So, our plans were all set.  Josh was going to Minsk for spring break to represent his school at a Model United Nations conference.  We were going to take advantage of his trip and go to Nepal for a week.  Josh left on Wednesday for Bangkok, overnighting there before flying to Moscow in transit to Minsk.  Thursday morning we got the call, “Mom, they’re not letting us board the plane because we don’t have transit visas for Moscow.”  This set in motion a whirlwind of ultimately futile action in an attempt to get the Russian Embassy in Bangkok to issue same day transit visas.  Not their problem.  Following was a madcap rerouting attempt culminating in a proposed transit through Istanbul (the only place nobody needed a visa to transit), which would get them to the conference a day late.  The harebrained escapade finished with word that the Nigerian Model U.N. team arrived in Minsk with fraudulent passports, so the whole affair was cancelled.  Meanwhile, we cancelled our Nepal trip, uncertain of which direction Josh was going.  He ended up returning from Bangkok on Sunday, narrowly avoiding much of the mayhem currently occurring there.  His school was outrageously silent in their communications with the parents, and basically allowed the kids unsupervised free time  in Bangkok (!), with the only restriction to be back at the hotel by 10 p.m..  The hotel, by the way, is located next to Victory Square, one of the demonstration hotspots, with most access roads barricaded.  Still, Josh had a great time and was able to see breaking current events.  Besides attending massive demonstrations and palling around with redshirts, he also found time to get back in touch with his old friends Tony Roma and Starbucks.  Aleta and I were able to reschedule our trip, and will be leaving Thursday for Kathmandu.  lk