8/25/09-8/26/09: Travel and Arrival in Moscow

• 12 hour plane ride from LAX to Moscow: 1. Chekov-ian Russian novela playing as in flight entertainment: peasant women in head scarves crying, hugging, crying, fighting, hugging, attack men. 2. Woman sleeping on the floor in front of the emergency exit and then wakes up to smoke fake cigarette while walking up and down the aisle. 3. Dropping a bag of pens on the head of a Russian passenger who looked like Marco Neves.

• 1st sensory experience: big waft of cigarette smoke smell as I step off the plane.

• Keep forgetting that if I speak English no one will understand me.

• Trying to poop without sitting on the toilet seat in the airport bathroom.

• Van that picked us up from the airport had the Engine and Oil light light on. The van stalled repeatedly while driving-even on the highway.

• Unloading at the wrong location to reload again. Van almost dies.

• Arrive at hotel: no elevator-1 flight down and three flights up of stair with 12 pieces of luggage.

• SUPER hotel room - welcome to Russia.
  

• Big plate of sausage goodness and tasty pints of beer.

• Crazy stories of Sasha's mom.

• Hotel locked when we get back from dinner: guy in sweats & flip flops answers begrudgingly. "One and only time" he says.

• Power converter blows a fuse after 5 minutes.

• Misplaced tripod plate but found it - without freaking out.

• Fitted sheet=bed condom for old stained mattress padding over a bare stained mattress. EEeeeeewwwwww. Hope I don't get a STD from sleeping on this bed.

• Successful download of a tape without anything blowing up!
  

• Sleep!