Wednesday, June 17, 2009

Hi all,

I have been back in the States since Friday, June 12. Yesterday I was out running around all day and find that my stamina is definitely not back to normal yet.

To finish off the trip: I left Zamorin's at 6AM on Thursday, June 11, 2009. Colonel Babu came to see me off as did Kirish and Sibeon (They sleep on the floor in the livingroom in case of medical emergencies so they didn't really have a choice.). Colonel Babu actually gave me a big hug (I first asked him if I could give him a hug not knowing whether that was kosher or not.) and told me that I will always have a home at Zamorin's. We arrived at the airport in an hour and a half. Part of the trip was on a new four-lane highway where it looked like if houses were partially in the way of the construction, they had just ripped off that part of the house and left the rest. EVERYone was very nice to me all the way back to the States and went out of their way to help me. When I went up to the Emirates Air desk, I asked the guy if he spoke English, which he did--very well, in fact. David had difficulty having his luggage sent all the way to the States and had to pick his up in Dubai. The gentleman had never processed luggage to the States (and he was in training), but his supervisor was there and helped him route it to South Bend. I still had to pick it up in Washington, DC for customs, but just walked it about 15 feet to put it on a conveyer belt to go to the next airplane. Unfortunately, it did not arrive in South Bend when I did, but it did come in yet on Friday and was delivered.
At the Cochin Airport, I couldn't find any books or bottled water, but I could have lunch at 8 AM from the one deli I saw. Nope. Not up for that. I did have a granola bar in my carryon so I had that. There were virtually no snacks except candy available.
Emirates Air is a great airline!!!! They had many attendants who were actually working for the entire 4 hour flight. First they gave everyone a small sealed cup of lemonade. And I think we had lunch. Lots of water handed out. Part of lunch was fresh fruit so that was good. Again, everyone was very nice and personable.
The Dubai airport is very modern. BTW at Cochin and at Dubai, everything and everyone goes through security twice. Once before they let you in and once before they let you on. At Dubai, the women were wanded in a curtained enclosure due to the prevailing modesty and saris and Muslim dress and such. Let me tell you that wand was right up on me. By a woman, of course.
The only airports that made me take off my shoes were in the States. Every foreign airport makes you go through immigration as did Washington, DC. In every airport EXCEPT Washington, DC, if there were a lot of people, screeners were added at Immigration--and there were already a lot of screeners. In the US there were easily 250 people in each of 2 lines--one for US citizens and one for non US folks. And 3 passport screeners. And none added.
Anyway, back to Dubai. The airport is ultra modern. We arrived 45 minutes early. I only saw two shops going out of the airport. No restaurants. I was able to get bottled water in the airport. Once I got out in the foyer so-to-speak, my cell phone wouldn't let me text because it had to be digital and, being the technologically-challenged person that I am, I didn't know how to do anything about that. So I tried to use a telephone to call Leslie, Jeff's sister. But an airport person in a suit said it took a card (probably pre-paid card) to use that phone. So he called Leslie and helped me hook up with her and even took me to her car. So helpful. See what I mean by going out of their way??????
And so I spent the rest of the day with Leslie and her family and had a great time. It was really hazy in Dubai, but Leslie drove me around so I saw the highlights. We spent some time running kids while she answered my questions about Islam. Leslie's husband is Palestinian I'm told, but I think maybe he was raised in Jordan as that is where he would like to retire when the time comes. He went to undergrad at Vincennes University here in Indiana and got his Master's at University of Dayton, which is where he met Leslie, I think. The whole family was very friendly, and I enjoyed my time with them. There are two girls-maybe 16 and 19 and two boys ages 7 and 12. There is another daughter married and living in Arizona who is a doctor looking for a residency in orthopedic surgery, I think. She was doing general surgery in Dubai. The fam has been in Dubai for 16 years. Did I mention how great the fruit is in this area of the world????
The pineapple is to die for. The orange and banana I had at Leslie's were great. There was also a fruit which has a spiny outside (which you do not eat) and a delicious inside. She also made some Arab food? which was very tasty and not spicy--chicken, rice, eggplant, and cauliflower I think. Yum! We also went to a mall which was cool. Literally. But they also had great shops and underground parking so the car didn't get hot. It was only 43 degrees centigrade which is somewhere around 105 degrees farenheit. Fortunately, very low humdity.
Leslie dropped me back at the airport about 9:30 PM for my midnight flight. And this is the part of the airport which is truly amazing. Shop after shop after shop. They are forecasting $1 billion in sales for this year. I think there were also places to eat, but I certainly wasn't hungry. I upgraded my flight to Economy Plus so I had a lot more (it's all relative) wiggle room and empty seats on both sides of me. There was a continuous map which showed the flightpath and gave vital statistics such as airspeed, altitude, outside temp, etc. Kind of cool. We definitely did not take the most direct route as we flew over Turkey, Warsaw, Poland, the Norwegian Straits (?) just south of Scandinavia, north of England, the Atlantic, just south of Iceland, and then down the interior of the East Coast. ie we were inland aways and not over water. The flight was uneventful. We had dinner in the wee small hours. A snack later. And then breakfast before flying into DC. It's really hard to be focussing on fruits and vegetables when whoever makes the food is not, but I only took one teeny bite of the chocolate brownie served with something. I just remembered that I was asleep during dinner so the brownie wasn't during dinner. Maybe I just dreamed about a brownie? I remember that there was fresh fruit with breakfast though. This flight was 14 hours long, and at one point the map said we had a headwind of 100mph which tends to slow down one's airspeed.
So then we deplane and head for immigration. Everyone was well-behaved and somewhat subdued after a 14 hour flight except for the guy from the US Embassy in Baghdad who badmouthed everyone and everything in sight. No wonder people have bad opinions of us when people from the US--not just this guy--are rude, crude and unattractive.
No problems at all until Chicago where there was a little bit of a delay due to a mechanical problem. My luggage didn't arrive in South Bend with me. BUT I had the greatest welcome in the world at the South Bend airport. Jenny and all four kids came to greet me, bringing hugs, flowers, and balloons. There's nothing like being welcomed home by your grandchildren and daughter-in-law!!!!
I haven't had a whole lot of problem readjusting although I have been in bed by 8 PM every night. I've been walking the last 4 days. And yesterday, I overdid myself running around, having lunch with Mrs. J. and going shopping with her. But I am taking it easy as recommended by Dr. Baji.
I have been asked if I would do this fabulous trip again. I would. I had a fantastic time--not withstanding the medication-- learning about another culture, meeting people, seeing things and doing things I never would have seen or done otherwise. The movie star--whom my Indian doctor here had heard of--and her friend Maya thought Amelia and I were both positively nuts for our response to the elephant so we were at least entertaining in that respect. Oh, yeah, the Ayurveda was cool, too.
Thanks for reading. I will occasionally keep you updated with regard to the aftermath of the Ayurveda. Probably not more than once a month. I will try to do that on the 12th of the month so you won't have to check everyday.
Love and blessings to all.

Love,
Mom/Peggy/Granny etc.