Journey and Arrival

Ah, our journey.  Fortunately (or unfortunately!) Aramco provided us with Business Elite class tickets for our trip over.  Before we took our trip, one of our friends told Mike that Business Class is a whole different experience than traveling in coach.  WOW, he is right!  Of course, there’s the great service, the early boarding, the free drinks (foiled yet again by pregnancy!  Drat!), but the very best is the SPACE.  You actually have enough room to move, and breathe, and be a normal human being, rather than a cow in a cattle corral.  It was amazing.  It was everything we really needed, seeing how many large carry-on items we had (I’m really not sure we would have made it in coach with 2 car seats, 2 large duffle bags, 2 messenger bags, 2 frame backpacks, the diaper bag, and the stroller and infant carrier!) , and because it’s so few people in business class, there is no competition – no rush to get on or off, no frantic grabbing of overhead bin space, no maneuvering.  It made the trip a whole lot easier.  On the downside, now I know what it’s like!  I’m not sure I will ever be satisfied in coach again!

The boys wore their matching Airplane Outfits that I embroidered for them.

In the Knoxville Airport

So we got on in Knoxville, and we barely made our flight because the security line got really long right before we arrived.  We walked up to the gate and went straight on the plane.  Then two momentous things happened almost simultaneously:  the boarding door closed, meaning that Mike was now officially an Aramco employee.  No longer frictionally unemployed, we suddenly had full health and life insurance coverage, full benefits, and the fulfillment of Mike’s dream since he was a kid in Ras Tanura.  At almost exactly the same time, it was 5:00 pm on Friday, December 30^th, meaning that my position at UNCC was officially over.  It was a poignant moment, as it was the end of one chapter in our lives and the beginning of something radically new.  In that moment, I took Aladdin’s hand and we got on our flying carpet and were whisked away.

Except that the carpet sat and sat on the tarmac in Knoxville!  Hah!  So much for the momentum of the moment!  It sat for WAY too long because of delays from Atlanta, and we were just over an hour late getting there.  This meant that our 1.5 hour connection in Atlanta suddenly turned into a 25 minute connection.  Mike and I devised a plan on the way – I take my frame pack, the diaper bag, and both kids to the next gate, and he would meet me there with all the stuff.  Everett did a great job of running through the airport!  He had on his teddy bear backpack with a harness, and we dashed around everyone right up to the gate JUST before they were closing the door.  I stalled them just long enough (“You have 60 seconds for your husband to get here, ma’am, and then the door will be closed.”) to have Mike arrive with all the bags about 5 minutes later, and they let us on and closed the door behind us.  Phew!  Missing that flight would have meant an overnight stay in Amsterdam because there is only one flight to Dammam from Amsterdam per day.

Knoxville to Atlanta

Knoxville to Atlanta - just starting out!

View from the flying carpet, roughly over Washington DC

He's all business in Business Class

After that, we were golden.  The boys watched Mary Poppins on our computer for the Amsterdam layover, and they either slept or watched their seat TVs the rest of the ride.  We arrived about 9 pm local time in Saudi, and got through passport control, customs, and initial Aramco processing in about 2.5 hours.  We arrived at our new house on the compound just before midnight, which was right on schedule.

Reading a book in Amsterdam.  Note the mountain of carry-on bags and car seats behind Mike - yes, both those seats and everything under them, down to the floor, is ours, plus the backpack to Mike's right. 

Almost there! Over Baghdad. 

HOWEVER, the key to the house that they gave us at the Aramco processing area at the airport did not work!  We were locked out.  We welcomed the new year by standing at our new front door, looking vainly through the windows, trying to think of ways to break in.  Thank goodness for Saudi weather -  it was not cold, and it was not raining.   After about an hour and a half, someone from Lockout finally came and opened the door for us.  Hooray!  We got our bags inside and all fell into bed.  Welcome to Saudi Arabia!