Riding To Russia

Everyone stared at me as I boarded the plane, they looked at me like I was lost, as if I was in the wrong place.  I was the only black person in line.  Even though I was still in New York, I felt like I was in another country just getting on the plane.

As the plane began to take off I noticed that the televisions on the back of the seats were showing the runway.  Without having a window seat, I could see other planes landing while we were taking off.

I’m sure all the flight attendants spoke English but I was trying my best to remember and use all the Russian vocabulary I had studied.  Ultimately, I had a very quiet ride, I couldn’t remember how to say thank you in Russian after receiving my meal and some how I thought it would be totally inappropriate to say it in English.

The flight was just over 9 hours from New York to Moscow.  I had a connecting flight from Moscow to Saint Petersburg.  During my layover I realized that I had forgotten to arrange one crucial element of my trip.  Car service from the airport!