Lessons Learned

As I prepare for the upcoming trip, I am thinking back to our first trip, and the lessons learned.

First and foremost, I am going to pay much closer attention to what I put in my carry-on this trip, because I know, without a doubt, that the bags under the plane do not always take the same trip as the people aboard the plane. Electric converters/adapters will be going in the carry-on.

I will also be stuffing snacks into Jim's carry-on, just in case he did not learn his Trip 1 lessons well. Many have heard this story already, but I'll tell it again to make my point. Jim is not an adventurous eater. At all. He has no interest in sampling local delicacies, or absorbing local culture through food. Given a choice, he would frequent McDonald's for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. This wasn't an option in Novokuzetsk, however. So Jim was hungry. And he did not pack snacks. I packed some Slim Jims (yuck, I know, but the man is picky about snacks even, and these were the only things that got a sort-of thumbs up) for him, but those were in the checked bags. So at one point while we were in Novo, I broke out my Fiber One chocolate/granola bar. One of the few snacks that made it into my carry-on (I figured I'd just pack a few in carry-on, and then I'd have access to the others in my checked bag once we arrived). For the record, I was hungry too. Not because I won't eat local food, but because I'm hungry a lot. If I think I don't have easy access to food, I will undoubtedly be hungry.

So anyway...before I dug into my Fiber One bar I asked Jim if he wanted to share. I only asked because I knew he would say No because he hates granola bar kinds of things. And he said YES. He wanted to share my one and only snack. What?!! Being the dutiful wife, I broke it roughly in half (OK, maybe my half was slightly bigger...) and gave Jim half. I expected the usual negative remarks. Instead, after finishing that 3-bite morsel and licking his fingers, Jim sat back against the bed with a sigh like he was in heaven and remarked, "Oh my God, THAT was the BEST granola bar I've EVER had!!!" So, I say now, "Hands off my granola bars this trip, buddy! You'd better pack your snacks well, because this time when I'm down to my last American mouthful of chocolate and granola I may just run into the bathroom, lock the door, and eat it all myself!"

So, what other lessons.... Oh yes, I will remember that room service is not necessarily easier. In Moscow the lady who brought our food would only take cash - couldn't charge it to the room - and was quite belligerent after we paid her. After much back and forth - our back entirely in English, and her forth entirely in Russian, we called down to the front desk and they translated for us. She was telling us our bills were counterfeit. Oh! Of course! No wonder we didn't understand each other. It never crossed my mind that she was trying to tell us we were dealing counterfeit bills!! We ended up paying for it at the front desk, where they looked at the bills and said they didn't know what she was talking about. Perhaps she wanted US dollars, I realize now.

Let's see...more lessons... Don't be alarmed if there are groups of Russian men downing vodka at the airport at 5:30am like they are at a Friday night happy hour. With any luck, they will pass out and snuggle with each other shortly after take-off, and sleep quite peacefully. I wish I'd taken a picture of them curled up so sweetly together.

Phone access...I swore to myself that this time I would not rely on calling cards that 1) have directions written in Russian, and 2) that only work after a very specific pattern of waiting and listening for dial tones and dings on an antiquated hotel phone. This time I'm going to rent a cell phone specifically for Russia that they will deliver to us in Moscow at the airport. Hopefully it will work better. Jim, I'm sure, will take his beloved iPhone, but I'm afraid it will be way too expensive. If I find out once we get home that we were charged thousands of dollars because Jim was surfing the internet on his phone while we are there and it incurred roaming charges....grrrrr.

I'm sure there are other lessons, but these are just a few that come to mind. Although I'm nervous about court and nervous about the trip home with a new baby who is in total shock about what is happening, I do feel a bit more calm about the travel this time. Knowing at least somewhat what to expect is nice.