Its been a little while since I touched down in the Middle East. So far, it’s been work, work, work. I have been focusing on doing the job and presenting myself in a good light. But, all work is just that, all work. I decided it was time to taken a run to the airport.

This little weekend get away is a couple of firsts. First time taking a cab anywhere. First time working my way through the airports on my own, and just generally getting around the Middle East on my own.

I will classify the experience as, so far so good. The taxi ride through the beginnings of rush hour traffic was anticlimactic. My boss gave me the phone number of her personal taxi guy. (Every western woman living/working over here has a vetted taxi driver that is trustworthy.) he was a good guy, and ran the meter, which can be a problem with some taxi drivers.

The airport hustle was also pretty smooth. Hit the departure terminal at about 5:55pm and the line was only about 10 or15 people deep. I chose FlyDubai for my flight, based on two ideas. One, they fly out of the Sheik Saad terminal II of the Kuwait City airport, and the terminal is only used by that one airline. Second (and a major factor for everybody these days) the has extremely reasonable direct flights to Dubai. Yes, the name does imply as much.

Its my understanding form everyone I talk with that the main airport terminal can be quite the disaster, between ticketing and outgoing customs. Terminal II is small and essay to navigate.

So, I’m off to Dubai for the weekend. After five months in a dry country I wouldn’t go completely out on a limb and say it’s a drinking weekend, but it certainly won’t be dry. Now, Dubai, much like Kuwait, is not a cheap country to visit. You will pay for what you get. So there will be a stop at the duty free when I get off the plane. That is, after the stop at the money changers. For a US lad, the only currency in my pockets is Dinars and Euros. Hahahahahaha Its crazy, but its the way of the world.

I’ll keep you updated along the way!

Enjoy!