We have been back for almost 2 weeks and I’m just getting around to updating our “Home Stretch!” I started it in the Chicago airport and never finished, so I’m starting over J As you know by now, we are HOME! My last update was our final Sunday, so I’ll pick up with Monday. We were picked up that morning by our facilitator and taken to the Emba$sy to file paperwork. Another lady, L, her sister C, and new son V all came with us. There were around 30 people standing outside, but we were taken up to the front where a guy was holding a clipboard. After a few minutes, they checked us out that we were on “the list” and we were clear. It felt oddly like what you see in the movies of waiting outside a club trying to get in. After security ran my bag through about 8 times to find the last bits of metal I had left in there – oops – we were in. We took a number, were called quickly, and filed the paperwork. V and I were finished, so we waited with C for the other family to finish. It’s a good thing we did, because the lady realized she had forgotten to fingerprint him and called us back up! Once we were finished, we went back to the apartment for the day. We went to the grocery store at one point and just ate back at the apartment. We were tired!
Tuesday, we made plans with the family we had met for supper on Sunday. They were comfortable riding the metro, so we decided to give it a try! After a 10-15 minute walk, we had located the metro station and figured out how to get across the busy street (underneath it). The escalators seemed to go down forever, but we finally got to the platform. B (Dad) and D (new son) met us at our subway stop. It was a little confusing because I didn’t know which train they would be getting off, so I kept looking from side to side once a train arrived. V was less than thrilled with having to hang out there and didn’t understand why we had to wait. Once they arrived, they helped us get on the right train to head towards our destination where we were meeting K (mom) and the girls. We had decided to go ice-skating at a mall. The snow started coming down pretty hard just as we arrived. It was beautiful! First stop in the mall was the food court since none of us had eaten. We had already been talking about what foods we missed the most. Mexican food was high on the list. Lo and behold – there was a MEXICAN fast food restaurant in there! We were a little excited. We were very excited and exclaiming “Mexican food! Yaa!!” so much that the teenage girls working there had to go in the backroom they were laughing so hard. I can only imagine what they thought about these crazy Americans practically jumping up and down over mediocre fast food. After filling our bellies, we headed to the ice-skating rink. B and K did not want to skate, so they watched C and I decided to give it a try with the teenagers. Gotta say – it is NOT like riding a bicycle. You do not just jump right back into it! I haven’t been ice-skating since 2006 on our girls trip to Gatlinburg. I clung to the bar for the first 20 minutes this time. C was happy-screaming, waving, and laughing the whole time as she leaned over the rail to watch us. Eventually, I got my balance and actually started skating out in the middle with the kids. It was a lot of fun, but I must admit that I was kind of glad when it was over and nobody had been injured. While skating, we saw a “fish pedicure” place across the mall from the ice-skating rink. H (one of the girls) really wanted to try it. Since they had to go meet their facilitator for some paperwork, I decided to keep H and go do the fish pedicure with her. V went with the rest of her family. It was one of the weirdest things ever. Seriously odd! You put your feet in these fish tanks full of 1” fish. They eat the dead skin off your feet. I am kind of an odd duck anyway since I like my feet tickled, but this was NOT pleasant! It tingled and felt like my feet were falling asleep. A few minutes into it, H said, “This is the longest 10 minutes ever!” I said, “That’s because it’s 20!” Haha! It seemed effective, and I can cross it off my list as something I’ve done. I won’t be doing it again, though! After going 4 metro stops the wrong way, and 8 more back to the right place, we met up with her family and V at a “McFoxy” which is a knockoff McDonald’s. V snacked on some food, C slept, and we headed back to the apartment. Wednesday was super-busy. We were picked up around 10 (had been ready since 9 because we were unsure when we had to go), and we went to a doctor’s office/clinic. L and her son V were with us again. The boys needed to have physicals before they had their Visa clearance. When we finally completed that, I needed a quick trip to the outdoor market for some matryoshka dolls. Mission complete, then we headed to the Embassy. There was not another person in line except for us. It was FREEZING! It was probably the coldest I’ve been. Even though we had US Passports clearly showing us as American citizens, the guy with the clipboard left us outside instead of letting us wait just inside the door where it was warm. Seriously??? I have a BABY! I’m an American citizen, and you can’t even let me stand inside a door where it’s warm??? Grr – not happy with them. We finally got inside and completed all our paperwork. We were on our way with everything needed to go home! V, C, and I got dropped off at an Italian restaurant for lunch/supper and then walked back to our apartment to pack.
I really liked flying Lufthansa on the way over, and I have never had any good experiences with United. So, I was happy we had gotten flights for less than the $2400 apiece (like we originally thought), but I was really apprehensive about it being United and knowing it was highly unlikely they would give us the bulkhead seats. I was fairly certain we wouldn’t be getting a bassinet for C, either. As I talked to different friends about it on FB and was praying for bulkhead seats for our long flight, a friend suggested trying to check-in online. When I went to check-in, it said something like “Due to a ground-workers’ strike, your flight has been delayed. Call ***-****” Uh-oh. I knew that couldn’t be good… So, I backed out of that screen and checked flight status. It said the flight was delayed 4 ½ hours. That meant we definitely wouldn’t make the connection in Germany. After a call with our facilitator on the US side, she got in touch with the travel agent to make other arrangements. He got us on an even earlier flight for Thursday morning that had a Lufthansa connection for the long flight! Yaa! Of course, that meant leaving the apartment at 3AM, but at least we would be going!
Upon arriving at the airport and checking in, we realized that L, her sister C, and son V were on our flight to Germany! We finally got through security, waited with them for the plane, and once in Germany we waited together again for our connecting flights. By the time we arrived in Germany, they had cancelled all inter-Europe flights (due to the strike) and were only going internationally. Whew! In the nick of time! The flight from Germany to Chicago was definitely not full. Many people hadn’t made it to Germany from other parts of Europe due to the cancelled flights. We had 3 seats and the bassinet, so that was really nice for spreading out and letting C play. V and C slept a good bit on the flights, but I never got more than a 10-15 minute catnap here and there. In Chicago, we got off the plane and through immigration/customs as quickly as possible. It still took quite awhile. Our layover was scheduled for 7 hours, so I went to the closest counter and begged to be put on standby for the next flight. She put us on standby, but the flight was pretty full and we weren’t expected to get on. After waiting at the gate and listening to them offering vouchers for people to give up their seats, I knew it was highly unlikely we would get on the flight. However, the lady was offering tickets on a flight to Lincoln that would be leaving within the hour. We went to the counter and asked if it was possible to put us on that flight. They did! I take back what I said about United! They have some nice people working there, afterall! She said we’d have to get our luggage in Omaha. Due to some mixups we didn’t get it until Friday afternoon, but WE GOT HOME at 8:30 on Thursday night! We were met at the airport by Brian, A, B, Brian’s parents, and several friends. What a wonderful sight to see! We were so thankful to get home, finally. Later, we found out that there was a massive snowstorm in Ki*v Friday morning that closed the airport for days. If we had missed that 5:55AM flight, we would have been stuck at least through the weekend. Thank you Lord for your mercies in getting us home! The trip is over, but the journey continues.
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