In a few moments we will be landing in Kuwait City. Please make sure you have collected all of your belongings, and that your seatbelts are securely fastened around your waist. We will be arriving on time at 5:25 PM and the temperature outside is a balmy 110 degrees.
Um, excuse me? ONE HUNDRED AND TEN DEGREES? Whoa. The original plan was to spend a night in Kuwait City before heading onwards to Beirut. As much as I’d like to add #51 to the list of countries I’ve visited, I simply cannot count one if I haven’t actually left the airport. But time, flight schedules and work responsibilities meant I had to nip that plan in the bud this time around. And at 110 degrees, I’m kind of glad I did.
I’m starting to feel a little stir crazy. I haven’t had a breath of fresh air for 35 hours…and by the time I finish with this journey, it will have been close to 40 hours. In order to avoid missing too many days of work (oh, how I dislike saying that) I took a red eye from Los Angeles Tuesday night, arrived to Washington – Dulles at 6:30 in the morning then set up shop in the United Club lounge so I could work a full day answering emails, conducting conference calls and working on project plans.
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| The Mobile office – 2 laptops and a plane. |
My flight to Kuwait City left DC at 9:55 PM and I still haven’t been outside since leaving Los Angeles. Then on to a nearly 12-hour flight and now I find myself waiting in the Kuwaiti airport for my flight to Beirut. It’s a very long day (days) but made easier by Wi-Fi access, international first class seating and a little pre-flight champagne.
Am I a little tired? Yes. Do I look and smell like a need a shower? Hopefully not, but definitely a possibility. Am I happy? Yes! With the exception of an incident on the flight that required authorities to meet the plane in Kuwait and escort off a few passengers who had gotten into a scuffle, all has gone fairly smoothly. I’m safe, traveling and working from the road.
Actually, I love when I land in a new country and feel like I’ve really arrived somewhere different. Outside of the plane window I saw nothing but brown sand and a few dusty shrubs. Many men are dressed in the all white dishdasha and women in all different levels of modest dress from simple head scarfs to a full head to toe, I-can’t-even-see-her-eyes-or-fingertips, burka. There’s Arabic on the PA system and no liquor in the duty free shop. And then suddenly the flight announcements are halted and the call to prayer is echoed throughout the concourse. If a 12-hour flight didn’t prove it, I am quite far from home. But wait…this looks a bit familiar.
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| Have I really left the US?? |
I actually am a little disappointed that I don’t have time to venture beyond the airport doors. I may have to plan a return trip where I get to take in a bit of the city beyond what I can see from the airplane window. Next time…
