We planned on leaving for the airport
with plenty of time built in for the usual last minute packing, running late
and traffic. Mark’s mom met us at Danielle’s parents’ house and we all, with
Danielle’s parents and brother, were heading to LAX to meet Mark’s dad and
sister. We made it to the airport with plenty of time and we checked in with
minimal problems. Aeroflot Airlines (Russian partner with Delta Airlines) has
some interesting requirements when it comes to carry-on baggage. Typically, a
passenger is allowed a carry-on bag and a personal item. We each had small,
carry-on suitcases and a backpack. Apparently, our backpacks were too big for
what they considered a personal item and some last minute repacking had to be
done. Even with the repacking, we were required to check Mark’s carry-on. This
just added to the already critical budget problems. Then came the time to get the
girls set-up. They had both been doing a great job walking around the airport
and taking it all in. They were a little nervous, but all things considered,
they were taking it like champs! The attendant at the check in counter had
little knowledge about processing the girls. She had to get her supervisor to
help with the process and we actually had to help walk them through the
process. Finally, some of our planning paid off! We had to remind them of a
number of things that would be required by security, separate from the check in
process. Everything was finally done and a concierge, of sorts, was assigned to
escort us and the girls to be screened by security. The concierge, however,
spoke little English, but he didn’t speak Russian either…probably Hindi, if we
had to guess! The girls’ crates were screened and we gave the girls one last
hug before securing them in their crates. We were assured by our concierge that
he would be with the girls until they were loaded on the plane and, we think,
he promised that they would be indoors, in a temperature controlled area, and would
be the last to be loaded on the plane. We were quite nervous, as we were still
more than two hours before scheduled take off and a lot could happen in the
meantime. We sucked it up, took a deep breath and tried to regulate our
energies, in an attempt not to upset the girls. We feel we were surprisingly
strong, but once the girls left us, we thought we might lose it! Luckily, not
even a whimper from the girls and they were off to take their first plane ride,
just the two of them in the cargo area :)
We went back to the check-in counter to get our boarding passes, baggage
receipts and to pay for luggage. With a little creative documentation, the supervisor
who had been helping us, made it so even with the extra bag we had to check, we
paid less for baggage than we would have originally. You’d be surprised where
your support system will come from. But, as we said, you will need help with an
adventure like this. We took care of the last of the “check-in” process and
went to adjust our repacking job and take a seat before saying good-bye to
family and getting into the security line. We still had a couple of hours, but
the security line was backing up. So, after a brief rest and chit-chat, we said
our final good-byes to family and, of course, the tears were flowing. That’s
what moms do, right? While standing in line, we realized we hadn’t eaten all
day and started to feel it. We made it through security and Mark stopped at an
exchange window to get Rubles for once we arrived in Moscow and Danielle went
to the gate to see if she could see the girls get loaded. We waited and looked
and never saw the girls. We were in the long line to board when Danielle
finally went up to the counter to, for the first of many times, remind the crew
that we were traveling with our dogs and to make sure the whole world knew the
girls should be on the plane with us. Danielle was assured everything was fine.
We boarded the plane, reminded a couple more flight attendants to tell the
pilot and ground crew about the girls, and we were off.
The flight path was interesting. We flew northeast, after a U-turn over
the pacific and passed within about 30,000 feet of Boise, maybe a little west
of it, at least. We continued that direction and, basically, flew right over
the top of the world. The graphic that shows the flight path on the TV monitor
had an arcing, shadowed area over the map to indicate the change from daytime
to nighttime. Our path took us so far north that it never got dark. We actually
flew OVER night! Mark tried to sleep
a lot but was uncomfortable the whole time. Danielle watched a couple of movies
and tried to keep busy. The twelve hour flight was made harder by the constant
worrying about the girls. Every little bump of turbulence we hit, we could not
help but think about how the girls were doing.
Upon arriving in Moscow, we were met at the airport by a driver that had
been reserved for us by the Organizing Committee. Before we made it to the
driver, however, it took a little over an hour to get everything together to
get through customs. We made through passport control and headed to the baggage
claim area. Our first priority was to find the girls even though our flight’s
luggage was already on the carousel by the time we made it down the escalator.
We grabbed two carts and started to look for the girls. We looked around to no
avail, and finally asked someone. They finally understood we were looking for “собака”.
They indicated we should go the excess/oversize baggage area at the end of the
terminal. We went that direction, and just like it was scripted, a man came
through the door with one of the crates, followed by the other. We were still
half way across the terminal and we wanted to run to the girls. We got to them
and they seemed to be in good spirits. We let them out briefly to say hi and to
give hugs. But, they hadn’t been out to “potty” in more than 14 hours, so we
were in a bit of a hurry to get them back in, get our bags and get through
customs. All of our stuff was there and we made it through customs with no
issues! There was no vet check, no one to check the girls’ paperwork and no one
hardly even gave us a second look going through customs. We found our driver
and finally made it to grass where we could let the girls out. This was no easy
task, however, because our driver spoke no English and he was less than helpful
with navigating all of our luggage through the terminal and across the street
to the parking structure. We made it work, let the girls out and got the
vehicle packed…barely.
We got on the road and we still had no idea where we were going. The
driver could not tell us, all he could do was hand Mark his phone. On the other
end was Mark’s colleague, Maxim, who had been helping us in finding housing. Up
to this point, we still did not have a flat secured! Max told Mark the he would
meet us at our flat. We didn’t know that the terms to the lease had been agreed
to, so this was a surprise to us. It turned out, they hadn’t.
Max, along with two other colleagues, met us at the flat to help with our
bags and help get us settled. We went upstairs to our flat and were met by a
welcoming party. The real estate agent, flat owner and the flat owner’s
“muscle” were all there; in addition to us and Mark’s three colleagues. Now, keep
in mind, we had just spent about 19 hours in airports, in the air or in Moscow
traffic and we were wiped out at this point. As we have mentioned, our budget
was shot and the final question that hadn’t been answered was whether or not
the landlady was willing to defer the deposit until Mark received his advance.
None of this had been discussed and we’re not exactly sure what the agent had
been doing for her commission all this time. But, that may be another topic
(are we seeing a pattern here?) Again, with a lot of help from that support
system we talked about, we got it done. Mark’s colleagues were ready with a
loan for the very expensive taxi ride and had made arrangements for one of
Mark’s allowances to be advanced. They also helped translate and negotiate our
lease after they dismissed the agent to just get rid of her. After some tea and
snacks, a lot of talking in Russian and smiling and nodding, we were left to
get settled. We looked at each other and had no idea what to do. The only thing
to do, really, was for Mark to get ready for work the next day. We spent the
night on the floor. The bed had not been assembled yet and in its place was a
very thin mattress on the floor. So, there we slept. Mark woke up the next
morning, very sore, to no hot water for a shower. More accurately, he found cold
water and colder mud. The “water” that was coming from the faucet more
resembled Willy Wonka’s chocolate water fall than actual water. That began the next chapter in our first
couple of weeks involving housing. Stay tuned…
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