rest of the discovery staff in Amsterdam. At that time we were with familiar people on a new and exciting adventure. I had no idea who we would meet and what that experience would entail. In short I was scared out of my mind. I knew almost nothing about Russian people. Last year was an experience so wonderful it would take days for me to describe all the wonders in both people and places we were privileged to be a part of. On the last trip I made friends that have remained very dear to my heart, the kind that when you close your eyes and smile it is their faces you see in front of you smiling back. As I write this now I feel a twinge of guilt in not maintaining a more in depth correspondence with them. Little do they know that a minimal amount of communication from me is a HUGE indication of how much I value them. I am a person of few words when I am not physically in front of you, except of course when posting online. If I actually take the time to send a note or chat online it is an indication of how much I care. On this trip we had not met up with the discovery group, we had in fact arrived slightly before them.

I was not sure who would meet us at the airport but I did know that person would be a friend. We made it through customs uneventfully. As we rounded the corner we were greeted by a smiling face and a very welcome warm hug from Macktie the second in command of the local discovery program. We waited only a short time for Jean to arrive with the rest of the group. This year we have Sean, Sarah (this is her second trip as well), Mitch, Heather, Jean, and myself visiting from the States. We made our way around the airport to the new train to take us into the city center of Moscow. I was jet lagged but I refused to admit it as attempted to maintain a conversation with my friends from Gallaudet University.

I spent some time explaining to Mitch and Sean the importance of exchanging money early in your trip. I always try to arrive in a new country with at least a small amount of local currency in my pocket. When I arrive I like to hit the ATM up for some more money. I get a decent exchange rate and I am 99% sure I will not get taken advantage of from the ATM. As of this message, to the best of my knowledge, Sean and Mitch still have not made it to the ATM machine.

After the train ride we met up with some more friends. Heather and I departed from the main group at this point. Sean, Mitch and Sarah were to stay with Vitya and his family while Heather and I were to stay with Maria (Maha, Masha, she has many nick names). She is one of those people I felt I made a very real connection to last year and I was looking forward to spending time with her this year. This of course is an easy task as we are living at her house right now. She reminds me of my cousins Tania, Sandra, and Elisa back in Illinois. We were at Maria’s house around 1 PM local time. Heather almost immediately fell asleep. I was still in denial of my jet lag and decided to annoy Maria with some mindless prattle. I am not entirely sure if anything I said actually made sense on any level. I do distinctly remember being unable to focus on a single task for any significant amount of time. I must have been very difficult to follow but thankfully she endured and I at least had a pleasant time. We spent part of the time there making soap. I have never done this before but it is similar to so many arts and crafts I have been involved in, the task was not a difficult one. There is a double boiler and some pre made soap blocks. Stuff gets melted, scents are added, oils are added, everything gets poured into a mold, and then set out to cool. It was an interesting experience and one of those things that cannot be planned and will always be remembered.

Another friend of mine happened to be in tow visiting her sister. I had been in contact with her via text message for some time before I left. I decided to get a hold of her and see if she wanted to go out tonight after everyone had slept. She accepted and I began making plans for us to met here then head out to someplace for some fun. I took a walk to familiarize myself with the neighborhood, with Maria accompanying me. Do keep in mind that this is Moscow in the middle of winter, but South Dakota was colder. I found all the local metro stops and relayed that information to Christina. In a short time I returned to the cold to meet Christina at the Metro stop. Not long after that, the rest of the group joined us and we all headed out to Red Square to look for trouble/fun.

I was starving at this point and decided to get some pizza to eat. I was still in denial of being Jet lagged and I had not yet slept. While we were eating Pizza I was having a conversation with Sarah. I remember my hands moving and then there was nothing but blackness for some time. When I came back to awareness the conversation was still going on. According to my friends my eyes were open the entire time and I appeared awake and alert. I even contributed some things to the conversation. It was a good nap at least for me, perhaps this is how the politicians make so many interesting decisions in their careers. It was at this point I remember Maria teaching me a song in Russian (I have it typed on my phone). I believe for most of the song I was not actually awake. I will have to review it when I am more alert.

The group decided to head back towards home at this point but I was more awake after my nap and willing to stay out longer. Thankfully Christina was in the mood for some fun. The whole group headed over to an area with a band, dancing, and ice sculptures. We spent about an hour dancing in the square with people. I had my video camera with me and I will post some footage when I get a chance to.

We meandered our way home at about 11:30 PM. On the way back we dropped off Christina at the Metro and sent her back to her sister’s place. The group got back to Maria’s place where she was finishing up her homework. The rest of the gang got a ride from Vitya back to his place and I finally got my ride to dream land via the bed. We went to sleep at Midnight and woke up at 4:45 am to make a 6:45 appointment. My alarm was set for 5:30 but my body felt differently, I guess, I will have to have a talk with my body later on when I am more coherent.

Heather tried unsuccessfully to operate the shower here. She resorted to a washcloth and the sink. I found this a bit more amusing than she did. I have traveled enough and seen enough showers that I was able to navigate the controls and exit the bathroom clean and refreshed. I did explain the process to Heather for the next time she showers. We headed out to the metro to meet up with the rest of the group at the basement theater and catch a train to some town in the country.