dubai

So I'm sitting on the floor in the DUBAI! airport. I'm about five hours in to my 42ish hour trip and doing okay. I was going to download podcasts, but either my iTunes is being weird or the network has a block on that sort of thing. But apparently I can still download other things, so that's cool.

My next flight is supposed to leave at 2 am (and it's 2:45 now) so I have a lot of time to do whatever. In an airport. I think that might end up getting old. However there are like fifty terminals in this place.

One of my headphone speakers decided it didn't want to work, so whatev.

I thought my bag was so small that it couldn't possibly be overweight. Oops. I have 45 kilos or so (which i think is near the maximum for international flights, but they also have some kind of weight per bag (i think 23 k or so.) but they didn't charge me extra, hamdulillah! and they didn't check them through to STL. I know I have to pick them up in JFK for customs, but I hope I don't have to hang on to it until I check in to my flight to STL. Not only because it's a lot of stuff but because American would probably try to charge me overweight baggage for an internal flight. Also I was hopeful (but realistic) that I could make it to mass in New York. MMM Jesus!

Also, Am Sayeed was amazing this morning. I came downstairs this morning and went over to the other building to check my email. When I came back, he was standing in the doorway and was asking me about when I was going to leave, and who was taking me. When I explained that I thought Muhammad was taking me he was like "Is Muhammad around? I think he might be in his village." I really had no idea. I talked to Jameel, the director, the week before and he said there would be someone at 8 am to take me. Am Sayeed (who might be as ancient as days) walked over to the other building to see if Muhammad was around.

Of course, he was gone to his village (today is a holiday for ... um... the last british soldier leaving ? mumkin?) and he found this other guy who works for the center to take me. I got to the Airport in plenty of time. no hitches. Mum-taz!

And that brings you up to the moment with me ... sitting on the floor updating my computer in Dubai.