Destination: MOSCOW, RUSSIA

On January 11, 2021, myself and my team took the journey from Salt Lake City, UT to JFK, and finally to Moscow, Russia. Everything was smooth sailing until we made it to border control in Moscow. My coach JC and I made it through just fine, but some of my other teammates did not have the same easy experience. My other teammates and coaches were denied into the country because they did not have a certain"special visa" for these COVID times. We weren't sure if they would get access to come in, so we almost had to fly BACK TO AMERICA. Imagine spending 10 hours on a flight to Russia from JFK, only to turn around and go right back home! Now you are probably wondering how JC and I reached across and the others didn't. JC is from Canada, and as of right now, Canada doesn't have nearly as many cases of COVID as America and Russia. Therefore he was granted access to Russia quite easily. As for myself, right now the only way for Americans to get into Russia is if they have a family, so everyone thought I just didn't understand the lady at the checkpoint and just agreed with her to get pass border control. BUT that was NOT how it happened; I am the rookie on the team and therefore have no visas for any country right now. But, specifically for this trip, I had just gotten a visa a few weeks before I left, so my visa was a new and improved “COVID” version. After a few bumps and hurdles, everything was figured out, and we were all able to enter the country. WOOH! We stayed at the Raddison Blu that was attached to the airport, and the next day took a 5-hour bus ride to Yaroslav.