Russia Day 1

We get off the plane and I feel like I am in another country and then I remember; Oh Right!  I am in another country!  I have no clue what anybody is saying.  It is bloody hot.  The AC is definitely not on.  We make our way through customs and being stalked by the taxi drivers.  Of course I can't seem to remember to say the only word I know.  Nyet!  NO!  I don't need help.  I am pushing a cart full of bags with a baby on my hip.  My arms are still sore.  Then David picks the wrong driver holding the Schlumberger sign.  We stand in the airport parking lot for an hour waiting on a driver with a bigger car, because Yes I have TOO many bags.  We have no clue what the driver is saying to us but you can figure out he is mad.  But of course that could just be the lack of understanding Russian that the language seems angry.  And it is HOT!!!  I am mean seriously HOT!!!  I thought a 75 degree day would be warm but tolerable.  NO  it is extremely HOT.  75 is more like 95.  So I apparently live where I have extreme winters and summers.  Anyway, I digress.  After we get loaded into the correct car we head to the hotel.  CRAZY DRIVERS is an understatement.  There is no such thing as traffic laws or signs here.  If there is pavement you can drive on it.  Stop light, What's that?  We WILL NOT be getting a car here!  Apparently it is the thing to hire drivers here.

It took us several days of waking up at 4 am to get used to the time change.  We are now on the right track.  Food is very expensive here.  David had a $31 hamburger the other day.  There is no Dr. Pepper. David keeps looking at every place to see if it will magically appear.  Coke is not nearly as common as Pepsi.  Smoking is everywhere.  And nobody seems very friendly.  Being from the South I smile and say to everybody they look at me like I am crazy.  The Asians, Persians, and Greeks are friendly when they see Owen and gush over him but that is about it.  Needless to say I have a bit of adjusting to do.