So my trip home didn't go quite as smoothly as I had planned. The night before my big flight home, I stayed up all night having fun with friends. We went to see Swanlake at the New Opera theater in Moscow. I had recently watched Black Swan. That movie is seriously so weird. Very well done but bizarre. It actually made me a little depressed after I watched it. It was disturbing. Anyways, it was a good movie nonetheless. Having watched the movie, it made the ballet a lot more interesting. I think the version in the movie was better than the live version that I saw. During one of the intermissions, we were sitting there talking and we saw a group of twenty-somethings across the theater. By the way they were dressed and the way they talked, we could tell they were American. Americans just stand out in Moscow. They are easy to spot. Most of the time. After the ballet, my friend went up to them, "So...where are ya'll from?" And they said, "Texas." :)
After the ballet, we went to the restaurant at the top of the Ritz. It is SO expensive but has a great view. We just sat there and chatted. By then, it was almost 12am. I was debating whether or not I should just go home and finish packing (Because at this point I wasn't done packing...I seem to save myself that joy until the very last minute). I decided that I would just tough it out and stay up all night. After the Ritz we walked over to Red Square. It was beautiful at night. But there was this crazy street cleaner truck driver. He did NOT care if he drove right past people and drenched them with water and whatever other chemicals they use to clean the streets. He was tearing around Red Square spraying the street and we had to run for our lives. It was pretty funny actually. And a good memory.
After that, we made our way to Starlite diner. GREAT burgers and shakes just for the homesick American. We stayed there until about 2:30am and then all piled into a cab and went home. Once I got home, I had about 3 hours to pack, shower, and clean. My car was coming at 6am to pick me up. I was able to do it. I woke up Megan at 5:50am and said goodbye. :(
Once at the airport, I found Jeff's mom and friend. We made it through security and passport control pretty quickly. Probably because we were so early. :) All of us had no sleep at this point. They kicked us out of the gate area to clean and we had to stand there and wait. It was torture. We were so exhausted. I even put up a status on facebook about how tired I was. I don't even really remember doing that. I was falling asleep. Once on the plane I was happy to find out that it was a pretty empty flight. Most of the 12 hours, I was able to lay down over three seats and semi-sleep well.
Once we got to Houston, I had to say goodbye to June and Linn. They were headed to Oklahoma and Alabama. I noticed right away that my patience has "changed," let's say. Walking on the moving walkway (just a flat conveyor belt that moves so you can get where you're going faster) people were just standing on it. They weren't even standing on the right side like you're supposed to! I was getting so frustrated. I wasn't even in a hurry but I'm SO use to walking fast and getting where you need to go as quickly as possible, that I just could not stand waiting behind them. People who were not on the moving walkway were walking past us! I had to tell myself to calm down. "You're not in a hurry...it's ok..."
I was also waiting in a huge line for an elevator. I needed to go down but only the up button was pushed. But I needed to go down! So I walked to the front of the line and pushed the down button. It made sense to me, but I think I made everyone mad.
So I finally made it to Minneapolis. I called my parents and they were in Duluth waiting for me. I got to the gate and saw that the flight was leaving earlier. I thought, "O wow, I'm actually going to get there sooner." Then the guy got on the horn and said, "We were hoping to leave 30 minutes early, but this flight has just been cancelled due to fog in Duluth." WHAT? Cancelled?? They said that they might try and find us all a bus to Duluth. I waited for a little bit and that I called my parents and they said they would drive to Minneapolis to get me. The whole reason I bought a ticket to Duluth was to save them a trip all the way to Minneapolis. Now they had to drive to Duluth AND Minneapolis. Story of my life.
So I went to get my luggage and sat by the baggage claim area for 3 hours. So, I had stayed up all night in Moscow, took a 12 hour flight to the states, then another flight to MN, then had to sit at the airport for 3 hours and then a 4 hour drive home. UGH. But I made it and I'm happy to be home. LONG trip, but worth it.
After the ballet, we went to the restaurant at the top of the Ritz. It is SO expensive but has a great view. We just sat there and chatted. By then, it was almost 12am. I was debating whether or not I should just go home and finish packing (Because at this point I wasn't done packing...I seem to save myself that joy until the very last minute). I decided that I would just tough it out and stay up all night. After the Ritz we walked over to Red Square. It was beautiful at night. But there was this crazy street cleaner truck driver. He did NOT care if he drove right past people and drenched them with water and whatever other chemicals they use to clean the streets. He was tearing around Red Square spraying the street and we had to run for our lives. It was pretty funny actually. And a good memory.
After that, we made our way to Starlite diner. GREAT burgers and shakes just for the homesick American. We stayed there until about 2:30am and then all piled into a cab and went home. Once I got home, I had about 3 hours to pack, shower, and clean. My car was coming at 6am to pick me up. I was able to do it. I woke up Megan at 5:50am and said goodbye. :(
Once at the airport, I found Jeff's mom and friend. We made it through security and passport control pretty quickly. Probably because we were so early. :) All of us had no sleep at this point. They kicked us out of the gate area to clean and we had to stand there and wait. It was torture. We were so exhausted. I even put up a status on facebook about how tired I was. I don't even really remember doing that. I was falling asleep. Once on the plane I was happy to find out that it was a pretty empty flight. Most of the 12 hours, I was able to lay down over three seats and semi-sleep well.
Once we got to Houston, I had to say goodbye to June and Linn. They were headed to Oklahoma and Alabama. I noticed right away that my patience has "changed," let's say. Walking on the moving walkway (just a flat conveyor belt that moves so you can get where you're going faster) people were just standing on it. They weren't even standing on the right side like you're supposed to! I was getting so frustrated. I wasn't even in a hurry but I'm SO use to walking fast and getting where you need to go as quickly as possible, that I just could not stand waiting behind them. People who were not on the moving walkway were walking past us! I had to tell myself to calm down. "You're not in a hurry...it's ok..."
I was also waiting in a huge line for an elevator. I needed to go down but only the up button was pushed. But I needed to go down! So I walked to the front of the line and pushed the down button. It made sense to me, but I think I made everyone mad.
So I finally made it to Minneapolis. I called my parents and they were in Duluth waiting for me. I got to the gate and saw that the flight was leaving earlier. I thought, "O wow, I'm actually going to get there sooner." Then the guy got on the horn and said, "We were hoping to leave 30 minutes early, but this flight has just been cancelled due to fog in Duluth." WHAT? Cancelled?? They said that they might try and find us all a bus to Duluth. I waited for a little bit and that I called my parents and they said they would drive to Minneapolis to get me. The whole reason I bought a ticket to Duluth was to save them a trip all the way to Minneapolis. Now they had to drive to Duluth AND Minneapolis. Story of my life.
So I went to get my luggage and sat by the baggage claim area for 3 hours. So, I had stayed up all night in Moscow, took a 12 hour flight to the states, then another flight to MN, then had to sit at the airport for 3 hours and then a 4 hour drive home. UGH. But I made it and I'm happy to be home. LONG trip, but worth it.
I would have picked you up at the airport! I live so close to it and you would have napped on my floral couch :)I hope you are enjoying your time in GR. I miss it there always.
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