We left Seattle around 6 pm and it never got dark outside during our entire 14 hour plane ride! I’m not exactly sure how that worked, but I guess we were flying with the sun. It was relatively easy to sleep because the cabin lights were dimmed and my body felt it was the middle of the night.
Here we are at the Seattle airport waiting to board the flight to Dubai.
We flew Emirates air and the in flight service provided was very different from the pretzels typically provided during team travel on continental flights. My travel buddy, volleyball player Martie Massey, and I were excited when the flight attendant passed out the menu for dinner and breakfast. Martie decided on the grilled salmon fillet and I chose the bhindi masala curry dish. I asked for my usual plane drink, water with no ice, but the flight attendant basically insisted I try the complimentary wine.
Luckily, I had an aisle seat so I was able to get up lots to stretch and use the washroom often. One of the times I was waiting to use the washroom the man behind me in line asked if I studied chemical engineering at OSU!
Turns out he was a grad student at OSU in the chemical engineering program and recognized me from Gleeson. Gleeson is the chemical engineering building on campus where I spend a good chunk of time studying and working on group projects with friends.
I’m actually a bioengineering major but at OSU the chemical, bio and environmental engineers are grouped together in the same school and share many of the same classes during their undergraduate program. The master’s student was on his way home to India. Talk about a small world!
The captain announced that the temperature in Dubai was 40 degrees. I’m very familiar with Celsius and was having a hard time believing it could be that warm at 8 pm. But when we walked outside of the air conditioned airport to catch the shuttle to the hotel I can tell you it was like walking into a furnace. The airport itself was extremely modern and suggestive of wealth. There were giant white pillars and palm trees inside and all the clocks throughout the airport were Rolexes. We got through customs with no trouble, just a bit of a wait.
The Dubai airport was unreal! This photo doesn't do the available high end shopping justice.
I’m happy that I was asked to write this blog and looking forward to sharing my experiences. I’ve borrowed my coach’s iPad and Taylor’s wireless keyboard to blog and it’s the perfect combination to easily write. Thank you!
Now I’m just keeping my fingers crossed that there is enough Internet access once we arrive in Ethiopia to upload posts and potentially photos. Otherwise, look forward to an onslaught of posts once we return and just pretend they were posted daily.
GO BEAVS!
