Greetings from Dubai

I am starting this entry offline while I am over the Persian Gulf in seat 21A. (I wonder what NSA searches will find my blog now.) The numbers being displayed by the inflight information are changing as I write this entry, so math might not work. The angst I had about the iPod lasting for the entire flight from Washington DC,USA to Dubai, UAE was unfounded. I am currently at an altitude of 37000 ft/11277 km and have travelled  6856 miles/110431 km  on this flight so far. I am 315 miles or 488 km, or about one hour from Dubai and the battery is only about 1/3rd depleted – without the use of the external battery pack. I will say that I am more than 1/3rd depleted though.

Luckily the flight was not full in Economy Plus so people were able to change seats. I ended up having two seats to myself which was not too bad, reclined a little and got some sleep. I am not sure if getting sleep was the right thing but according to my body it was about 11PM when I left Washington DC, but it was 7AM Dubai time. I stayed awake through the meal service and then I fell asleep. There is something about a dark plane that just makes it easy for me to sleep.

I was surprised at the cleanliness of the plane lavatories during the flight. What I am not sure of is if it was poor cleaning and upkeep before we left or if they just plane (pun intended) got used hard in the flight. I doubt that they are serviced or cleaned during a flight so I guess that makes it somewhat understandable of the look of the facilities, but people are hard on them.

My seat preference has changed for international flights versus domestic flights. I typically request aisle seats on the domestic flights. However I have found that it is easier to sleep on the window portion of the two seats I have than the aisle seat. I think that this is due to two things. 1) I can lean against the wall a little if wanted; 2) I do not keep getting bumped in the process of people moving through the cabin. Of course this all goes out the window if I get upgraded to Biz or First as there, any seat would be good.

I am also pleasantly surprised by the inflight information that has been prepared for Arrival Information for Dubai that is playing on the seat back monitors. It explains where to go, what signs to look for, what documents are needed, and it includes pictures of the signs and the kiosks to look for. Very helpful, I am sure that part of it is to lower the amount of questions that are being asked but I still think it is very helpful and assuages some of the concerns I have about traversing an unfamiliar airport. This concern happens no matter where I travel to, domestically or internationally, just going someplace new and having to figure out where everything is located.

I will say that 24 hours of travel has been interesting.  I am not quite finished yet, but what I can say so far in looking back:

1. My body is sore – I am glad I packed ibuprofen in my carryon
2. The Red Carpet club definitely understands international travels as they kept it open later than usual as the flight was delayed
3. People can be courteous or rude no matter their background and ethnicity. I wonder though if they they are being rude or I am perceiving it that way.
4. My cell phone in Dubai does not work
5. The iPod Nano battery lasted the flight no problem.
6. My ATM Card did not work
7. I could not use my credit cards in the pay phones
8. 26 Hours door to door (House to Hotel)