The day of the trip, the flight, and arrival

I got up at 5 in the morning to drive with my father down to Mansfield, so I could meet up with the rest of the group that was traveling with me. The drive from Mansfield to JFK was four hours, along the way the professor who drove us down, Dr. Bosworth, was giving all sorts of warnings and information as to what to expect. He told us to avoid Banya’s. To this day I’m still unsure as to what a Banya is. He also explained some of the differences between the cultures. For instance, women don’t wear sneakers, and go to much greater lengths for their appearance and that they get dressed up to go to the supermarket. Little did we know that the adventure had just begun.
Our flight was from JFK to Helsinki Finland, the flight itself was interesting in that you experience a full 24 hours in about eight. We left New York at about 6 p.m. and flew over the ocean. Watching the sunset from 30,000 feet is equivalent to a rainbow. I don’t think I’ve ever seen anything more beautiful. Than another hour passed and it was dark. Then we reached daylight again a few hours later. Imagine what this does your biological clock.
Sitting for 8 hours straight is about the equivalent of being stuck in a car all day. You’re tired, crampy etc. I learned something the hard way, it is important to get up every couple of hours while at 30,000 feet just to walk around. It keeps the circulation in your legs going. I didn’t do this and then wound up with crippling muscle spasms in my calves. We arrived in Helsinki about 11a.m. their time, my clock was set to 2-3 a.m. US time. The exhaustion that settles in is jet lag. By the time we got to St. Petersburg all I wanted to do was sleep and I did- for 13 hours.

The above photo was my room in the international Hostel. There were 6 beds and it was located right in the heart of St Peters burg.