Flight and Arrival

So I am finally in Riga! My flights yesterday went well with only a few problems. Due to the cancellations in Newark, I was placed on a flight to Chicago that left an hour and a half early from Cinci than what I had planned. The Chicago airport was just how you would expect the Chicago airport to be - extremely crowded. Due to McDonald's being closed, my last meal in America ended up being one of the generic Chinese places. Fortunately, I've been advised that there is a McDonald's in Riga. Soon enough, I was on a flight to Frankfurt. The person who I sat next to on the flight was from Chicago but had married someone from Germany and therefore had extensive knowledge on how Americans should act in Europe. He gave me a lot of helpful tips on where to go to find people who speak English and how to get a good deal on a taxi. After a long flight (about 8 hours) with little sleep, I finally arrived in Europe.

I flew into the Frankfurt airport at about 5 AM in German time (about 11 PM Eastern time) and spent the first hour or so trying to find my gate and attempting to check in for my flight to Riga. Because my flight didn't leave until 11 AM in Germany, I had plenty of time around the airport. The airport in Frankfurt was much more spread out than most airports in the US, as each gate was given much more room and more seats for people who had to wait for their flight. For me, this just meant a farther walking distance to my gate. I was very tired but still had trouble sleeping, so I bought a deli sandwich and a very good wheat beer at one of the bars/restaurants near my gate, allowing me to finally get a few hours of rest before my flight. On my flight over to Riga, I had a terrible headache so I was in and out of sleep for the whole flight. Luckily, we landed in Riga okay.

My first view of Latvia is what you would expect when you think of Russia or another country near there - snow everywhere. I was actually surprised that my flight hadn't been delayed when I saw the amount of snow surrounding the airport and coming down even as we landed. When I got off my flight, I made my way to the baggage check. Somehow, one of my bags showed up and the other went missing. As of now, I'm still waiting to hear about my second bag. Fortunately, the airline was very helpful about taking my information to search for my missing bag and gave me a number to call to track the bag. My compadre, Lena, was waiting for me outside of the baggage check area.

Lena has been very helpful, as she made sure that I was registered for the dorm here and went through the trouble to get my key for me. I am meeting her today to get a phone and other necessary items. As far as the dorm goes, I will probably be looking for alternative accommodations soon. The inside of the dorm is not bad, and I will share a bathroom with just one other room. However, the dorm happens to be very far away (out of walking distance at least) from any store, restaurant, or the school. It is even a decent walk to get to the nearest bus stop. Once I get pictures of the dorm, I will show you the outside of the building (it's not very impressive). Driving through Riga, it looked like a very nice city. However, I don't have any pictures of it either since I only drove through and I'm too far away to go there now. That's all I have right now! I'll make sure to update and give more details about my first few days discovering Riga.