Far From Familiar

Our layover in Istanbul was about 18 hours, but somehow we managed to squeeze in two meals at  McDonald’s. These kids are going to have to experiment with unfamiliar food eventually, but for now that will have to wait. I guess we may be ok as long as they can douse everything with ketchup.  There was no special sauce to make the multitudes of other passengers who don’t believe in lines or general queue rules more palpable. There is no subtlety; these people will just blatantly ignore everyone else who is waiting, and step in front of the line.  Once on the plane it was a relatively smooth  flight. I picked up on the fact that the woman behind me was speaking English, which sounded familiar, and surprising. While disembarking, she asked where we are from and then explained she was on her way to Siberia, her birth place. How very interesting that the only English speaker on the plane was seated directly behind us. Hmmm... The passport control line was over 2.5 hours. I...

 Ok, so we made it to Boston and had dinner at the airport.  No big mishaps so far. Kids tech devices are juiced up and ready for the 10+ hour flight. Mom and Dad are ready to sleep,…or attempt to sleep, for the duration of the flight. Have we begun our adventure? Or does it start when we get to Istanbul, or eventually Moscow? In our family we always say ‘it’s not an adventure until something goes wrong’. But if that’s true, I’ll hold off on starting the adventure for a little while longer. 

 It’s here,…finally? It’s moving day and I’m not entirely sure how to describe my feelings. The kids seem to be ok. They’re watching funny videos and eating breakfast. I’m one random thought away from an emotional earthquake. Today will involve a lot of errands to tie up loose ends. But the strings keep unraveling as I remember stuff I never got too, friends I didn’t hug, places I didn’t visit. I’m just trying to breathe and place one foot in front of another. Keep breathing and keep moving forward.