I've arrived and all is well.

Aeroflot was great, they gave me a hotel room,dinner, and breakfast. Although to maintain that I was in transit there was a guard outside my room all night who actually ORDERED me back into my room. Not that there was anywhere to go, the elevator was hidden behind a locked door.

My driver on arrival in Baku did not speak english, which was not an issue until we negoitated the price of the ride. He couldn't understand anything I said besides "money" and "nyet" so we were both yelling gibberish to each other and banging on the dashboard. I knew how much it should cost from the guidebooks but after ten minutes I threw him an extra $5, the disputed amount. He was pissed off, I think becuase he was planning to rip me off substantially more than he got to. His parting remark needed no translation, "fucking Americans".