From Texas to Doha: Day 1-2

This was the scene two days ago... a group of Aggies leaving campus on an 8,000 mile journey to the Middle East. We were pumped! We were headed to Houston to catch our first flight to Dubai. Y'all - this is not real life. I, Katy King, was going to Dubai. For WORK with a group of 12 students in which I was the responsible party.

Huh? When did I become a real, live grown up?

Weird.

We got to hang out in the airport with our TAMQ friends that had just finished their portion of the trip in Aggieland. We had different flights to the same destination, which was pretty much the strangest thing saying, "I'll see you when we get there" when "there" is half-way around the world.

As we made our way down to the plane we all stopped in awe of the sheer size of this jet. Y'all. It was huge, and while I clearly didn't think we were going to be on anything that remotely resembled my typical United airplane... I wasn't expecting this. I guess when you are flying for 15+ hours you need more room. 

And before you get all worried about my comfort level for that more than half-day worth of travel...save yourself the trouble. I got the lovely surprise of Business Class as the chaperone for the trip. And while I tried to play it cool... y'all. Wealth is fun. People fly like this on a CONSISTENT basis. 

(Brace yourselves for some all caps)

The seats lay ALL the way DOWN. I got my OWN pair of socks. AND eye mask. AND toothbrush. AND...they come and MAKE your bed. 

AND then there was FIRST class. They basically moved into their own apartment. I was so out of my element and basically giddy. I tried to hide the fact that I was taking all these pictures because everyone around me was pretty accustomed to this life. I'm pretty sure they were all gajillionaires on their way home or for a business trip. My "neighbor" was shocked that I had never flown business (and he was also the non-talking type) until I explained that I worked in education.

"Oh."

That was his response. 

Oh, and the food. Good Lord the food. That hummus plate alone was worth the ticket. And then there was the beef tenderloin that followed. I actually said no to dessert because I couldn't fit anything else in my stomach.  So I just reclined my seat, slipped on my socks, and then watched basically whatever movie I wanted. 

(I would like to tell you that I took the opportunity to watch sophisticated films, but I did not. I stuck with slapstick comedy and my routine romcom.)

I like to keep it real.

We landed in Dubai and I was so excited to see things that were not at all familiar to me. I was ready to be out of my element.

Clearly. 

I was slightly disappointed at the huge American influence on everything in the airport. Starbucks, Burger King, Boots Pharmacy, and of course Lightening, errr...., RC Hot Rod. 

We boarded our next plane to Doha and then worked our way through customs, which was seriously so easy. 

We grabbed our bags and realized that we had hit our 24 hour mark of travel. 

And we still looked good.

But, it was finally time to head to bed and force our eyes to sleep although it was only 5pm our time. And check out the stowaways in my bag... I think they are going to like this trip.

So much more to come....