I’m now safely in Moscow.. though getting here was quite a trip in every respect. Things started out a little goofy in Burlington. My flight was delayed about 2.5 hours because the crew needed sleep.. Heck I needed sleep, too. But at least I showed up. Turns out that lots of flights were delayed

I made it to JFK with only a few minutes to spare. I got to the gate to the Moscow flight just as it was beginning  to board. The flight itself was gloriously uneventful… nice big comfy seat, good seat mate (Doug)  and pretty decent food. 

Doug sells securities for a Russian firm so he’s here every couple of months. We talked about Russia, politics, music (he’s in a band) and families. We talked on and off about Sam .. he walked off the plane with a SamStone and an unconventional idea on what to do with it.. (I’m not telling). Despite my best intentions I didn’t get a lick of work done either for IBM or for myself.. Instead I  managed to catch about 5 hours of sleep..      My family was with  me in my dreams. I could feel Sam close to me. 

   They woke us about a hour out of Moscow for breakfast. Just as we  landed, Doug whipped out his phone and let me hear one of the songs his band covers.. ‘Secret  Agent Man’   .. a perfect welcome to this mysterious place. ( I think he figured out that I was a spy) .

    Customs and immigrations was a snap since I was carrying my bag.. I went from plane to my preordered Taxi in about 10 minutes.. that’s when the fun began.I showed him the address in the briefing letter I received and we headed out.  We drove through unbelievable traffic for about an hour to get to a sparkling new IBM building .  Some familiar sights.. some wierd ones.

I paid the cab and went up , I thought, to my meeting. I walked into the conference room thinking I’d find my friends…. But saw a bunch of Russian folks and one friend of mine from Switzerland. He came out in the hall and quickly let me know that the office  I was looking for had moved two months ago and was now  across town  . Oy !

    The folks at the center offered to call me a cab which would arrive in an hour or so to take me to the other facility about an hour an a half’s drive away. I wasn’t interested in that at all. I asked about the Metro.. and they frowned.. It’s too confusing says them.. The perfect challenge says I.. Anyway.. I took off from there with my suitcase and walked about a quarter mile to the Metro stop.  I am a real subway junky and love being packed and jostled into a train. The trip was really cool. Most of the trains were modern.. and the stations were really beautiful. Someone explained that during the 50 years that artisan’s were not allowed to paint churches, they decorated subway stations instead.  The trains and stations were well marked… I found myself really, really glad that I learned to read Cyrillic when I was in High School…  I can’t speak or understand more than 100 words of Russian.. but at least I can read the street and subway signs.

     Here’s one example of one to the subway stops.. In English it’s ‘OktoberSkya’.. which reminded me of the movie October Sky. 

Here are some other images from the subway..

I made it cross town in about 30 minutes..   That was easy.. I came out on the street and had no idea where I was.. I ended up spending about 40 minutes looking for the address of the IBM place.. I asked tons of people a) ‘Do oyu speak English’ (govorite po Igleski ? ).. and getting the answer ‘Nyet'(no).. then having people explain loudly and slowly in impenetrable Russian where I was supposed to go.. Based on the pointing.. no 2 people agreed on the direction. I eventually walked into an office and asked to use their phone.. I called my friend  Jen and she guided me in.    The area around the plant is pretty gritty….

    I got to the lobby hot, sweaty and tired.. and surprise, surprise.. I ran into someone I knew from NY in the lobby.. She was here just as a coincidence.. It is a very small planet. Finally I found my meeting and my friends

OK.. We’re heading out.. I’m going to post this…now and add pictures later if I can

Dasvydahnia !

-jc