got my salary today, first thing I did was open Aviasales and check tickets to Istanbul

Today, after getting my salary, the first thing I did was open Aviasales and look up tickets to Istanbul. Flying cheap through Europe won't work — you need a transit visa. Had to try flying direct with Turkish.

For some reason I was sure it would all work out and by May 9th I'd already be in Turkey. )) Naive. Just like a month ago, nothing changes. Couldn't pay back then, can't pay now. But okay, that was through Skyscanner, but now what? It's Aviasales, what's the problem?

No idea what the problem is 😄 Just something went wrong. That's exactly what they explained to me in a message after a 5-minute wait for booking a flight through Biletix. Yeah. ))

I tried asking a friend in Armenia, who's been living there recently, to pay for my ticket. She already has a local bank card and, you'd think, what else could get in the way? So she entered my details, hit "pay" and.. ⛔ error 😆👍🏻 Maybe because the card is new and has limits set on it (the ticket costs 115,000 rubles).

Guess I'll have to pick up Spanish again. )) Looks like I'm really here for the long haul. Although... there are always radical options. Tie up some sea turtles, like Jack Sparrow 🐢⛵

Worst case — deportation after 15 days in jail. Just kidding, nobody's gonna deport me just for swiping a chocolate bar from the local store or something bigger. Doesn't matter what it is, but I'd risk getting stuck for real.

Maybe I'll bug the embassy tomorrow, but I don't really count on their help anymore. Evacuation flights, as I checked, haven't been running since late March, nothing's been flying to Russia for a while, and Turkey as the only possible option keeps blowing up.

Time to settle in and slowly become a Mexican. Like they call me at training 🥊

Best wishes
from Mexican exile 😅

Arthur O'Harra.