I'm baaaaaaaaack

Here I am again on my own..............(are you singing it in your head now too? muah hahahahahaha)..............Anyways..... I arrived safely Monday morning in Novokuznetsk. But I am very sad to say that my big suitcase with the majority of my clothes did get on the plane with me. So, if anyone would like to pray that it finds its way back to me, I would REALLY appreciate it!!!!! I did not tell many of you this be/c it was still a very sensitive subject but I got ripped off big time by a cab driver in Moscow. This missing bag reminds me of that. On my way to the airport in Sept, Olya turns to me and says "Kristine, guess what." Which is never a good thing to hear in the wee dark hours of 6 a.m. She tells me she forgot to call the guy to come pick me up and take me to the other airport across the city. "DON'T PANIC" she quickly blurts. "You are a strong girl, I know you can handle it. You've got some Russian blood in you." I get to the front of the airport and see a proper yellow taxi. I flag him down and tell him where I need to go. Much to my relief, he speaks a little English. We get everything in the car and he starts to write down his wage. It did not occur to me that he didn't have a meter. He then shows me, ever so quickly, what his rate his. I thought I misread how expensive it was. He shows me the odometer and tells me how he gets his figures. I just nod my head be/c I just felt lucky to be in a car with a smiling English speaking Russian man. It takes us about an hour to get to the airport. Which, in and of it's self, is a miracle. Normally, traffic is so bad it can take at least 3 or 4. He even says "It's a miracle." I try to tell him that I prayed for no traffic but I am not sure if he understood me. We arrive to the airport, my e-ticket said I need to be at terminal 1. That's where we go. He stops the car, does his figures and then turns to show me how much it is. I wanted to throw up. The guy Olya forgot to call would have charged me 300 rubles. That is about a hundred bucks. This guy wrote on a piece of paper 8,800 rubles. I stared at him in shock. Of course, he starts acting like he really can't speak English. I tell him that I only have 3000 and he said "You have American money? You can change inside." So, the sweet smiling Russian cabby so nicely let me go inside to the atm to get his dirty money. I did not even think to argue be/c I felt trapped. I am alone and an American girl, what can I do but pay the man. I proceed inside and ask for an ATM, withdraw the money and give it to him. I felt so helpless. He wishes me all the best and drives away. I go inside to find out where I need to check in. I then find out I am at the wrong terminal. I have to take a bus to the correct one. I get to the bus, can't figure out how to put the ticket in the slot thing, once the nice man behind me shows me how to do it, I can't get my fat bag through the turnstile. He so nicely helps me again. The bus starts. We leave the terminal and go through a sort of residencial area and then I see no more planes, just fields. I am slightly starting to panic. My phone I used in Novokuznetsk would not work in Moscow. I had to turn on my Blackberry. I did not have the SIM card in it because the on button is extremely sensitive. Anyone of you that has a Blackberry knows how long it takes to start up. I am almost crying at this point. Just as my phone starts working, we are pulling up to Terminal 2. I was soooooo happy. Now, I just had to wait another 6 hrs for my flight. During that time I did the math of what 8,800 would cost in dollars; $350. That is probably the most expensive cab ride in all the world..................Now I will tell you why it reminds me of the suitcase situation. I felt so relieved sitting in the car. I knew God had taken care of me. Well, on the flight from Moscow to here, I sat next to a very nice Christian British man. It was so wonderful talking to someone in English after almost 20 hrs of not talking to anyone at all. I was so grateful that the Lord gave me someone to talk to and then I get off the plane and don't get my suitcase. It just goes to show we have an enemy who doesn't want us to be happy and will take any opportunity to make our lives awful................So, that is the main thing that has really happened since I got here. Today is Russian Christmas but they do not celebrate it like we do. Their big holiday is New Year's. They give gifts and have big parties that day. Today all we did was have a service and like most people in the states it's customary to go to church on Christmas......... Just in case any of you are worried about me not getting good healthy food here, I had a bowl of borsht, a bowl of cabbage and carrot salad and a potatoe dish of some kind with a single piece of meat. There are oh so many ways to cook vegetables here. And to finish it off, I had tea. :-)....... It was snowing yesterday when I walked to the Bantseev apartment. REAL snow, not just the slush we get in Texas. It was nice. I have not played in it yet. I don't think it would look quite right, a grown woman playing by herself in the snow. I do not know enough Russian to explain to everyone that looks at me crazy that we do not get snow in Texas. :-)

I hope you are all doing well and are staying much warmer than I am!!!!!!!! :-)