Exhausted in Kazan

Saturday, June 10, 2017

Yesterday was nuts! We were all together by about 4:05 am at MSP, and I found that getting through security with TSA Precheck and a wheelchair can be all sorts of fun. But it is quick! Our flight to New York was uneventful, and when we got to JFK we found that they had finally got things set up so that you can enter the international terminal without having to leave the secured area, which makes things a lot better than they used to be.

Delta had things well under control, and I was pushed all over, making things generally better and quicker. Of course, keeping the group together occasionally caused some bureaucratic problems—like having them in the super-VIP line at the Aeroflot counter in JFK (where the disabled passengers go). Still, generally things went smoothly until it was time to board the plane in JFK.

I don't kow what it is with Aeroflot at JFK, but we started out with folks there in good time, and then getting onto the plane an hour late. We then lost time on the Atlantic crossing, so we got into Moscow with barely enough time to make our connection if everything went right. It didn't. We got a young man name Sasha (Aleksandr) as our "tour guide," and when we got down to the baggage carousel, out bags weren't off the plane yet. So we missed our flight to Kazan. Sasha took us up to the rebooking station, and we were all booked on the 9:30 flight into Kazan.

Getting through security was a dream, but I had no idea how they were going to get us onto the plane. In Russiua, there are relatively few flights where you walk down a jetway to the plane. Instead, you take a bus out to the plane and then walk up the stairs. I was not relishing that. But!!

Sasa sets off across the tarmac with the students in tow, and we all got into the back of one of those trucks you see loaading the food, etc., into a plane. We were first on, and we entered through the freight door at the back. All the while, Sasha kept talking to me, and although I kept saying, "more slowly, more slowly," I don't think he had a brake. I was getting enough to make sense of what he was saying, but still only about 30% or so of what he was saying. Oh well...

In Moscow and Kazan, none of us had wifi, so we could not e-mail Svetlana to let her know the changes in travel plans. So it came down to getting taxis (2) into town. I had planned on offering 1200 roubles to each driver, but the one driver who spoke good English thought I meant 1200 for the pair. So he bargained me "up" to 1000 roubles each.

I needed to stretch my legs after all that time sitting, so I put the boot on and walked down to the "Kol'tso" ("Ring") mall to check out the bookstore. Then, I walked down Bauman Street to a family resaurant where I had often eaten with the students in 2015. I had an amazing Tatar rack of lamb dish in a sort of poaching style with potatoes and herbs. It was delicious!

I'm not sure what is in store for today, but your humnble blogger will report in due course.

Do svidaniya!