My Flight and First Few Days on the Persian Gulf

I have arrived! 7, 8 and 9 February 2007 squeezed themselves together into - I'm sure - one day. I left a cold Edmonton on Wednesday, 7 February for a series of stops on my way the Les in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.

Because of weather conditions in Calgary, which were worse than in Edmonton, my flight to Calgary was delayed by a little over an hour. This only shortened my waiting time in Calgary and so, was not a great hardship. Unfortunately the weather didn't get any better in Calgary before my flight left for Frankfurt. We boarded the plane at 5:15 p.m. with a departure time of 5:45. But...between problems with a seat that needed to be repaired, a no-show passenger on the flight (which meant that her baggage had to be off-loaded), a cargo door that iced up and would not latch, wings that needed de-icing after the cargo door was latched...we departed at 8:00 p.m. Thank you to SNC Lavalin and their Business Class tickets, because we, in Business Class waited out the 2 hours in the plane with wine and snacks!!

The flight was great; nice big comfy seat, lots of food and wine, and a good sleep. This delay in Calgary did make me late for my Lufthansa flight to Abu Dhabi though. Many of us missed connecting flights but the passenger agent on the ground at Frankfurt was very organized and had documented new flights for all of us and he sent us to the Air Canada counter for new tickets. Unfortunately, the lone ticket agent at the Air Canada counter was not overly happy that a great number of us were there to interrupt her conversation on the telephone! She was so very flustered as she wrote new tickets for flights that were to leave in short order (as were documented on the detailed chart she was given by the passenger agent), that wrong information was written on my new tickets. My dash through the Frankfurt Airport to the Qatar Air boarding area, followed by a conversation with a very confused Qatar Air agent, led me to another dash back to the Air Canada counter to have the tickets written correctly and another dash back to allow me to board a plane for the rest of my flight to Les!

In spite of all this confusion, I did arrive back at the boarding area on time for my new flight - Qatar Air to Doha, Qatar where I would have a 1 1/2 hour layover before leaving for the final flight to Abu Dhabi. The delay in Calgary was my very good fortune! If you ever have the opportunity to fly Qatar Air in Business Class grab it!! I did not want to get off that plane - the service, the treatment, the food and drink, were unbelievable - never in my life have I had such service! When we arrived in Doha, a little bus picked us up right from the plane and took us to the 1st Class Lounge where the great service just continued in a most beautiful environment. Water walls, palm trees, lovely comfy chairs - another place I really didn't want to leave. When our flight to Abu Dhabi was being boarded we were escorted again right to the plane. The 45 minute flight to Abu Dhabi was yet more of the same pampering.

Les picked me up at the airport at 2:30 a.m. Friday, 9 February (that's 3:30 p.m. Thursday, 8 February, Edmonton time). We went to Le Meridien Hotel in Abu Dhabi for the night. The next morning I waded in the Persian Gulf and sat in the sun under palm trees - this is heavenly!! But...in this heaven there is, not hell, but perhaps purgatory...as we drove around Abu Dhabi we saw areas of immense wealth and beauty and areas of total poverty - not much in between.
There are so many first impressions of this beautiful country - the very elegantly robed and head dressed Arab men and Muslim women...the sight of the incredibly blue Persian Gulf...the fruit, vegetable and fish vendors at the markets...the stalls and stalls and stalls of fresh date vendors...the palm trees...the sand...the Mosques...hearing the call to Mosque...the sun setting over the Persian Gulf...the bright sun...

Les lives in a workers' camp right by the Gulf. He has a cute little bachelor apartment and has found me a table and chairs for the patio he has. He leaves for work each day Saturday to Wednesday at about 5:30 a.m. and returns at 6:30 p.m. On Thursday he is back at 12:30 pm. - Thursday afternoon and Friday are his days off - don't forget, this is an Arab country and the holy day is Friday. The days are mine to fill as I can!! At about 10ish each day I go for my walk/run to the beach. (By the time I get back the nice little cleaning boy has come in and emptied the garbage, cleaned the bathroom, washed the floors and left more bottled water!!) I am getting some exercise, it's not all lazing! There is a boat repair yard in the Gulf just down the road (about a 10 minute walk) from the camp. I head down there and find a spot (where I can't see tooooo much garbage) lay my towel down and sit or lay in the sun for a couple of hours. I can't go on the beach itself in this area - very dirty, rocky and out of sight of the boat yard, but there is a cliff sort of thing right above the beach. That's where I park myself. Don't worry - lots of sunscreen and my big goofy hat are all part of the ritual! There is garbage everywhere on the beach and some up on my little cliff area - the people who live here and use this beach don't appreciate the beauty they have. If I lived here I would pick up garbage everyday and hope the residents would change their ways. I don't like to be out of sight of the boat yard - there are always men around but never any other women and I like to stay safe!! I love to be here to smell the sea, watch the waves and the gulls, listen to the pounding waves - it truly is lovely. I've always wanted to live by the ocean and for the next 2 months I do and I am going to enjoy every moment I can. There is one gull that seems come everyday, I can't believe that with all the garbage around there aren't more, just the one. I've decided that he is watching over me! Some days there are lots of dragonflies - the biggest dragonflies I've ever seen - they are beautiful to watch. I haven't seen any dolphins yet, although Les has seen them here. After my couple of hours I run back to the camp and sit on my little patio and read, do needlework....be lazy!! And back in when the sun gets too hot. It has been about 25 degrees everyday and some days there is a nice little breeze to cool things a bit.