I made it

Just a quick thank you for the prayers on my trip yesterday. All went according to plan as both planes (Paul's and my parents') arrived within an hour of their scheduled time - not too bad by Ukrainian standards. I was able to get Paul some McDonalds, watch "Anchorman" on his iPod and stomp him at a game of Phase 10 before Dave and Jan made their appearance. There was a fun little interlude just prior to their arrival...

The Simferopol airport is relatively small. The 2 flights that I was waiting for may actually be the only 2 flights that come into the city per day. This means that you can sit in your car and wait for the sound of landing aircraft to alert you to your party's arrival. We were doing this around the expected time and I surprised how quickly the transport bus (from the aircraft to the outdoor baggage claim area) pulled up. We got out to see if we could get a glimpse of them through the fence but noted that everyone on the flight appeared to be wearing matching track suits and had no intention of picking up checked baggage. My first thought was, "It looks like a football team," quickly followed by, "What is a football team doing in Simferopol?" It was then that it hit me that prior to learning about my parents' trip, I had been planning to come to Simferopol to watch my Ukrainian League team Shaktar Donetsk play here today (Sunday). Sure enough, as they walked through the security fence I began to recognize some of the more memorable players like Brazilian striker Brandao (pictured below). Not bad...I follow a team for 2 months and I've already run into them at the airport!

The drive back was uneventful if you don't count my lower extremities going numb and coming back to life with pain shooting down my legs.