Ponderings on the plane

September 6, 2009
Well, here I am in the SEATAC airport….It’s 8:32a.m. and it’s been quite a week. I just popped two Dramamine, hoping that when I sit down onto my luxurious window seat of my plane I can just stick my little iPod headphones in, tune in to the peaceful playlist and conk out.

On Sunday I arrived in Seattle, Washington around 4:20 a.m. Sleep an hour. Wake up, shower, pack, drive to airport. Bags too heavy, add a carry-on duffle. Family prays for me and mom cries a little. We do well. I fly away to Chicago. Talk to many of my lovers on the phone in Chicago, change my voice message to say I will be gone for 10 months. SO WEIRD. Now I’m on a plane from Chicago, Illinois to Moscow, Russia. I chose tomato juice and look down the aisle to find that 5 out of the 6 of my (Russian) neighbors on the plane chose tomato juice too. I guess I already fit in with the Russians! This flight will be another 9 hours long, then I arrive to pick up my luggage, go through passport control, find someone from Language Link who will pick me up, arrive to my flat in the middle of Monday in Moscow, and avoid jet lag so I can begin training the next morning.

(Just now a little toddler boy saying “Da, Da” came wandering over to me in order to put his little grimy hands all over my laptop. I keep repeating “Nyet” to him in sterner tones, until he understood. If he comes back, I will surely tell him “Nilsya” (You shouldn’t do that). )
I am so ready to be done with luggage, packing, goodbyes, and transitions. The time has come to end it all and get this show on the road. I should be bawling, I should feel sheer terror. But instead, I feel a little sleepy and find myself looking forward to a good year ahead of me.
Moscow, here I come!