Russia: the beginning

Well I guess it really was about time that I said a little bit more about Russia! I don't want this to be one of those blogs where I just blab about my life, but there are a few personal details that I would like to include for my loving family members who do care ;)

So I will start from the beginning:

Monday afternoon at 5:00, my mom decided to check me in for my flight. All the sudden I heard this scream "MARIE!!!!!!!". Knowing how nervous my mom already was about the trip, I calmly walk into the room to inquire what is wrong and find that my flight from Houston to JFK has been cancelled. Oh boy Delta...I was obviously able to find another way to get to JFK, but now I had to be at the airport at 5am and have two stops on the way to Russia. Yes, it was a long day of travel, but I was going to RUSSIA! And I think waking up at 3:30 am actually helped me sleep well on the plane and become easily adjusted to the new time zone (9 hrs different from TX) when I arrived in Moscow at 10am.

I made the mistake of going to the first restroom I saw and when I came out the passport inspection line was incredibly long and only one station was open for foreigners. Fortunately, they opened up more lines soon, and even though I was one of the last to go through, our bags still weren't at the baggage claim when I got there. So a little more waiting...I started to feel bad because it was already 11:15 and I knew Dima had been there since 10, but finally my bags came! I was actually quite nervous, I must confess, that there were a few minutes where I just kinda stood outside customs, trying to decide how I could just walk through and find Dima!

Nevertheless, I finally did it! I turned the corner and there was a big glass wall and a whole crowd of people....and....there he was, standing right at my exit wearing a big smile and holding a rose. I actually can't even describe how the first few minutes were. I gave him a huge, but I myself didn't even believe it was real. It was too real! I guess this is what Skype does to you...

Ok, enough mushy stuff. We had to wait about an hour for the next train to Moscow, but I didn't mind because my coffee-eye spotted a Starbucks just inside the station :) I was also pleasantly surprised at the large variety of foods and desserts available. But an Americano is still an Americano and it was wonderful!

I really should be more succinct. Here are a few more things in Moscow that were really cool:

-The train from the airport to Moscow was really new and had these green LED lit buttons that you had to touch to open up the doors

-The metro is very very deep (sometimes). The underground stations are quite clean and very elegant with nice light fixtures and marble decor in the walls.

-The people in the metro and train stations walk really fast. Even I found a hard time keeping up! (and if you know me at all, you know I can walk fast)

-Need a parking spot? Forget parallel parking- just pull up your car onto the sidewalk!

-If you order a coffee at any restaurant or cafe, expect it to be about 1/3 the size of a typical American restaurant coffee. It tastes good- it's just a little too small for me :D

Love,

Violamad