Saturday morning I sat on Mary Ellen's porch waiting for the visa to come. At 5 of 12 I saw a UPS truck slowly roll past the end of the driveway. I took off down the driveway after him. He pulled in and had my passport with the visa. I was just about to give up hope. So glad I didn't have to postpone the flight again.
Sunday morning I got to go to breakfast with Jim and Dianne again. That's always a good time and lots of laughs. Nathalie and Frank stopped by shortly afterwards to say goodbye. I think I've seen everyone now.
When I went online Sunday to print out my tickets, I had an email from Expedia saying my Rochester to Chicago flight had been cancelled. That would have been all I needed. Got on the phone to Expedia right quick. It turned out they just assigned me a different reference number. This trip prep is taking years of my life.
Mary Ellen drove me to the airport at 12:30. A nice skycap took care of everything for me. Had to pay big bucks for the two extra bags. When they got weighed, one of them was 7 pounds overweight. I had to take 7 pounds of stuff out of that suitcase right then and there and stuff it another one. Holy cow , I was glad I was the only one in line! Actually, my piano lesson books and a few shirts were enough to do it.
The flight to Chicago was uneventful; the wifi at O'Hare is only free for half an hour. Crap! Took off from Chicago at 10. The nice lady next to me only spoke Finnish so there wasn't too much opportunity to communicate but I was more interested in sleeping anyway. Of course I didn't get much. The seats were uncomfortable and there are always too many interruptions. On the other hand, the meals were good. I had cannelloni for dinner and the breakfast was scrambled eggs and sausage. The sausage wasn't my thing and I couldn't finish everything but it wasn't bad.
When we finally got in to Helsinki, I immediately found some empty chairs and spread out for a nap. They have some nice lounge chairs here for the travelers. After that I changed my clothes, brushed my teeth and started communicating electronically. I'm having trouble getting What's App to work here. Will have to work on trying to scan the barcode in again. Oh well, why shouldn't something else go wrong.
There are a lot of flights from Helsinki to Asia and the Middle East. It's not a gigantic airport, but very busy. I ate at Burger King and went to pull out my Euros to pay and couldn't find them. Then I realized I put then in a secret hiding place to separate them from my dollars before I left. Of course, it's so secret, I can't remember where it is. I'll have to really go through my backpack later to see if I can remember what I did with them. Otherwise, I'm out some Euros.
I've been listening to lots of Russian speakers around me in the plane and in the airport. I think, with a little effort, I will pick it up again quickly. Just hope my German doesn't suffer too much!
I emailed Dinar to let him know my flight plans and he said Marat would pick me up. It's just too bad that it's going to be at 2:30 in the morning. I wonder if I will have to show up for class at 8?!
When I get settled in, I will start sending pictures of the apartment and the nature preserve. I want to spend the October vacation exploring Kazan. And I want to get a bike. I have my helmet, my lights nad my lock with me. All I need are the wheels.
Glad I got two Rochester Slow Rides in before I left.
OK. My fingers are tired. I'm signing off for now. Hopefully more tomorrow.
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