After leaving Austin (2.5 hours late), I landed in Chicago with 30 minutes to get across the airport to the international gates and get a new airline ticket on Etihad Airlines (the national airline of the UAE, United Arab Emirates), make it through security and board the plane. Missions accomplished (with the help of an escort from the airlines).
14 hours later and I am in Abu Dhabi, with a short 2 hours layover before my flight to Islamabad where I will land at 2:30am and meet a US Embassy Official before morning meetings and an afternoon flight to Lahore....
The flight over was a bit cramped. I think that Etihad builds planes for shorter people. My knees touched the seat ahead of me. But thanks to the wonders of Tylenol PM (two of them), I slept like a baby for 8-9 hours.
I clearly am an American in this airport. I stick out like a sore thumb. The cultural experience is terrific though - beautiful women in sari's and men in all white robes. Arabic signs. Islamic music piped across the airport, and prayer rooms throughout for anyone's use. All very different from American airports, but all interesting and amazing. So far, the people I've come in contact with have been friendly and accomodating.
Looking forward to landing in Pakistan and starting the Fulbright work in Lahore....
More to follow.
No comments:
Post a Comment