Putting down roots

Hello everyone!

This is my first update from Abu Dhabi! I realize this is late...I’ve had it written for a while, but haven’t gotten around to posting. I’ll try to post tomorrow, too, and get everything up to date.

We survived the long trip here. By the time we got on the flight to Abu Dhabi in Chicago, we were already felt like that was enough traveling for one day-but alas, we still had almost 14 hours to go! Upon arriving to our seats, however, we were happy to discover that the flight time would be 13:05, and not 13:55 as indicated by our original itinerary! Small victories.

Coral economy class is very nice, and nicer than any economy international section I’ve flown before. The flight attendants were very kind to us and we received an evening meal and a morning meal, although it was after 7 PM by the time we arrived. We all received a small package with an eye mask, toothbrush, ear plugs, etc which came in handy, as the sun became increasingly brighter as we went forward in time. It was strange to see the sun rising as it was supposed to be setting, based on our internal clocks, anyway.

Daniel didn’t find it difficult to sleep, but I don’t think I slept very much at all...perhaps an hour? Instead, I spent my time watching our little plane cross the Atlantic and make its way past Iraq.

When we arrived, ADEC (Abu Dhabi Education Council) employees greeted us with our entry papers, which will eventually become our Resident Visas. They state that we are gainfully employed in the UAE.

From there we went to Passport Control, and had our entry papers stamped and had a retinal scan. Then we headed downstairs and had our names checked off the list of teachers, and picked up our luggage. Porters packed all of our bags onto carts and we headed outside, where we boarded buses for our respective hotels! Our group is staying at the Park Rotana-not at the Beach Rotana or the Intercontinental as I previously suspected. Check it out online if you get a chance...it’s very, very nice!

That’s it for now...time for bed! We love you all.