Moscow

The Flight -
I was nervous to fly on my own. I was worried about switching planes in Paris and making my flight. I also worried about my passport and everything going through smoothly.  The first flight was ten hours long and I was so excited that it didn't really feel that bad.  I probably watched eight movies!

When I got into Paris it was stressful. I only had one hour until my next plane boarded and the Paris airport is huge! I was walking quickly, dragging my suitcase and my giant bag balanced on top (which kept falling off - super frustrating!) I was unsure if I was going the right way as I hurried down loooong tunnels. When it finally opened up I was totally frustrated when I saw that I had to go through security again! I finally made it to my gate sweating and so, so tired.  It was like two in the morning so I really wanted to sit down but I had just sat for ten hours. I also knew that I was going to have to sit for another four hours so I forced myself to stand. The flight kept getting delayed and I could not muster any patience; I was dying to get on that plane.

Finally, we were allowed to board an hour late and when I sat down I immediately fell asleep.  I was so disoriented and tired that when the plane started moving like fifteen minutes later, I woke up and was confused and thought that we were already in Moscow!  I slept almost the entire way, and the flight attendants kept waking me up to hand me food! The food was good but I just felt a little sick to my stomach. When we landed the guy sitting  next to me, who turned out to be Mongolian, started talking to me. He had attended college in Chicago and is a lawyer now in Moscow. He was so nice and walked me through the airport and gave me some safety tips.

Mark had told me that he was going to have a taxi waiting for me and so I was stressed about being able to find the right taxi. When I finally got through customs and walked through the doors outside there was Mark and I almost cried! I missed him so much! It was so fun to sit next to him in the back of the taxi and ride through down town Moscow to the apartment that he had been living in.