Russian warmth and other types of PDA

I arrived in Moscow this morning at 5 am. This time I was totally
alone. One of my friends offered to get up early ad meet me at the
airport, but I declined the offer. I think it is good practice to
totally immerse yourself in a foreign environment and try to
accomplish goals.

This does not mean it is any easier to do just because I chose to do
it. I was toatally neverous and felt very isolated. I was afraid I
would insult someone or make some mistake that got me sent home or
something like that. Thankfully the day went smoothly.

I was suppose to meet up with a friend here in the AM and chill with
her all day. Sadly my Russian phone would not work. I spent the day
going to various metro stops to see if anything looked familiar and I
could walk to her house, No such luck. After two hours of this , I
decided to set up shop in a starbucks on arbat street.

When I arrived there was no snow on the ground. As I say in starbucks
I got to watch as it started to snow and blanketed the ground in clean
white fresh snowy goodness. I had not slept in three days so I was in
and out of it for a while there. I was struck by what I saw both at
starbucks and on the train into Moscow. Both couple were young so that
may have had something to do with it. Both showed open, warm, and
passionate affection, publicly. It was a kind of care free joy of just
being together and being oblivious to the outside world; that I have
not seen here before. It was a nice thing to see.

The rest of the gang flew in and I was thankful for my time alone. No
matter how many times I come here, I am still a foreigner. Each time I
get that gut wrenching feeling of "here I got into a world of people I
can understand marginally at best, into a culture I have only begun to
scratch the surface of, and I'm alone". It is a moment I have when I
begin each journey into a different country. A moment where I have to
pause, take a deep calming breadth, and walk one foot in front of the
other into the unknown.

Silver linings

Earlier I mentioned how I did not take a tour of Frankfurt. Instead I
sort of took a self guided tour of the airport.

Today was a busy day for me. Issues with the new house and getting
Internet set up at home. Thankfully I had wifi and a plug to spend my
day being productive.

Important tip here:

When using a plug adapter make sure you do not leave the adapter
behind while packing up your equipment in a hurry. I did this once
before in Ireland at the airport. I guess it is a lesson I did not
learn the first time.

Here comes the silver lining:

Earlier on my self guided airport tour I remembered seeing a travel
electronic store. As soon as I noticed my missing adapter I hustled to
the store arriving just before they closed. I bought two adapter to
have a spare. Glad I took the tour earlier or I may not have been able
to find the store in time. I guess the universe had it's own reasons
for the confusion earlier. Nice that the karmic payoff happened so
quickly.

Thanks Universe

-Dana

Frankfurt Tourism = FAIL

I am on a 12 hour layover in Frankfurt Germany. I like the long layovers because it normally gives me the chance to go out and explore for a bit then head back to the airport and catch my outgoing flight. Mind you I have been here a few times so I am not hyper motivated to walk around this city in the middle of winter. Since I am here already I figured, why not!

I did the usual of going to the information desks and asked about storage for my luggage and things to do in town. This is where things started to go south. I got my bag in storage just fine. Then, I asked about transportation into the city. The first guy at the tourist information both said he had no idea what I could do while here for 12 hours. That was not very helpful. I had to press him and he gave me directions the "metro". I roamed around and never found a metro. I went to a place that had signs all written in English about special sightseeing tours for people in the airport. I don't normally go for this kind of thing but I was bored so I went in and asked. I guess the signs are in English but the tours are only in German. Understandable since I am in Germany. I asked him about other stuff to do. He had no idea either and gave me directions to the "metro" (totally different directions than the first bloke). Again no metro.

I repeated this hunting process on 4 more people at the information and tourist booths, all with similar results. I even asked a complete stranger, same result. Finally I decided it was really not worth it. If it is this much trouble to go sightseeing in the city I am not going to waste my time and money on it.

I found a nice little cafe with Wi-Fi in the airport and got some coffee and will surf the net until I have to leave. I should mention, every single person I spoke with was friendly and outgoing. The shuttle driver and I even joked around about long solid cylindrical objects being broken and flat. Totally not a PG conversation but fun to have with a total stranger. The girl with him was in tears from laughing so hard.

Sorry Frankfurt, I had a wallet full of money I would have gladly spent in your city if only you had given me the option to do so.

On My Way Back to Russia

Traveling invokes mixed feelings for me sometimes. I think it is
traveling alone for extended trips that gets me. Of course I'm excited
to travel and to be away from my normal environment. At the same time
I am sad to be leaving the familiar suroundings of home.

I have been traveling since I was 5 years old alone. With divorced
parents living in seperate cities, I spent a lot of time traversing
the distance between the two. I can still remember the sinking feeling
as I would leave each place. It is a similar feeling now.

On this trip, I'm starting in Oklahoma, where I spent my holidays with
family, and traveling to Russia via a 37 hour series of flights. It
may be this long flight has influenced my state of mind but I think it
is more than that. It is difficult leaving when you really enjoy what
you have where you are.

For this trip I am not as well prepared. I do not anticipate any
problems but several of my safety precautions have not been taken. For
example I am carrying much less cash than normal, I have not printed
out all my paperwork to keep a hard copy, and I have not made
arrangents for what I will do after my arrival.

Well for ths trip I will approach it more with a Taoist philosophy and
let the experience flow around me and with me while I enjoy the
journey. This trip is slightly out of my comfort zone, I look forward
to the growing experience.

Wish me luck....

-Dana