I am here, people!

I made it to Qatar. I got here yesterday night (7/7/08). Now, I write this entry on my new laptop (it is one of those 'cute' little ones) eating M&Ms (si, they have them here and they taste just as good) in bed a little before 4 a.m. because I am wide awake due to some serious jet lag. The weather is hot, but surprising not as hot as I thought it would be (no humidity yet...that comes late summer/early fall).

My trip to Qatar started on Sunday morning in Sedro-Woolley. Emotionally, I was good until Sunday morning (except for the tears in Syracuse). However, all of a sudden it hit me (when my mom told me I should get something to eat of all things...) and I was basically a mess the rest of the morning. Then there were the goodbyes to my folks and brother at the airport. Too. Much. For. This. Girl. To. Take! I basically did not stop crying in some capacity until I fell asleep on my flight to Washington Dulles. I want this experience so much, but leaving my family sucks.

I only had two flights to travel literally to the other side of the world - Seattle to Washington Dulles on United Airlines and Washington Dulles to Doha on Qatar Airways. My United flight was a typically United flight - packed and late. They loaded us on time, but then we proceeded to sit on the plane for over an hour. First, a mechanic was summoned to fix a light in the galley and then we were supposedly delayed by heavy traffic heading into Washington Dulles. The flight after that was uneventful because, again, I slept most of it (I can sleep basically anywhere and at anytime...it is one of my special powers...except when I am jet lagged). But I realized right before landing (I was awake at this point) I might be cutting it close to catching my flight to Doha. I was originally supposed to have over two hours between flights. Now I would have less than an hour and my flight was in another part of the airport (and I would have to take one of those super goofy bus things to get to it). Luckily, I was one of the first people off my flight because they had folks with close connections depart the plane first. I busted my ass to the gate and made it just in time. Qatar Airways has mad security (you basically go through a couple checkpoints to get on) and thus it generally takes over an hour for a person to board the flight.

I must say flying on Qatar Airways is quite the experience. The plane was absolutely massive and amazing (it had mood lighting, people! QA puts American airlines to shame). And I definitely stuck out. There are not many young single white chicks with blonde hair flying to the Gulf. Most people on the flight were natives of a country in the region or they were dudes from the West, typically in packs, heading for business or something in the area. So I definitely appear out of place. Anyway, the flight to Doha was amazing - excellent food (and thankfully so since I was starving since United gives you nothing and I did not have time to buy food at the airport, specifically a yummy burger from Five Guys), comfy seats, good service (they have an army of flight attendants but sadly no Ji this time), etc. And I watched two excellent movies - There Will Be Blood and Before Sunset. Two very different movies. I have been longing to see There Will Be Blood since it came out months ago, but I never had the chance to catch it. Daniel Day Lewis kills it in this film (when does he not?). However, I think he should do a comedy one of these days to mix it up. So I highly recommend checking it out. Then I passed out for a good six hours. During breakfast over Turkey I decided to watch Before Sunset. It is the sequel to Before Sunrise, an indie movie made several years ago with Ethan Hawke and Julie Depsy. Before Sunrise is a great little romance movie that is basically all dialogue. Before Sunset was just as good, but the ending totally leaves you hanging (I wanna know what happens!). So that was my travels in sort of a nutshell.

The flight arrived in Doha just after sunset and it was 40 degrees celsius (or about 104 degrees fahrenheit), but it did not feel so bad (and I was wearing a little jacket and pants). I had Al Maha Service when I arrived (in other words, I was greated by a lady holding sign with my name (as usual the sign said Mr. Jade Anderson) to wisk me through immigration (you totally feel VIP because you are taken to this fancy lounge and given refreshments while they process your papers and then you cut lines at immigration and people stare at you...)). Then it was off to collect my bags and we waited and waited and waited...I was totally sweating it! I was worried my bags missed the flight because of the short connection, but at the very end they popped out and I did a happy dance (and the Al Maha lady had a good laugh). And then it was off to security to make sure I was not bringing anything prohibited into the country (basically, pork and alcohol and weapons). Finally, I was greeted by a very pregnant Belle and her husband Curt and was on my way to my new digs (However, they are temporary. I move into my permanent apartment in a few days when it is ready for me. I will then post some pics of my humble abode for your viewing pleasure.). Then I just unpacked, showered and crashed.

But jet lag is a beautiful thing and you promptly wake up at roughly 4 a.m. ready to go. Yesterday, I was up for about four hours reading, playing around on the internet, made myself a PB and mango jelly (not as good as raspberry) sandwich, and called home (good time to catch my folks)... I finally fell asleep again around 8 a.m. and was out until 11 a.m. Then I headed for the office (basically across the street...I love my commute) to do some HR stuff (I will have days of it) and say hello to everyone. After a couple hours I came home and napped for another three hours. Then I went to dinner with Chris, another hall director, at this yum Asian restaurant near the Burger King roundabout. And then I went to sleep again and now it is 4:45 a.m. and I am AWAKE. Ugh. However, tomorrow I do not have much on my calendar other than a trip to the store to buy a few things and do some more HR stuff and so I can sleep again until whenever I want. But all in all and after a super long and rather boring post, life is pretty good. Peace out!