Passport to Moscow, Russia

Friday June 29, 2007

I remember the day my boss asked me if I wanted to travel to Moscow...I had walked into our secretary's office for one thing or another and he walked out of his office and said, "You want to go to Moscow?" I turned with an eyebrow raised and asked, "For how long?" "About two weeks," came the reply. I rolled the idea around in my head, thinking about what I would do with our german shepard and who would watch the house. A little hesitantly I said, "I would love to, but let me check with my husband and I'll let you know for sure." Inside I was like, Moscow...wow. Why do they want me to go? I'm still pretty new around here. Moscow!! Oh my God, I've never been outside the US! What am I gonna do? What the hell do I need to travel outside the US?! So after I calmed down a bit, I called my husband and told him the story. He said, "Go! I can't believe you're hesitating!" "But what about the dog and the house? You're trucking!" I said. "Don't worry about it...I'll take care of it. You just go and don't let this opportunity pass you by," he said. So, I went back to my boss and said, "I'm in! Now what do I have to do?"

Well, I already had a passport...so all I needed was the Visa and some other paperwork. A couple of weeks later all the paperwork was done, I had my plane tickets, and my bags packed. On June 1st I boarded a Boeing 757 jet destined for Moscow, Russia via Atlanta, Georgia. After about 20 hours of travel I landed at the Sheretmeyvo Airport in Moscow and was herded through Customs and the passport check. After picking up our luggage my co-travelers and I loaded up in a van and headed for our hotel that would serve as home for the next fourteen days. As soon as we arrive at the hotel and meet up with the other NASA folks who are already there, everyone starts screaming they want to go to Red Square. We haven't even checked in yet and our bags are still sitting in the lobby. But later that evening, we all trek down to Red Square and then later we have dinner. We, all of us, ate out every night we were there! It was really great. I had Russian, Georgian, Italian, and so many other types of food I couldn't tell you how many.

The second night we were there, we went to a ballet with the Russian planners. My first ballet and it was quite interesting. A modern version of Cinderella.

I had a really good time and was able to get some site seeing done in between working. Red Square, the Kremlin, St. Basil's Cathedral, Cathedral of Christ the Savior, Ismalayva and lots of other things. We were invited to the planner's dacha (like a weekend home to us) for a cook out one evening where we were served shashlyk (shash-leek), like a kabob without vegetables. It was very good!

We went out to different clubs a few nights, and had too much vodka one night. One night we went dancing after dinner and drinks...that was a really fun night!

I wish the trip had been a little longer...I learned a lot and had great fun.