Reaching Ivano

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I was going to my first international internship . I was to reach a city called Ivano frankvisk,a name that i had googled a couple f times and seen the images of.Four other Indians were to be with me on this flight but they were already in ukraine as my Visa got delayed and i had to postpone my tickets.therefore,i was alone.

As i can remember it was a pleasant 8 hours of flight till Kiev,the capital city of ukraine and also my transit city where another flight to ivano had to be boarded.The stop time was 6 hours here.As i got out of the international airport after the usual checks and troubles i sat on a bench,light my cigarette which i was dying for in the plane, and looked around.
The faces weren't familiar,not even close to my expectations.The car makes were different,from the latest ones to some really old machines.i was noticing the various sign boards which were alien to me as they were written in Cyrillic and not in the usual Hinglish.same with the flashy advertisement boards and traffic tags.Before i forget,it should be known that i was hardly feeling secured while sitting there.I wasn't terrified that im in eastern Europe and not paranoid of someone robbing me but just generally afraid,of the foreign surroundings maybe.Basically,not at ease.
The Domestic airport where i was to report in next 5 hours was a stone throw away distance to where i was sitting.that gave me comfort.after,smoking like three-four cigarettes i went inside there.Learning from the information desk that i can only check in an hour before the scheduled flight,i got out f the airport to keep my luggage in the clock room and become more hassle free for fooling around entire afternoon till the flight comes.

i got myself a beer.while drinking it,i spoke to a couple of other tourist looking people and got an idea f the city.I had time in my hand and a visit to the city and back didn't sound like a bad idea.it was daytime and somehow that too gave me comfort.Somehow,i was still not confident about myself and hence i scrapped the city tour plan off my head.Instead,i was on my way to a nearby motel where people could stay for PAY-per-HOUR basis.i thought i could use some rest and then come back and take the flight to ivano.That's what i did.

The flight to ivano was funny.it was a 12 seater old russian aircraft.The pretty cabin attendent was the only person around that spoke english.She told me that i would be in ivano in barely 45 minutes.this amused me.By the time she gave the usual In-flight instructions and i finished my coffee,the pilot announced something in Ukrainian and everybody clapped.i assumed it's the end of the journey he declared but those claps were new and funny to me.I got out of that Mini cooper version of an airplane to see the small but neat looking IVANO-F airport shimmering in the evening lights.I had reached.
I was in Ivano,i really was.the thought hit me pretty hard.After numerous blood sucking troubles at the Ukraine embassy in New delhi,After all the frustrations caused by the delay of visa,after almost losing hope,I was there.That immensely felt good.

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