It's now just about 9:00 am here in Kazan, and I am now human again after an excellent breakfast, a shower and a shave. It's funny how it is the little things in life that make all the difference.

Russia does not use daylight savings time, so we are now just 8 hours ahead of Central Standard time in the U.S. Kazan itself is in the same time zone as Moscow, which leads to a very funky time zone map for Russia. It also means that the sun rose here this morning a little before 3:00 am, and will set around 8:00. That's a long day, and I hope that tomorrow I can sleep through most of the first part.

The photograph is of three already weary travelers after our arrival in Sheremetyevo Airport in Moscow. If you look to Sasha's right, you can see just one letter in the Cyrillic alphabet to prove we were there. The poster behind us celebrates the 70th anniversary of VE Day (May 8, 1945), which is a huge holiday in Russia (think 4th of July back home).

(l-r): Alexander Davis (Sasha, Саша), Gene Walsh (Zhenya, Женя) and me.

In just under an hour, we will be met by Prof. Galkin, and the adventure really begins.