Flying

Now that I’ve been in Russia nearly 5 days, I think it will be important to update my blog. So much has happened, but I need to make sure that I include important details so I’ll begin with my flight….

Woke up On Sunday morning, January 30 2011, at 7:00am. I had a very important mental list to complete before leaving for Charlotte airport including showering, blow drying my hair, make up, clothes and packing all of my belongings for 4 months in Russia(you know, the thing I should have done a week ago… no big deal). Surprisingly I was able to complete all tasks without a problem and some time left over, which was a big shock because I am never on time. No, seriously- my mom can attest to this- on time is strange concept for me especially when I have to do my hair.

Anyway, my mom and dad piled everything into the car: 1 checked bag, 1 carry on and my gigantic tote bag/”purse”. The soundtrack for the car ride was provided by Wilson Pickett (Mustang Sally, etc.). It was a lively upbeat CD to mask the silence of my anxiety haha. I never like to admit when I’m nervous about something (and I still won’t admit it now) but if there ever was a time for nerves that car ride was definitely it.

We arrived at the airport and now it was time to retrieve the tickets. Now, I have failed to mention the weight limit of the checked bag. It’s 50 pounds. I had to fit 4 months of clothes into a bag all weighing less than 50 pounds. My mom was so nervous it wasn’t going to work and I’m sure had multiple back up plans on the off chance it was overweight. So, when I sat my suitcase on the scale I was definitely holding my breath. Miraculously, it was 50.5 pounds!! After that, the whole trip was easy as pie haha.

Seriously though, that was the hardest part about traveling- the weight limit. I made it to my connecting flight from Charlotte to JKF in New York without problems. Once arriving in NY I had about 4 hours to kill, one of which I spent sitting in an airport restaurant, which resulted in paying for a $20 side salad and diet coke. Yes, $20 for a side salad and a diet coke. That’s not okay.

After that ridiculous expense, I sat in the terminal. I tried to read but I was interrupted by a kid asking me where the bathroom was… in Russian. I guess he assumed I was Russian and I pointed to the bathrooms. I’m not going to lie, it made me feel really cool. Oh! An interesting thing I noticed about Russian women- they don’t smile. At least the ones in the airport didn’t. They were all very tall and statuesque with beautiful Eastern European faces, but they held those faces in a permanent pout. So, of course I mimicked that too. Haha, it was fun pretending to be aloof for a while.

The plane ride to Moscow wasn’t too terrible. I had an aisle seat with two empty seats on my left. I can’t say I wasn’t happy to sit by myself (I was nervous about having to make tentative conversation with a Russian). I watched a movie, tried to read, tried to sleep, stared aimlessly at the char in front of me, all to no avail because I was bored out of my mind. The flight was only 8 hours though, and I’ve certainly spent more time being bored.

As the plane landed, my excitement grew. I think I was in slight denial about actually living in Russia, so when the plane began its decent into Moscow it hit me that this was real. I am actually going to a foreign country and I am actually going to live there. This is a scary concept, but one that I was ready for.