"the camels welcome you"

So, I’m here after 20 hours of travel. No jet lag to speak of. (Could that be the B-12 shot working?) No luggage lost, although some gained (more on that later). No lack of absolute luxury. I have one day off before starting my work orientation, so I’ve got a few things planned: study my Arabic, maybe go to the spa, take in a 3 hour hatha yoga class, maybe tag along a mall trip, now that I realize how inappropriate most of my tops will be for work, maybe write, maybe read some teaching materials, definitely give a lot of thanks.

I can’t tell you how kind everyone has been already. There’s a lovely calmness here. I know some of that is the “honeymoon” phase of culture shock, , but really, I feel so taken care of. Could it be that the education council greeted us right off the plane with roses, walking us through every step necessary so that I didn’t even have to think (or pick up 120 pounds of luggage by myself) after our long travel? Could it be the lovely young lady from Jordania that freely gave advice about driving and living in Abu Dhabi before our bus ride to the hotel? Could it be the fabulous hotel staff that welcomed us with warm, wet towels and herb-infused mango juice? Or maybe it was the great night of sleep in the fluffy bed after talking with my dear ones on skype. Maybe a little of all of that. Or maybe it’s the camel milk talking.

Uh-huh, I did try camel milk this morning. Not bad, actually! Surprisingly a little less pungent than goat milk. Can’t say I’ll need to repeat the experience. But, if that was all there was to drink, pretty sure I could keep it down. (By the way, did you know that a thoroughbred camel can cost $750,000? Heard that recently. I wonder if I drank thoroughbred milk?!) Ah, the land of milk and honey. And...other not so pleasant things...

So, I said something about luggage “gained.” I probably should explain that, huh? Okay, so, when my luggage arrived, I took a rather perfunctory glance through, to see if my health supplements made it through customs. (There are strict regulations against having pharmeceuticals without a prescription. I wasn’t sure if some of what I have would be considered that or not.) Well, everything made it through, luckily. When...(funny, I don’t remember packing anything in a wadded up napkin in my luggage...) I retreived something rather nasty looking from amidst my abayas and my westerner clothing. It was what appeared to be a flower ball tea, but somehow not. Brown, kinda round, kinda wet, and definitely herby smelling. Gross. I threw it out right away, but then started wondering...what the heck IS that thing?! What if it’s some creepy illegal somethingerother that someone planted on me?! Should I flush it? Should I report it? My dear friend Eli suggested that the camels had given me a welcome gift. Hey, why not, everyone here is so welcoming! Finally, though, she talked some sense into me and confirmed what I thought it might be all along - some bag checker’s nasty old chewing tobacco. Why it was in my luggage, I will never know.

Reminds me of a recent conversation with another dear friend, Jen, who spent a school year teaching in China. She gave some sage advice: some things, we will never understand, and the key is to just be okay with that.

Oh. “Key.” Just reminded myself. I already lost one of my room keys. I’m gonna go look for that now.

Until next time!