Upon arrival....

My journey towards Q-ville, as my friend Joyce so aptly names this place I now call home, began with a very hectic Tuesday morning, during which many tears were shed. I was leaving Sara, my fabulous neighbors, and my dear husband ~ what is there NOT to cry about??!! Leaving Sara was by far the most difficult thing I've ever had to do, period. She's excited about things to come, as are we, but still. So after we frantically ran around, packing boxes and suitcases, I got a surprise at the door ~ a package from some friends in CA that arrived JUST as we were leaving, so I had to do a minor repack, which was soooo worth it! Thank you Stephanie for your fabulous timing! Sara also got her birthday gift in the same package, and was equally as happy! : ) That was a nice, uplifting moment that made us all sort of forget the sadness we were feeling.

Oh ~ I cannot forget to tell you all a little story about a fabulous lady named Jan. She volunteered to come all the way from ND to help me paint my kitchen, which I'd completely stripped 8 months ago, before I left. It looks fabulous ~ THANKS MOM!!! She was a complete blessing to have in Seattle, and it was great to see her before leaving.

Where was I....oh yes....so, we went to the airport. Rabah was going back to work, so he was going to try getting onto my flight to DC, but only the jumpseat was available (metal chair + 6 hours = not so much). Sadly, I then had to say my goodbyes to him as well. I'm sure people thought I was crazy, crying while saying goodbye to my pilot husband! Sheesh lady ~ do you never see him??? Well, if they only knew that I didn't know when I would see him again. And then.....I left. Took off into the air, getting the usual rush I get upon takeoff, knowing that I'm about to go somewhere, regardless of where it is. I absolutely love this feeling, even if I don't want to leave somewhere. We landed in DC, and I had a blissful 1 hour layover ~ truly 1 hour is bliss. I then boarded Qatar Airways bound for Doha, where we would arrive in approximately 12 hours.

OK ~ so if you've ever flown on a 5-Star airline before, you'll know what I mean when I say this flight was THE BEST!!! I've flown internationally on KLM, Lufthansa, United and Quantas. They don't have anything on the service Qatar Airways offers, nor on the ammenities they have for coach passengers. Seriously. And QA is cheaper, but I wouldn't really know that because I didn't pay for the ticket. My seatmate told me. Each seat has it's own tv, with remote, that plays a bagillion movies, and has a games channel for kids as well. There are two actual meals with plenty of snacks inbetween if desired. As far as flights go, it was the shortest long flight I've taken.

We arrived, and I was whisked away by airport hospitality, who took care of my visa and such. Walked right to the front of the immigration line with her, went through, and then waited while they collected my luggage, which came through unscathed. I was expecting to wait for at least an hour to get through customs and everything, but I was out of the airport within 20 minutes of landing. That's what I call service! We met a university representative outside, and he drove me to my new humble abode, which is HUGE. My friend, and mentor, Tracy, who's Texan, describes it as the size of a small house (3 bedrooms, which are quite large), two full baths, one half bath, a ginormous kitchen, and a good size living room. I was prepared for horribly gaudy furniture, but was pleasantly surprised with some velvet cream colored furniture (couch, loveseat, two chairs), as well as a 6-person dining table with buffet. I was tired, but pleasantly surprised by it all.

After he left, about an hour later, there was a knock on my door, and I thought "who in the world!". It was Tracy! : ) She'd been out to the airport, but we were way early, so I'd already come back (this means about 50 minutes of traffic for her!) She persevered, and found me at home, which was incredibly nice of her, and it was very nice to see a familiar face (she'd met me in Seattle while visiting friends).

Then I put the sheets on my bed, and went to sleep.