zhertva aviatsii

Well, I'm now officially eligible for the "Zhertva Aviatsii" (Victim of Aviation) medal. Guess what, I'm still in Kiev!! Here's a recap of my day.

I confirmed my flight last weekend with Delta, and was told all was fine. Was picked up at 8:30am by Sasha, an amiable, 400 pound driver in a car that weighs about the same. Arrived at the airport three hours and forty five minutes before the flight, since airports here are still sketchy in every way.

Have my tickets "checked", pass through customs, go to bag check. Am then told there's a
problem with my ticket, and to return to the desk behind customs. Wait another hour. Finally a very kind British manager helps. He explained that he was doing his best, but that things would be slow because Kiev's Delta outfit has only one computer that works... time is ticking. An hour before the flight, they're still "working" on it, but they assure me I'll get on the flight. Thirty more minutes pass, with me making three more trips through customs. By this point, I'm crying, screaming, and cursing in two languages. Then their computer breaks. Still, they assure me they'll personally escort me through passport control and I'll make it. 15 minutes before take-off, they tell me they still haven't fixed it, and they take my baggage off the flight. I then wait two more hours, where I'm hustled by gypsy cab drivers, and even a deaf beggar who's wandering the airport. They then tell me that I've missed all connections to America for the day, and encourage me to go back to downtown Kiev (a half hour and $30 cab ride) and to resolve it with the Delta main office there. I refuse to leave, and they finally bring the Brit back, who offered me a room for the night at the crappy, smoky airport hotel filled with old geezers enjoying their last night in Kiev with their Ukrainian fiancees. I am allegedly being compensated by being put on business class--we'll see! I'll believe it when I see the golden gates of JFK airport...

*Sigh.*