Finally!

This is a double entendre' for me.....First, finally I got my ticket! I was so shocked when I got the email Friday with my Visa and ticket....
Next...FINALLY arrive! The first leg went fast. I flew from Tulsa to Chicago. I was supposed to fly out at 1 pm, but when I arrived at the airport at 10 am, they had openings on the 10:45 flight so I took that one. It meant a longer layover at Chicago but that was ok. I got to meet some of the teachers who were also coming...

I found out that there were about 80 coming- 50 on my flight and about 30 more on a flight from NYC.

I was anxious to leave and watched and paced while the plane was being prepared for flight. 

The flight from Tulsa to Chicago was uneventful. Upon arrival, I had to lug my 15 pound carryon and  25 pound backpack forever (it seemed!) to get to the airport transit to terminal 5 where I would fly out for Abu Dhabi. 

The flight to Abu Dhabi was 12 hours. I loved the monitors on the setbacks that allowed me to track our progress. 

I fell asleep and woke up as we were over Amsterdam....

I spent the rest of the flight walking around, eating (they feed you almost hourly! 2 full meals and numerous snack and drinks...) 

I took pictures when we were over Amman...very mountainous. 

Finally, we arrived! I was so excited! The last 3 hours of the flight seemed interminable! Then the hurry and wait portion started. We had to get our eyes scanned and go through customs. Then walk another mile (it seemed!) to get to the luggage. I was so exhausted at this point that I paid for a cart "pusher". He was nice but tried to scam me on the exchange rate. It is 3.5 dirhams for one USD. He tried to tell me that I owed him $15 US for 20 dirhams. NOT!

So we all got our luggage and waited......

When we got outside, we were excited to see a luxury bus waiting...

But that wasn't our ride to the hotel...This was...

This is a school bus for AD...lol..Unfortunately, I didn't get on the first bus. The second bus sat at the airport for over an hour and a half due to two ladies having lost luggage! We felt bad for them but at this point all we wanted was a cool shower and a good meal!

We loaded our luggage in the carrier van...

And sat...and sat...and sat...lol...Whiney wasn't the word...need a shower!!

Finally made it to the hotel (15 minute  drive) around midnight. 

I had to nest before I could sleep...

Here is a video of my room:

Finally, Nana got into her nightshirt made by Anna and Toni and to bed I went!

Good night all! More later...