January 12, 2010: guido

Three days into the work week, and I have already fallen behind in keeping you all updated. Shame on me.

But really! There are so many things to tell you. My flight from Houston was blessed by a strong tailwind that shortened the flight by about an hour. That made my total travel time out to be roughly 16 hours of flying over the course of 30 hours. The strong tailwind also promoted strong turbulence. Unlike most people, I rather enjoy turbulence. The roller coaster is even better when you consult the altimeter to see just how many hundreds of feet you instantly dropped. I had an aisle seat on the plane (a Boing 777 -- quite large). Normally I am partial to the window seats, but the aisle was very convenient. George tells me that I was sitting in his preferred seat. My flight attendant was a young man from one of the Arabian countries. His name was Guido. I chuckled thinking about LI and Webb every time I saw his nametag.

We were 30 minutes early on arrival at Dubai International. Emirates recently opened Terminal 3, a glitzy, Dubai-inspired terminal with palatial columns and big everything else. The designers clearly thought of everything from a spacious baggage claim to well labeled walkways. The only thing that appears not to have been considered are the people who will travel through this airport terminal. Yes, where are the people??? Terminal 3 was deserted at the peak of travel time. Maybe that's why it was so spacious...

Emirates Air's brand new Terminal 3 at Dubai International. This image is from promotional materials for the airline. Remove 95% of the travelers for reality.

George and I were greeted by Ahmad and Abhi, employees of the offshore company. Ahmad is the Public Relations Officer. He is a local who organizes drivers like Abhi and interfaces with the emirati government. He's worked for the company for over 30 years. He and Abhi are both very gracious men. (As a side note, a freshman favorite who is working in Seattle correctly predicted that I would be picked up in town car with a driver.)

I easily checked into the hotel, ate some dinner, and went to bed. The going to bed part was not so easy. My sleep schedule was disrupted by the time zone jump, and I spent most of the first night sleeping in two hour shifts. I am thankful that that stage only lasted one night.

Posted in: Emirates Airline,traveling