The Cluttered Pantry

General consensus amongst us 4….is it possible to be so excited and yet so very exhausted at the same time? I dunno—ask me when I wake up. We all crashed about 2pm after a delicious first visit with our families that was the fastest 2 hours any of us have ever experienced. About 10pm Bobbi and I got up and dined on a fabulously comfortable mac and cheese dinner, then Sandy and sean joined and we hung out in the perpetual twilight until about 1:30am, then off to bed. Now it’s coffee and oatmeal and looking at our pictures and videos from yesterday as we cycle thru showers and prep for our morning visit with our kids.

No one ever called me papa before…. *snif*

Oh, helpful hints for future EAC-Chita visitors:
-local nautical-theme cafeteria restaurant that Katia and Eugene take you to is great, plenty to choose from, cheap and tasty…try the crepes, they make them to order and they rock;
-completely-stocked modern supermarket means you don’t need to pack tons of MRE-style foods; buy supplies here then prepare them in the completely delightful and huge apartment here;
-amazingly-stocked Babies-R-Us type store means no need to bring tons of toys with you—go visit your kids, see the kinds of toys and play experiences they like, then shop at the local store;
-flight to Chita from moscow is non-smoking. Also, they are somewhat serious about 5kg limit on carryons (though bobbi’s was 6.5 and that was ok, and they didn’t weigh my briefcase at all);
-city seems to be bustling, in a Siberian way (imagine a small city in Canada–nice half the year, frozen half the year, not wicked prosperous but not broken down and desolate by any means–middle to labour class), nice apartment flats and log homes with tin roofs and lots of frost heaves/potholes, lots of helicopter gunships flying about.

Popularity: 1%