Another post

Well, images don't work here, so we are slowly making a photo group on facebook.

First report:

We arrived in Moscow and were whisked off to a small apartment owned by Or Avner. It had high speed internet (gasp) and cupboards of kosher food. Actually it was well stocked, with everything except toilet paper. We met with R' Lazar and stayed in the apartment overnight.

Next day our driver dropped us off early in the morning at Vnukovo airport, an airport which is yuck, compared to the other Moscow airports. Their bathrooms are like steam rooms because of all the Russians smoking inside the stuffy rooms.

In the afternoon we left for Stavropol and arrived 2 hours later just as it got dark. It was Thursday night, and we waited for someone to pick us up, but no one showed.

So we packed our stuff into two tiny taxis which had jumped the median to get to us (they were taken by the cops to pay a fine) and driven to our hotel with our 9 humongous bags.

We were ripped off big time by the taxi drivers who had a field day with us and are currently sipping rum in the Bahamas somewhere. At the intourist hotel we were told that every room was booked except for the 'wedding room' which costed about 250 bucks (in Rubles). We didn't have enough Rubles on us and they wouldn't accept dollars so we were forced to take those taxis to find an ATM machine. The driver took us around to several ATM machines which for some reason didn't work (he probably took us there on purpose. They are like the only 2 machines in the city that don't work). Then he told us he'd change money with us at a decent exchange rate (surprisingly).

Back in the hotel, we checked in and gave in our passports to get registered. Here is Russia, the government wants to know where you are at all times without being forced to use their millions of secret video cameras, so you must always register to let them know 'we are here'. They took our passports and showed us our room - or rather, our suite. It was beautiful. Luckily another room was available for the next few nights, so we went to sleep knowing that tomorrow would (supposedly) be a better day.