I've made it! After 3 flights, 7 hours of layovers, 4 airplane terminals, 23 hours of travel, 1 pick-up, and 1 hired suitcase carrier , I stepped into the muggy heat of Bahrain. I was cordially welcomed by passport officials and fellow teachers alike to my new home. I was also welcomed by a power outage :-) I guess the power company got so excited to see me that it sent too much power to our building and overtaxed itself. It finally got calmed down enough to say hello around four in the morning - for an hour.
Though the trip was a tad bit grueling (I got sick by the end of it) it was definitely not "plain." Here is a list of people encountered and miracles witnessed. First the people. I met a TSA official who served our country in the Navy, a 9th grade English Intervention teacher, a senior in high school who has been living in Italy for the past year, a man who looked like he could be a pirate, and three Kuwaiti women whose seat assignment was overlapped with mine. Now the miracles. I was only charged $110 for my extra baggage instead of what should have been $400 due to a change in regulations, my cabin luggage was allowed on when another lady's whose bag was around my size had to be checked for an extra fee, I wasn't charged an overweight fee even though one of my bags was 4 pounds over, I was given an aisle seat for my last flight with an empty seat beside me and a lot of leg room, and all of my luggage arrived intact!
Welcome to Bahrain, indeed! I am pretty well settled in, have already made some great friends, and am beginning to orient myself around the island. Bahrain is a truly fascinating place to live and I am excited to begin sharing stories and pictures with you in the coming weeks and months. Stay tuned for post #1 about living in Bahrain!
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