Saturday, July 24, 2010

Long Time

Oh wow...it's been forever since I last posted. Well, I am back in Moscow and it's great to be back! I finally got to hug Oliver and smooch Layla...and I got to see my parents and Paige and the bro's, not to mention all of the friends. I just started a new job which I am loving and I'm all set to take classes for nursing in the fall! I'm loving being back, but let me tell you how that happened.

Kirby and I caught the early train from Strausburg to Paris the day before our flight. We planned on meeting Kate at a specific metro stop at a certain time. Then we were gonna go to our airport hotel, check in, and come back to spend our last day in Paris. Well, we never found her...We waited for an hour and a half and then gave up on her(it wasn't her fault, because she was there...we must have just passed each other several times without realizing it). Anyway, Kirbs and I decided the best thing would be to go to the hotel, and we would try to connect with her there. Keep in mind that we didn't have any way of communicating except email, and facebook was more consistent than that. So, Kirbs and I got on the subway, despite the numerous announcements in French about train delays. Well, you should never do that. The train stopped in between Paris and the airport...and then they told us to take a bus. So, we followed the crowd...mostly because we were getting pushed along with our suitcases, to the bus stop. There we waited with probably 300 other people pushing and shoving trying not to miss their planes. People were running over other people with their bags, throwing bags onto the buses to "reserve space," and generally forgetting that everyone else was in the same boat. After about an hour the transportation people figured out they should check people's boarding passes to get as many people as possible to their flights. That was really too bad for Kirbs and I because we didn't leave till the next day. We tried to take a cab, but never could get one to come for us. We had almost lost all hope of ever finding Kate or our hotel, when the tracks suddenly opened up again. Then we joined the crowd again and ended up on the train to the airport. We waited 45 minutes for the shuttle, then found our hotel. At this point we were really worried about ever figuring out where Kate was again. Not even 15 minutes after we got into our room, someone knocked on the door. It was Kate! Turns out she took the other airport subway, which also closed down and dealt with all the same issues. (we found out later it was because someone had jumped onto the tracks and committed suicide). She got a cab to the airport with Vera, caught the shuttle about 5 minutes after we did, and found the hotel. So, it was stressful, but we all made it and had time for a delicious and huge meal before we left Paris.

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