Wow, I can't believe its been 25 days since I left Lafayette, Indiana to come to Dubai. For those of you that may not know Dubai is located in the United Arab Emirates which is along the Persian Gulf. We woke up at 6:30am on Monday August 23rd to finalize some of the packing that didn't get finished the night before. Its is hard when you like to have all sorts of accessories (shoes, belts, jewelry, etc) but you can only take so much. My Mom made us a wonderful breakfast to get us going. It was wonderful having homemade waffles and eggs. We Lafayette around 12:30pm from my Dads house to head to the Indianapolis Airport. Seven bags and five people later we were loaded up in the SUV with a one of the suitcases on top of the car and one on my lap.
We arrived at the airport around 1:30pm to get checked praying that we won't have to pay extra for the bags. Got our boarding tickets and went to check in weighed the first bag 51lbs no worries they said. Weighed the second, third, and fourth bags all to heavy. We then had to open up the suitcases and move things around and get rid of things. Praise the Lord we brought more bags so I was able to switch one of my carry-on to a bigger bag and put some clothes in it. We went to try check the bags again and praise the Lord for favor they accepted all of our bags even though they were still 52lbs each. Now that was taken care of it was time to find some place to eat. We had a nice meal in the Indy500 restaurant, they have seating in the back so you don't have to sit out in the middle of the airport. After a nice lunch, I reorganized the bags we had for our carry-on(s). Sitting and visiting some more with Dad, Jacci, and Nana we saw groups of people forming to welcome home some Military troops, you could see how happy the families were to be meeting their loved one you had been serving. M and Dad noticed that there was an earlier flight to Atlanta and we could try to catch so we had more time to take care of paperwork at the Atalanta airport. We had a quick goodbye and off we went through security. We arrived to the gate and asked if we could get on the flight that was getting ready to leave and the lady said sure with a charge. We explained to her that we were flying international and that we had to take care of paperwork in Atlanta. She asked us to sit and she would see what she could do. A couple minutes later we had new boarding passes in our hands and they didn't charge us a single penny. :) God is good. We arrived to Atlanta when were originally suppose to be leaving Indy (6:42pm). Now we had to go find the registration office for M to give his paperwork saying he is leaving the country. Sometime this process can take hours, again we had favor and we were in and out within a half-hour. Back through security again and now to see if we can get our seats next to each other for the 14 hour flight. We were able to ask a gentleman to move so we could sit by one another and he graciously gave us his seat.
Finally, we are all settled on the plane and mentally preparing for the next 14 hours. I was excited to see all the different movies that were available. I had told myself I was going to watch all of the chic-flicks. Funny, thing I only watched one movie the whole time and it wasn't a chic-flick it was WALL-E. The meals on the flight weren't bad. For our first meal, I had chicken and vegetables and M had pasta both came with a brownie, roll, drink, and salad. Later they gave us a snack which consisted of a sandwich, granola bar, a banana. Our last meal before we landed was cheese pizza, fruit, salad, cookies, and water. Through out the flight they would offer us beverages, so I was sure to keep hydrated after the advice friends gave for long flights. I don't know if it was because I was drinking a lot or just being in the plane for so long but I used the bathroom so many times. Luckily they were clean and it only took me the first time to realize you need to put the toilet lid down before you flush or it sounds like it will suck you down too. Haha
We finally arrived in Dubai on Tuesday August 24th at 7:50pm (UAE time) which was 11:50am (Indiana time). We got off the plane and looked for the welcoming group at the airport which also helped us get our luggage and go through customs. For the first time I realized what a blessing it is to have an American passport, but also sad at the same time. All I had to do was give them my blue passport and they stamped it no questions or anything. M had to have his eyes scanned and show several different documents to get into the country were he was born. Finally we loaded up our luggage on to two carts and began heading towards the exit of the airport. We arrived to the area for the ride to the hotel when we saw M's family waiting for us. M went and greeted them while I stayed with the luggage. They waved for me to come over and I at the moment all the butterflies were in my stomach, I could feel my face turning red. As soon as reached them I was greeted with flowers and smiles. We loaded up both cars with our belongings and headed to the hotel first and then to M's parents.
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| Flowers that I received when they picked us up from the airport. |
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