Last stop...Cheboksary!

Well, the trip to Cheboksary from Moscow was quite amusing. So all the athletes met in the lobby of the hotel in Moscow and each country was assigned to a bus. It was hard to imagine shuttling all of us to the hotel (mind you, the hotel was about 400 meters from the airport and we could've walked there) in an efficient manner. Nevertheless, we all made it to the airport and waited in line to get into the terminal. Yes, waited to get in, as the first security point is right at the entrance door. After waiting there, we rec'd our tickets from our coaches and had to wait in another line to go through security into the terminal. After that, we had to wait in yet another line to check in our baggage. Whew! By the time the last athletes had checked their bags and waited for the gate, there was only about 20 minutes to spare before we had to board the charter plane.

So we go through the gate at the boarding time and have to get on a bus to the plane. Once the bus gets to the plane and the doors open, all the athletes swarm over to the steps to board the plane! Seat assignments didn't matter...it was a free for all! I was one of the first out of the bus, but one of the last on the plane. I managed to find a seat next Philip in what would normally be the first class area, but this was definitely not first class...the plane was a little sketchy. We were to depart at 7:50 pm. One hour later, we are all still sitting there, starving (we were given a bag "dinner" at the hotel of a cheese sandwich, an apple, and water). Finally an announcement is made and we are beginning to take off. Just then, a stewardess hands out air motion sickness bags to everyone (aka "barf bags!) That was a bit disconcerting, but we got a good laugh out of it. One of the USA junior team members sitting behind me was just commenting on how her last flight was the first where she HADN'T gotten sick, so I was glad she had a bag in hand.

Take off was smooth and finally we were given our snacks for the flight. I had already eaten my PowerBars alloted for day so I was famished. We got water or juice, then hot tea or coffee with a chocolate wafer bar. I scarfed it down in seconds!

Just over an hour later, we were to begin our landing. I had heard horror stories about this flight so I was a bit nervous. Surprisingly, the entire flight was quite smooth! We landed without event in Cheboksary and got off the plane and then rushed to the bus that took us to the terminal. At the terminal, we were corraled into this room before we were allowed to pick up our baggage. Many made their way to the water closet (the bathroom) while the rest of us were waiting for instructions. Finally, an interpreter said that anyone who didn't check baggage was allowed to go through. That meant no one, since all athletes and coaches had checked baggage! After waiting about 25 minutes in that area, we were allowed to go the baggage claim. So imagine 20+ countries, with 3-5 athletes per team, plus staff and coaches, with each team having practically the same team luggage...quite a nightmare. Needless to say, it was pretty chaotic, but it appeared that everyone received their luggage. After going through baggage claim, we were met by volunteers, each with a sign of a country. I was glad to see our USA sign held by Sasha, who is an English instructor at the university. We waited for the rest of the teams to arrive and were off to another bus to our hotels.

On the trip to our hotels, I was chatting with another volunteer and she was telling me about how beautiful her city of Cheboksary was. She said foreigners love "this city by the bay." She was very proud as she pointed out different landmarks and even the building where she lived. Much to my surprise there were huge billboards of racewalkers promoting the World Cup event!! Seriously, these billboards were all over town! You'd never see that in America! It was then that I knew we were going to be treated well here in Cheboksary, Russia.