Well, here I am again. After a long, long flight I arrived in Lahore around 4 am. Two long days of endless airports but I had pretty good flights and as fortune would have it, met some nice people who helped me when I needed it! The only weird part was the leg from Memphis to Chicago where we had the meanest flight attendant ever! Goodness she yelled at old people, teenagers and told people on the plane if they were getting hit by ice pellets, not to worry-it was only condensation! It was so much the way she said it that just set me off laughing (got a dirty look). How many times have I been on a plane? (a lot). This was a first! We hit some unexpected turbulence too and that didn't help. After a while everyone just sort of chortled when she would go off and you could hear people calling her some choice names.
Traveling to Pakistan this time was different. I went the first time in November and basically never saw a lot of westerners. This time there were a lot of Pakistani Americans vacationing and quite a few other US, Canadian and Germans on the flights. All the flights were a bit delayed so that meant less airport time which suited me just fine. The 14 hour leg of the flight is killer but I got up and moved around quite a bit. Abu Dhabi airport is gorgeous and I bought a few gifts there but by then was feeling pretty stupid-tired. I met two very nice people on the flight to Lahore (both Pakistani Americans) who gave me some good advice and helped me negotiate customs and find my luggage. BNU had a driver waiting for me outside and I thanked him for staying up so late. He was so gracious and said it was his honor and duty! How's that for chivalry?
I am staying in the Beaconhouse Guest House again (in the same room in fact) and spent the first couple of hours here unpacking and trying to make it feel like home for a month. The power plugs here are individually unique. What fits one adapter doesn't necessarily fit another so I am learning to negotiate. We also had our first power outage but it came back on in just a few minutes. It is hot, hot, hot! Pretty humid too. Was 94F when I arrived so daytime temps should be interesting. I am going to stay up long enough to say hello to everyone at breakfast and then go to bed and sleep.
Traveling to Pakistan this time was different. I went the first time in November and basically never saw a lot of westerners. This time there were a lot of Pakistani Americans vacationing and quite a few other US, Canadian and Germans on the flights. All the flights were a bit delayed so that meant less airport time which suited me just fine. The 14 hour leg of the flight is killer but I got up and moved around quite a bit. Abu Dhabi airport is gorgeous and I bought a few gifts there but by then was feeling pretty stupid-tired. I met two very nice people on the flight to Lahore (both Pakistani Americans) who gave me some good advice and helped me negotiate customs and find my luggage. BNU had a driver waiting for me outside and I thanked him for staying up so late. He was so gracious and said it was his honor and duty! How's that for chivalry?
I am staying in the Beaconhouse Guest House again (in the same room in fact) and spent the first couple of hours here unpacking and trying to make it feel like home for a month. The power plugs here are individually unique. What fits one adapter doesn't necessarily fit another so I am learning to negotiate. We also had our first power outage but it came back on in just a few minutes. It is hot, hot, hot! Pretty humid too. Was 94F when I arrived so daytime temps should be interesting. I am going to stay up long enough to say hello to everyone at breakfast and then go to bed and sleep.
Wow! I was on a flight from Newark to Memphis a week ago and we were pelleted by "condensation"...interesting.
ReplyDeleteI love that you are blogging.
Glad to hear that you have arrived safely and that you are being so well taken care of. Enjoy your time. Look forward to reading more about your travels and the class you are teaching.
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