I'm in Kuwait!

  I have made it to Kuwait!  It’s hard to believe that I am finally here.  I left Detroit, Michigan around 9:30pm on Sunday night (about 4:30 am Kuwait time).  I arrived in Kuwait on Tuesday afternoon around 12:30pm local Kuwait time.   The trip included a layovers in Amsterdam and Dubia.  Both of those are cities I would love to return to in the future to explore beyond the walls of the airport. 

these photos were taken in the airport in Dubai

My school arranged for myself and 5 of my new coworkers to all meet up in Amsterdam and complete the trip together.  We came from different parts of the US including Oklahoma, Texas, Georgia and Ohio.  We had our first team building activity occur kind of by mistake.  In Dubia, we encountered a very expensive problem with baggage that caused us to push back our flight for over 10 hours and spend hours going from desk to desk to solve the problem.  I’m super grateful for our single co-worker who had a fully charged phone with international data plan.  She was able to make numerous phone calls back and forth to the school administrators to assist with fixing the problem.  Meanwhile, the rest of us were learning a lesson in being supportive, working together, and being patient with the long waits in line at the airport.   Gratefully, we did not encounter a problem with language as a barrier.  English was the official business language in the airports we spent time in.  I also did not have any problems with using my credit card to pay for meals.  It wasn’t necessary to exchange money for the brief time we were away, so the credit card made things simple.

My group was clearly not alone in being delayed.  The airport had long rows of  reclining chairs for weary travelers. 

 

this part of the Dubai airport looks like a mall

these recognizable restaurants were in the airport in Kuwait.  

I will share more photos and general information in days and weeks to come.  I do start work immediately.  Kuwait is  7 hours ahead of Eastern time in the USA so I am experiencing some jet lag. I slept for about 6 hours last night.   My school arranges for a bus to take us to work daily.  So far, I have been warmly welcomed by the school staff and my mentor teacher.  I have a very nice spacious apartment.  My favorite part of it is my view of the Persian Gulf, also known as the Arabian Gulf. 

a view of my neighborhood from my apartment window. This mosque across the street plays a call to prayer about every 4 hours.  

I was thrilled to learn that my apartment includes a view of the Persian Gulf!  I took this photo from my balcony.  It looks better in person

Do you have questions for me?  I know you do.  Post your questions in the comments section.  I’ll be happy to answer them eventually.  Thanks to everyone for reading!