Saturday, March 19, 2011

There are just good people in the world !  I told you our flight from Moscow was cancelled Thursday night.  People were running around this medium sized airport (Vnukovo), scrambling to figure out what to do. 

I pushed my way through the crowd at the podium, so I could hear the lady tell me clearly, "Makhachkala... NO !"  Upon deeper investigation, I quickly deduced that was all the English she (or anyone in the vicinity) spoke.  Meanwhile, I had gotten separated from our Federation connection, so I set off to find the Iranians.  They were wearing team gear, so I figured they'd be easier to spot.

Walking back towards the main terminal, this guy caught up with me.  He was just a guy, maybe thirty-something.  Apparently he had watched me trying to get information and he spoke just a little English.  He grabbed one of my bags and hurried me down a hallway.

We ended up at the administrative office of Daghestsan Airlines.  My new friend explained to the agent, there, my situation and helped the guy dig my name up on his list.  We got instructions from the agent and my friend hurried me off again, this time to the main entrance.  During this walk, I managed to ask the guy, "So, you're going to Makhachkala, too ?"  "No", he replied, "I go to Vladivostoc.  But, I see you are having problem, so I help."

            We got to the main entrance, where my friend handed me off to another family... big family, with kids and parents and grandparents.  Grandmother was in charge.  I don't have any reason to think the guy had ever met this family.  Still, he made it clear that I needed taken care of and Grandmother made it clear she would do the care taking.  The guy shook my hand, told me I'd be OK now, and was off.

             Turns out, we were all going to the same hostel.  It wasn't 15 minutes until Elena, our Federation support, and the Iranian group found me at the entrance.  So, now it was simply a matter of getting 40 of us in a sixteen passenger van and off we went.

            The point is there are some damned fine people in the world and we should appreciate ‘em.  I will never know the names of the people who stepped up to take care of me in this little hiccup of a situation.  But, I do know this:  It's not the first time I've been taken care of by a stranger.  I have also watched people step up for other people in similar fashion.  The only way I can ever repay the kindness of these good people is to not miss the chance to do some kindness down the road.  I will not miss that chance.

            OK... Here's what I have for results from the Pool Competition in the 2011 Freestyle World Cup.

1. Russia; 2. Kyrgyzstan; 3. Bulgaria; 4. Uzbekistan; 5. Ukraine.  Pool B is numbered:  1. Azerbaijan; 2. Iran; 3. Hungary / Kazakhstan; 4. Cuba; 5. Georgia.

Saturday's schedule is on two mats.  Round I: 1v2, 3v4.  Round II: 5v1, 2v3.      Round III: 4v1, 2v5.  Round IV: 3v1; 4v5.  Round V: 2v4, 3v5.

ROUND I       POOL A                                              POOL B

RUSSIA defeated    KYRGYZSTAN           AZERBAIJAN  lost to IRAN

BULGARIA     UZBEKISTAN                       HUN / KAZ               CUBA

ROUND II

UKRAINE lost to RUSSIA                          GEORGIA                   AZERBAIJAN

KYRG               BULGARIA                             IRAN defeated         HUN / KAZ

ROUND III

UZBEK lost to RUSSIA                               CUBA lost to             AZERBAIJAN

KYRG               UKRAINE                               IRAN  defeated        GEORGIA

ROUND IV

BULGARIA lost to RUSSIA                                    HUN / KAZ lost to   AZERBAIJAN

UZBEK            UKRAINE                               CUBA defeated         GEORGIA

NOTE:  DUE TO TIME CONSTRAINTS, ROUND V WAS MOVED TO SUNDAY MORNING

ROUND V

KYRG lost to     UZBEK                                    IRAN defeated       CUBA

BUL                 UKRAINE                               HUN / KAZ               GEORGIA

More tomorrow...

CIAO