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It was nice to have a few days with my family before leaving for 3 weeks for Zambia. I have been on some time/emotion/all consuming rotations the since January (November really…) that have kept me from having much quantity time with Mandy, James, and Samuel. So, in some ways, this trip to Zambia was poorly timed. It would have been great to have this month at home with my loves; or even better with them in Zambia. But God felt that this was perfect timing … “All things … for those who are called according to his purpose.” Mandy and I have a lot of technological tools in the US to keep in touch when I spend long days at the hospital. But how Facetime and Skype will work in Zambia (especially Monze) was unclear as I left.
My itinerary had me flying from Boston to Dubai, then Dubai to Lusaka. The total trip with layovers was scheduled to take 38 hours. I took 2 checked bags and 1 backpack. The large checked bag was all medical supplies for the Mission Hospital in Monze. It weighed 63 lbs. I was ready to pay the extra fee during check-in at RDU. However, the women working the counter seemed to be working at a different pace then most. I saw her check two separate passengers in simultaneously while being on the phone with a travel agency. Pretty impressive, but I think it slipped her mind about the weight of my bags. When she lifted the bags to put them on the conveyor belt, I could tell she knew it was too heavy. But she moved on to the next customer and graciously waved me on.
I started with a short skip to Boston. During my long layover in Boston from 7-11pm, I made my way to my international gate. I sat down and started reading Dune (a old sci-fi series … Thanks Wen!). About 2 hours before my flight was scheduled to leave, I noticed a huge line forming at my gate – I presumed they were standby and needed seat assignments. I wasn’t far into chapter 1 when it seemed like everyone was going through this line, all 300-400 of them … except me of course.
As the line slowly thinned out, a man’s voice, slightly accented, came over head saying “last call for passport verification for Emirates flight to Dubai. Hmmm… Passport verification. Sounded important. So I packed up my backpack. A quick note about by backpack – it was full, heavy, and included macbook pro, Bose headphones, Dune (879pages), bag of toiletries, a large medicine bag with essentials including my malaria meds, a camera lens for Dr. Breen, 4 EL Fudge cookies, 1 small bag of frosted cherrios, wireless mouse, 1 jar of almonds, wires and converters, small iphone earbuds, Kleenex, 1 pilot G2 0.38, Chapel Hill Tophey (a gift for Dr. Breen), a large bag of candy, and my stethoscope.
But I threw it around my shoulders and got at the back of the now quite short queue. The woman behind the counter was dressed in what I learned is the uniform for all Emirates women (red hat, white sash, beige dress) – very international in appearance. She quickly looked over my passport and signed my ticket. They immediately started boarding. I sat down and people-watched. And some had not gone through the passport verification. They were briskly excused from the boarding process and told to get their passport verified. Then to the back of the line.
I boarded the 777 without any trouble. In my seat was a pillow, blanket, and a small zipper pouch. Inside this gift pouch was a eye shield, toothpaste, toothbrush, and a pair of socks. I thought the socks were an interesting choice. I thought they might be TED hose at first, but after inspection they were just regular socks. Before taking off, the flight attendants walked around and offered hot towels to freshen up. Fancy.
It was a big plane. In economy class, there were 3 – 5 – 3 seats across. I was fortunate to have a window seat. Each seat had a TV screen with options for tons of movies, TV shows, music. A couple of the TV channels showed two live video feeds, one from the cockpit view and one looking down under the plane. Each seat had its own power plug. That was good.
One of my seatmates sat down and had a cough. I was sure it was TB. Even with my backpack full of everything, it did not have an N95.
But after a bit of water, his cough went away. So unless it was liquid isoniazid, he did not have TB.
It was a long flight. (12hrs with the tradewinds!), longest flight in my life (at least until my return trip against the wind). We left at 11pm Wednesday EST and arrived 7pm Thursday Dubai time. So that was a lot of time to fill.
Fortunately, I was given a bunch of movies and TV shows to watch. I spent a couple hours asleep but most of my time was spent watching Game of Thrones. It’s like Lord of the Rings meets Braveheart meets The Walking Dead. Pretty cool…
There were two meals provided on the flight. Dinner and breakfast. This too was kind of fancy. The menu was written in both English and Arabic. For dinner, I had pan-seared salmon with sticky toffee pudding for dessert was good. Breakfast was also pretty good. But I think the salmon did a little number on my belly that took about 24hrs to resolve…
I finally arrived on the other side of the world. The Dubai airport was extravagant. The ceilings were so tall with large white pillars. Lots of oil here. Fortunately, my bags arrived without trouble. I actually had to go through Dubai customs since I had an overnight layover. Customs was quick and easy. A It was 9pm and I had no where to be for 12 more hours. The airport is a little set away from the main entertainment areas of Dubai. So, I decided to just check my bags back in and go through security and explore this huge airport. I spent all of my time in one of the three large terminals.
“B” was the largest and stretched for ~30minute walk. At one end was a large food court with large silver pillars, a large caviar bar, and large indoor plant life. I had a quick dinner at a pub. I got free Wifi access and texted and Skyped with Mandy throughout my stay in Dubai. The internet is amazing. I spent the next 11 hours wandering and looking through the shops, getting snacks, and people watching. I did manage to find a electrical outlet close to a seat; I was able to watch a few more episodes of Thrones. There of course was a starbucks – always busy here too.
Three times while I was in the Airport, the Islamic prayers were broadcast over the intercom system. There were lots of signs for “Gates” and “Toilets” and “Prayer Rooms.” All oficial writing was primarily in arabic (with smaller English below). The entertainment/commercial writing was in large print English … interesting.
By the time my flight to Zambia was boarding (0900) I was delirious and very tired. It was essentially a 30h call shift with a small nap in the middle. So I slept for the entire 6 hour flight to Zambia which was good b/c that flight had far fewer amenities, certainly no complimentary socks.
I arrived safely and upon deplaning onto the tarmac was greeted by a handpainted sign "Welcome to Zambia."
More to come...
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