Finally reached the sandbox!

I made it to Abu Dhabi! I'm very sorry if I didn't communicate with you earlier... it's all due to series of unfortunate events. It's currently the end of my second day here.


So to track the adventure...

Miami----> Chicago

I arrived at the Miami International Airport at approximately 12:45pm. My grandfather and grandmother dropped me off. It was sad to say goodbye to my grandmother, who is my closest family member. Inside the airport, I was first met by my boyfriend and then my two best friends and their mom. To say that I felt sad is minimizing what I felt. I felt broken. These girls have been my roots for the past ten years and their parents are my second set of parents (which I happen to like a whole lot more than my real parents but that's another story). My boyfriend made me tear up quite a bit. I hope there's a future for us, even if it's just a friendship. He's incredible and I couldn't have asked for a better person to spend the last few months at home with. After a tearful goodbye I went off to the international travel checkpoint. I guess because I was jittery I seemed suspicious so I was put through a really weird xray machine in which I had to stand still and have a scanner circle me...very scary...luckily I passed the scan so I didn't need to be padded down. I raised my arms anyways behind another man who was being padded down and they waived me off. Truth be told, I was completely offended by the fact that they even made me go through that. I feel bad for people that always look suspicious or people that are more likely to be targeted by airport employees through stereotyping.

My kitty neck pillow that got lost in MIA. Luckily my knight in shining armor rescued it for me. <3

Off to United Airways I went, and luckily the plane was on time. I climbed on board with a really heavy messenger bag (which contained my laptop because they wanted to charge me for it as extra baggage. The nerve!) and my rolly backpack. I will never travel with that much ever again. The plane was small and I didn't get a window seat even though I had reserved one online. On that note, I absolutely hate it when people are a waste of a window seat. The guy next to the window next to me was reading a newspaper during take-off. It made me want to scream at him. Take off is the most exciting part of a plane ride. I love being able to look down from my seat as the world I know becomes micro sized before my eyes and white fluffy clouds become my new scenery. This is what inspired me to skydive (which I recently found out there's a skydive Dubai!). The trip to Chicago was 3 hours. It was a rather uneventful flight. I saw Downtown Chicago from the plane as we were descending and made the decision that next time I connect in Chicago, I will be visiting. I was rather down the whole plane ride. The only humor came from a little boy that lifted my spirits. As we left for Chicago he yelled out "Gooooodbyee Florida!" and when we landed in Chicago he said "You know dad, I think I miss Florida a little"...soo cute and very smart too. I heard him telling his dad that the pilot might be having trouble with the descent and that one of the planes at the terminal had a dual engine. I was impressed, I hope to have such a bright kid in the future.

Chicago----> Abu Dhabi, UAE

Chicago airport is huge! I of course got lost.

There's a dinosaur in the middle of the airport at Chicago!

Rushing through the pretty lights to find Terminal 5 :)

To get to terminal 5 where Etihad runs you need to get on a train. I ended up running around the airport to a customer service desk only to find it empty and run around to find another. It took me a good 45 minutes of lost time to find where I was supposed to go. Luckily my layover was three hours instead of two because I hadn't factored in the time change. The aiport was beautiful though and I appreciate my time being lost. When I finally got to Etihad the line was past the ropes. People were carrying bags upon bags of items and the teachers were very easily spotted. They were the only people that didn't look like they were from India. I'm not saying this just to say this and don't want to be thought of as ignorant but most of the passengers were going back home to India. I spoke to couple around me on the plane and all the other teachers sat next to people heading back to India too. There were some cute kids on the plane and some not so cute loud kids.

I met a couple that were teachers coming back from last year and they offered some good advice to which the sparknotes are the following.... go with the flow, expect the unexpected, and keep positive. They also told me that on their last trip on Etihad they had Snickers Ice Cream as a snack. Yum! I was sooooo looking forward to this.

Our plane was delayed over an hour due to inclement weather. In terms of the plane itself...oh my gosh. When I first walked in there was mist to cool you off coming out of the roof of the plane. When you sat down each seat had it's own TV which a huge selection of movies (including new releases like Alice in Wonderland, Shrek 3, Shutter Island). I ended up choosing to watch The Backup Plan. I usually trash Jlo movies but this one was quite cute. I can see myself having a scenario like this happen. haha. They had a little pack for each guest that had headphones, socks, an eye cover, and ear plugs. I put on my fuzzy socks and finished the movie, watched 2 E! television programs on a tacky house and slept a lot of the ride. One funny thing happened... I magically woke up to the words ice cream. A Klondike bar to be exact. :) I was extremely happy that I woke up because the flight attendant had passed me but I was close enough to tap her on the shoulder and kindly ask for my Klondike bar. Luckily, I only had to ask because I would do quite a lot for a Klondike bar. hehe. The food was alright on the plane, nothing to be thrilled about.

Other cool things on Etihad included an application to view a camera under the plane, a flight tracker, temperature indicator, and tissue box when I asked for a napkin for my nose :). At one point I wrote down that it was negative 68.8F, we were going at 545 miles per hour and were 11277 ft in the air. Soooo nifty. It would be awesome to learn to fly.

Arabic is such a beautiful written language. I was amused with the videos on the plane. They said it first in Arabic and then in English.

I loved being able to track the flight. So cool!

Airport Arrival---------->Intercontinental Hotel

After 14 hours in flight I finally got to Abu Dhabi to a rather empty but very clean airport. I was greeted with a sign that said "Welcome Teachers and Families", was handed my visa, and escorted to baggage claim. There were porters helping out but none came up to me so I machoed up and carried my own bags around. I hope I never ever have to travel so heavy again. Before my passport got stamped I had to go get an eye screening. I guess it's their form of checking my identity and recording it...a bit of a scary thought. On a funny note my eyes are so squinty that the guy kept saying open wider to which I could only respond "I'm trying!" hahaha. I was handed a rose as I left the airport. I thought that was a nice touch.

As soon as you step outside of the airport of the Abu Dhabi, the heat hits you. What awful humidity, even at night time. It was around 10pm at night when we stepped outside. All the teachers got on a shuttle bus and arrived after 15 minutes to the Intercontinental Hotel. I was amused just looking around the vicinity of the airport at all the signs in Arabic and English and people watching. I spotted a few men playing soccer with a small net and one crazy man on a motorcycle pulling out of his driveway.

When we got the the hotel we were greeted and escorted in. Waiting for us were cold towels (which is a first for me) and a delicious drink. We handed our passports and got our room keys and were told could pick up our passports the next day. They said goodnight and that's it. I went up to the 12th floor and open up my new temporary home. Just walking in I thought to myself "I could get used to this treatment" and plopped down on the softest bed I've been in in a long time. After such a long plane ride I wanted to rest so badly. I needed to explore the rest of the room though and find out about orientation which they told us nothing about. I headed to the lobby, exchanged $20 US dollars to Dirhams to pay the guy that brought up my luggage and managed to make one acquaintance on the elevator. I was told by another person that training would begin Monday. Sweet. That means a whole day of exploration.

PIMP accommodations :D

My view which I thought was pretty dull until I woke up in the morning to notice water and Downtown in the background.

I liked this sign, it reminded me of Punta Cana, DR.

check out my Dirhams! I found out today you don't pronounce the H.

I came back to the room, showered, and threw on my pjs. The shower was awesome and relieved my achy muscles. I text everyone back home that I said I would text as soon as I landed. When I laid down in bed I thought to myself that it's strange that I never heard back from anyone. I called my boyfriend and when he first heard my voice he said "You arrived?" to which my next thought was s---, nobody got my messages. I placed a few calls and spent a good $20.00 on only a couple of minutes to tell people I was alive. I hope word spread. I planned on getting my magic jack set up the very next day and get myself a new sim. My at&t from back home stopped working and honestly I was dead tired. It was midnight.

Goodnight moon. It's past midnight as I type this so my day 1 and day 2 adventures will have to come tomorrow. Internet at the hotel is very expensive, the people at Carrefoure lied about how long it would take my phone to activate, and my magic jack phone started to smoke up ...that's a story for tomorrow though, inshallah. ;)