Sunday, June 16th we celebrated Father's Day by leaving the US and starting out journey to Armenia. I was happy that we did not have an early morning flight. Never good to start a long trip already tired. It took forever to check in for some reason, and even then they didn't give us all of our boarding passes. We were given boarding passes for our first flight and a receipt that I was told would work as boarding passes for our second flight. As the last leg of the trip was operated by Air France and not a code share flight, I was out of luck for the time being. Fine. We were allowed 6 suitcases and I checked four. One suitcase was between half and one pound overweight so I had to throw something from it into another bag. I thought about pulling out the packed suitcase within a suitcase and making them check 6 bags for me, but I didn't want to have to deal with any more luggage than necessary. We made it through security without any problems thanks to my easy to remove shoes and the fact that we had no liquids, gels, laptops, etc. It was hard to say good-bye to Grandma and Papa, but the boys were bouncing off the walls with excitement that we were going to see Daddy at last.
Our flight was delayed since the incoming flight was delayed. The Spokane Airport is not a very exciting place to hang out, but we managed to wait without mishap even though I did not take out any of the things I had packed to entertain the boys.
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| Ready for the big trip! Now we just need the plane to arrive so we can get on it. |
As we approached Minneapolis, we were further delayed as we had to circle awhile. Thunderstorms were making flying conditions a bit interesting. Much grumbling was heard as a possible diversion to another airport was mentioned. We were able to land in Minneapolis, but the bumps caused many gasps and squeals. Ryan was delighted by the fun ride. There was applause as we finally landed.
Once in Minneapolis we hurried so we could get our boarding passes for the Air France flight. We were in a hurry to do that and catch our flight. We waited in a huge line. It seemed that our flight to Paris was delayed. Good news: Easy to get our boarding passes (including the passes needed for the flight to Paris since they receipt was worthless). Bad news: We were going to have less than an hour in Paris before our last flight. Time to wait for boarding.
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| iPads at the airport make waiting a little less boring. Ryan goes for the iPod though since it has his games on it. |
MINNEAPOLIS TO PARIS (Sunday/Monday)
I am happy to say that this was a rather uneventful flight. I wish that Justin and Ryan had slept at the same time, but they were well behaved so I shouldn't complain. Ryan slept for a great deal of the flight, but of course Justin didn't think that sleep was really very necessary. They had been excited to see "Wreck It Ralph" on the plane and of course it had to be one of the selections that didn't play very well. We had power at our seats so I let the boys use the ipod and tablet as much as they wanted on the flight without worrying that we would "need" them later and have them drained.
There were some movies that I wouldn't have minded watching, but Les Mis just doesn't work on a plane. One of the others I would have liked seeing was not playing very well. I decided to try to rest and went for TV sit-coms rather than anything that would require brain power.
As we neared Paris, we were informed that the airport was closed due to weather. Justin pointed out that on the flight map we were moving away from Paris. He kept misunderstanding the message (in French) to remain seated as we were having an emergency. Kind of exciting for a child who dreams of a crash landing with the slides and/or the rafts. Unfortunately, it just meant a bumpy ride. Thankfully, we were able to land in Paris. Five more minutes and it would have been off to some other airport.
We landed in Paris to find that our plane was already boarding. We hurried down the moving sidewalks and up and down escalators and then rode the train. We had to dump out water bottles and go through security and then on more moving sidewalks to our gate. I pulled out our boarding passes (very grateful that we had been able to get them!) and we were among the last passengers on the plane. A man offered to switch seats so we could all sit together. We were tired and sweaty, but we made it.
Then came the announcement. Yep, our flight was delayed. Justin was a bit annoyed with me and asked why we had to hurry so much if we were only going to wait on the plane. Would have been nice if we hadn't been dashing through the terminal like wild animals, but sure beats waiting for the next flight, especially since they only have four flights per week.
PARIS TO YEREVAN (Monday)
Another uneventful flight. I thought I was going to puke when they served dinner. Not only was my body telling me it was not time for dinner, but I am not a seafood fan to begin with. Thank goodness for lots of crusty bread and butter. The boys ate from my stash of snacks. Plenty of battery life for watching shows for five hours.
We landed in Yerevan and got right up to immigration. I swear it was just as slow as in Namibia. We had our diplomatic passports and our visas, so how long does it really need to take? Longer than my kids can stand still when they know Daddy is so close.
Our luggage was already going around the carousel when we got there. The man who had switched seats on the plane said he was going to get us a cart and refused when I offered him money. Not like the carts are expensive, but it was nice to have someone bring a cart over and help hoist up the suitcases. He says that his wife often travels alone with their children and that people are always kind to her and he knows that it makes things a lot easier. Customs is basically non-existent, so once we presented our luggage receipts we were able to go out and see Daddy waiting for us!
YEREVAN
Almost 9:00 PM local time and I have no idea what times our bodies thought it was. I sat up front with the driver and Rob sat in the back with the boys who talked to him the entire trip. They had to take turns and they had so much to say. It isn't the most scenic drive from the airport to our house. It was getting dark and many of the buildings were dull and dreary looking with bright lights. Lots of casinos and clubs that made it a bit depressing. Kind of reminded me of a cross between a less populated Chinese city and an Eastern European city of the past.
Pulling up to our house was great. Sure there were (or should I say are) boxes everywhere and things are a general mess, but the journey was over. Unlike the boys, I was ready for sleep. They slept very little that first night. Rob spent a lot of the night up with them and estimates Justin slept for less than two hours. I am just glad that they are old enough to be told to play with my phone or watch a show.
TUESDAY
Rob had to go off to work. The boys and I had plenty of food and definitely a lot of work before us. It seems like every time I would go to put something away I would create a bigger mess. I moved some furniture around and focused on the boys' rooms. That seemed like the easiest in terms of furniture placement and unpacking. The boys needed encouragement to stay awake throughout the day. I spent a lot of time playing with them and taking little walks around the block. Wouldn't you know, of all the nights, Rob had to work late. The boys both fell asleep before he got home. Poor Ryan fell asleep eating dinner.
An American neighbor on our street brought over some rice crispies treats. Yum! She brought over a lot and we enjoyed them. It's nice to have a couple of other American families from Rob's work living nearby.
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| Lots of stuff to unpack and put away. |
WEDNESDAY
Wednesday was not as productive as Tuesday. The boys had slept well, but I have an annoying cough that makes it hard for me to sleep even though I am tired. The excitement of seeing their things again had worn off enough that the boys really struggled with staying awake.
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| I tried really hard to keep the boys awake, but they both managed to sneak away for a bit of a rest. |
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| Sometimes the boys actually get along with each other. |
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| Ryan hard at work at his desk. |
THURSDAY
Thursday was a lot like Wednesday. My cough was super annoying and I feared that I would lose my voice. Since our stuff has been in boxes for months, we have been washing the dishes before putting them away. It means that it takes a lot of time to get much done and it sure doesn't look like any progress is being made. Nothing is packed in a logical manner so much running up and down the stairs is required. Guess what that does to my cough?
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| View from Ryan's room includes Mount Ararat. The house on the background on the right makes me think of the model home on Arrested Development. Maybe they manufactured homes in Armenia too. |
FRIDAY
Friday afternoon the CLO took me and the boys downtown to walk around and to go to the grocery store. Downtown is interesting. I am not sure what it reminds me of. I think it is the kind of place I would enjoy wandering around on my own, much as I wandered around Shenyang, China. It is not a place that is fun to explore with the boys. Traffic is crazy, it is somewhat crowded, and of course they are bored. I don't know how much time I will end up spending there. Maybe once both boys are in school I will have time alone to do that.
The grocery store was interesting. I don't know what I was expecting. Not a huge supermarket like in the US, but I had known that. The produce seemed really hit and miss. The cherries were in season and around $1.25 US per kilo. They are quite delicious too. The pears, which were also quite good, were just over $1 US each. Produce will vary according to season and when it is really out of season probably not an option at any price. It will take awhile to discover what is and isn't available and how it is priced. Milk is expensive, sour cream is cheap, yogurt about the same as the US. Bread is cheap and good, but not suitable for peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. Rob has become quite the bread maker for us though and we appreciate it. Online grocery ordering is available from one store with only about $1.25 US for delivery charge. It has an English website so that is very helpful. It is hard to guess what some of the things in the store are. At least this way you know what you are getting.
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| This is Republic Square. Didn't have the chance to take pictures because I had to keep my eye on the boys. |
SATURDAY
Pretty laid back day. The boys craved their time with Dad. Having Rob home meant I could get furniture moved that I hadn't been able to move myself. We talked about plans for some of the rooms. We have done a lot, but I don't think it looks much better than the day I arrived! Some stuff gets moved from room to room rather than actually put away. It is kind of like a puzzle. For example, when looking for our cordless phones we found the handsets and batteries in one location, the chargers in another, and the cords for the chargers in yet another location. When digging out these items from various boxes it gets ugly quickly.
Even though Justin hates having to leave the house, we went for a little walk to his school. We are super close so that is going to be nice. We also walked to a nearby mini mart and had an ice cream cone.
SUNDAY
Took a cab to church since we don't have our car registered yet nor do we have insurance or driver's licenses. The boys thought it was pretty cool to ride in a taxi, at least for the first 5 seconds. There were 16 total people (including our family) in our English speaking International congregation. We meet the same time as Armenian congregation. I am grateful that there are other people who speak English since I don't know any Armenian.
Our furniture has been inventoried so tomorrow it will be back to the ever exciting task of putting things away, or at least moving them from one place to another.
