We Made It!!
By the time I got back it was time for dinner, so I ran out to a McDonald’s around the corner and picked up some food. Once the food was devoured, the kids got in jammies, we said our prayers, and they went to bed (probably about 6:30 pm Minsk time). Jacque joined them a short time later, while I got caught up on some work email and such.
Well, we are here! The Middletons helped us get to the airport
on Thursday morning (with our gazzilion bags!) and though it took us an hour to
check bags and get through security we were able to get to our gate in plenty
of time and be on our way by 9:30 am. We
arrived in Washington D.C. around 3:30 pm local time and then had about an hour
and a half layover before catching the flight to Frankfurt.
On each leg of the trip the airline completely messed up our seat assignments and had the whole family scattered throughout the plane, so that was a bit of a headache to deal with, but in the end we were all able to sit together (of course). We arrived in Frankfurt about 6:30 am on Friday (local time) and then went through a rather lengthy security check ordeal before getting to our gate for the final leg of the trip to Minsk. The kids did a fantastic job the entire trip and during the layover in Frankfurt, they made several new international friends and played while we waited. It was very cute!
On each leg of the trip the airline completely messed up our seat assignments and had the whole family scattered throughout the plane, so that was a bit of a headache to deal with, but in the end we were all able to sit together (of course). We arrived in Frankfurt about 6:30 am on Friday (local time) and then went through a rather lengthy security check ordeal before getting to our gate for the final leg of the trip to Minsk. The kids did a fantastic job the entire trip and during the layover in Frankfurt, they made several new international friends and played while we waited. It was very cute!
As we were approaching the Minsk airport, I
could help but be impressed by the beauty of the countryside and vast
wide-openness of the space outside of the city! We arrived in Minsk around 1 pm
local time and were met by U.S. Embassy officials and some members of the local
LDS branch, who helped transport us and our stuff back to our short-term apartment. It turns out that one of our checked bags was
lost at some point during the trip, so we are hoping that we will see that
sometime sooner than later.
Our short-term apartment is a beautiful, large—by Minsk standards—place downtown, but up several floors, which completely wore me out caring all of our gazzilion bags of luggage up (luckily I had some help, as I was running out of steam fast). Once we were in and settled, I went with Sergei (a local LDS branch leader) to do a little grocery shopping. When he dropped me off, it was at a red light and Sergei just looked at me and told me to hurry and get out (while he was stopped in traffic). So I did, with all of my groceries in tow. The only problem was that I was not entirely sure of where I was and where our apartment was. After a nervous minute, I figured it out and was able to get home just fine.
Our short-term apartment is a beautiful, large—by Minsk standards—place downtown, but up several floors, which completely wore me out caring all of our gazzilion bags of luggage up (luckily I had some help, as I was running out of steam fast). Once we were in and settled, I went with Sergei (a local LDS branch leader) to do a little grocery shopping. When he dropped me off, it was at a red light and Sergei just looked at me and told me to hurry and get out (while he was stopped in traffic). So I did, with all of my groceries in tow. The only problem was that I was not entirely sure of where I was and where our apartment was. After a nervous minute, I figured it out and was able to get home just fine.
By the time I got back it was time for dinner, so I ran out to a McDonald’s around the corner and picked up some food. Once the food was devoured, the kids got in jammies, we said our prayers, and they went to bed (probably about 6:30 pm Minsk time). Jacque joined them a short time later, while I got caught up on some work email and such.
It has been quite the day and we are just glad to be here and hopefully we can all adjust to the time change
quickly!
There are more pictures of the day-o-travel here: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10150750499638836.423805.671558835&type=1&l=b9272fb0ef
There are more pictures of the day-o-travel here: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10150750499638836.423805.671558835&type=1&l=b9272fb0ef
what a move man, pretty cool adventure
ReplyDeleteThat sounds fun.
ReplyDelete