Strangers in a Strange Land

As-salaamu alaykom…

Well, I’ll go ahead and say that if you have the means, you really need to travel international business class if at all possible at least once in your life. Basically, Eric and I drank our way from ATL through to JFK and ended up in the Emirates lounge in New York. As much Veuve Cliquot as I can drink? Don’t mind if I do. Deluxe dinner buffet? Sounds great. Free magazines and internet connection? Thank you!

Boarding the plane, Eric and I settled into our fully reclining seats and began watching whatever we wanted on the 500 channels on the 17 inch screens in front of us. For some reason, around four in the morning I settled into the 15 stations of Disney animated features and fast-forwarded through to all the happy endings I could watch. The flight, all 13+ hours of it went by fairly quickly and once on the ground, our customs procedure was expedited because of our seating. We collected our bags, and after a slight hiccup in finding our driver, we headed to the Hawthorne Hotel in Deira (a suburb in Dubai).

Right away, we knew we were strangers in a strange land. If you’ve never visited a Muslim country, or have never been near a mosque, then you have probably never heard the lyrical Arabic chanting of the Adhan – one of the five times a day that there is a call to prayer. It is broadcast over a VERY loud PA system and can be heard for basically a 5-block radius. I can see how it would be a bother for some, but so far, I actually find it kind of soothing.

After a much needed shower, we began flipping through some familiar channels (CNN, ESPN – is there hope for watching college football???) before passing out cold.

The next morning we woke up even earlier than the first prayer – 5am – and laid awake for awhile before going to the breakfast at the hotel. Eric was fighting a cold, so we went back upstairs to lay down for a “few minutes” and woke up to find that it was already 1pm. Damn you jet lag!

I’m not sure why, but being abroad always makes me feel like I’m on an episode of The Amazing Race, so when we go to do something I feel like we have to do it in a hurry. This, coupled with the fact that the place we were trying to get to – a bank – closed early for Ramadan at 2PM, got me all kinds of agitated.
Getting a cab proved to be our first valuable lesson. Asking the hotel to call a cab makes sense, right? Yeah, not so much. So, Eric and I took to the sweltering streets and found ourselves a taxi. Upon arriving at HSBC, we were informed that unless we had a Salary Transfer letter, that we were out of luck and could not open an account. Strike one, Team Wright.

A little discouraged, we headed to the Mall of the Emirates to get cell phones, er, mobiles. For some reason, we first decided that we were starving and went to Carefour (kind of like if Super Walmart was attached to a giant mall and all the white and trashy people had been replaced Arab nationals), to get something to eat…however, it being Ramadan and all, we couldn’t actually eat in public, so I went to the closest bathroom to scarf down a Twix bar and drink my Coke Light (yup, that would be Diet Coke). Energy restored, we went to the Etisalat stand to get our phones and sign up for service. Oh wait, time to backtrack again – turns out you need a phone before they will sell you a card. Making our fourth lap around the Mall, we settled on some basic Samsungs and finally got ourselves connected.

Today’s quest has been to get Eric’s UAE drivers license. Of course, I was very good about getting us out of the country – but not so great about setting up things that needed to be done once we actually got to the Emirates. So, last night, I drafted up a list of all that was needed and this morning we set off – determined to get the gold card necessary for Eric to get his company car. After all, taxis are getting expensive!

After a brief lecture from the “translation” service guy about the virtues of women and marriage, we sat in a random room and waited for Eric’s number to be called. Success!


Like Eric said this morning, it’s all kind of like a big scavenger hunt. I’m hoping now to track down the clues that will find us a place to live and employment for me.

Yeah, I know that pictures would make this a lot more interesting...I just need to find the lead to the camera.

Road trip: Our Nubbins Approved Trip Across America

Road trip: Our Nubbins Approved Trip Across America

The facts:
6 tanks of gas (roughly $50 each)
2532 miles
48 hours (total, 2AM Sunday – 2AM Tuesday)
38 hours driving
3 Red Bulls
4 Monsters
3 Coca Colas
1 giant Orange Drink
4 bottles of water
1 Caramel frappucino
0 Chick-Fila consumed

“What the hell am I doing, drinking in L.A., at 26?”
- Bran Van 3000

For whatever reason, we decided it would be optimal to leave on Sunday at 2AM, and why not? It’s not like we had been packing and selling everything we owned for the past week or anything. The decision made some hours before, we left our amazing going away party charged with excited energy, packed up the cats into our rental car (recently dubbed the Silver Douche), and quite unceremoniously, left Los Angeles. The night was cool, the stars were bright, and the smell was, well, disgusting. As per usual, Nubbins, our beloved and charismatic Japanese bobtail, decided to give us a smelly statement against being put in her cage. Not even three exits down the road; we pulled over, tossed the offending offering into the bushes of Griffith Park, and restarted our journey. Brendan Small, our extra large ginger colored cat and no veteran of long car rides decided that instead of defecating to show his annoyance, he would meow. Continuously. For 3 hours. I had planned on sleeping through the night so that I could take over driving for Eric in the morning…well, ear plugs and a pillow over my ears couldn’t shut out the vocal stylings of my scared cat. In my weird catatonic state, I would wake up to see Joshua trees whizzing by, the stars clearly marked against the early Sunday morning sky, and remember my friend James’ aversion to large windmills near Palm Springs – which were turning silently in the dark.

At 5AM, we pulled into a rest stop with the idea that Eric would quickly use the bathroom and we would continue on – of course, as soon as he returned, it became an unplanned nap time and we both passed out for an hour. We woke up just as the sun was rising (and the temperature in the car started climbing) and continued on our way, ever east, to the Arizona/California border. In a hazy blur, the day passed in a series of desert and mountain scenery, mile posts, small cities, funny and sad downloaded radio programs, and rest stops until we finally reached Interstate 20 in the Lone Star state. Have you ever driven across the second largest state in the union? It’s big. Like, really big. And everything there is big – we witnessed a giant lightning storm that lasted for hours, a monsoon where visibility was less than five feet and spanned just as many hours, churches that looked like convention centers, and a high school that resembled a shopping mall.
Somewhere in the state (the hours kind of blend together) we had to stop for a “border check” and the U.S. Customs agent asked us, “Where are you coming from?”
“Los Angeles,” I answered.
“What is your destination?” he queried.
For the briefest moment, I considered responding, “Your mom’s house.”

I kind of wonder what would’ve happened if that had been my answer, however, the Agent didn’t look like he was in a joking mood, so I said, “Atlanta,” and we continued on our way, slowing to take a picture of a rainbow shimmering in the distance.
Although we had hoped to make the drive straight through as friend James and sister Erin had done over four years ago, the packing, moving, meowing, and lack of sleep caught up with us near Abilene, TX, where, bleary eyed and exhausted we pulled off the freeway to spend the night. Hauling the necessities (important documents, Eric’s expensive bike, and the cats) in, stepping over a myriad of insects, we made it to room 260, where we promptly passed out for six hours. The first “day” was complete at almost 18 hours straight of driving and 1300 miles.

Getting up the next day, the rain was imminent and hit about an hour in – that, coupled with tons of road work throughout the next three states added plenty of extra time to our trip. The second day was mainly a lesson in passing time – we had a goal, my parents house, so it was literally a matter of waiting and driving. In the afternoon, we started listening to an episode of This American Life entitled “Road Trip” which caused us to wax a little introspective about our current journey. We weren’t setting out to learn anything or to get away from a particular situation, which I argued really didn’t make our tour a true road trip. We hadn’t simply gotten in the car to drive – we had a set purpose: to get from Point A to Point B as quickly and safely as possible.

Still, it was difficult not to pause and wonder at how amazing our country was. From California to the familiar roads Hwy 78, we covered a lot of territory and it was a nice way to mark our upcoming departure from the States.

There are some universal truths about a long road trip and I’d like to impart those lessons for any upcoming drives you might have:
1. An mp3 device playable through the radio is absolutely necessary. Two is better, and a playlist full of songs that everyone knows is always appreciated. I highly recommend episodes of This American Life for any ride over 2 hours. Believe me, you’ll thank me later.
2. Cruise control is the best invention, ever. Rent a car that has it, and watch your energy level stay high.
3. Caffeine is a big plus – buy it in advance. Pack a cooler with plenty of ice and have a cold drink whenever you feel like it.
4. Speed limits make a difference (I’m talking to you, Alabama – 55 mph??!!)
5. Polarized sunglasses make driving safer.

Also, with any trip, there are also some memorable people/events/inside jokes I’d like to share:
1. The child beating, curse word dropping, ghetto van driving mom in Demming, NM. We actually had a conversation about calling social services.
2. The white trash mom and daughter discussing the pros and cons of various switchblades in a random gas station late Monday evening in Alabama. Yikes.
3. The almost accident in Vicksburg – merge lane much?
4. Deciding that Brendan thought he was a Jaguar.
5. Deciding that Nubbins had the ability to “approve” things i.e. “My name is Nubbins and I approve this tree, billboard, box of French fries, etc.”
6. The positively awesome McDonald’s mural in Texas – who remembers Fry Kids?

Hoping you’re traveling safe wherever your road leads you,

~Courtney
9.13.07
I16 (en route to Savannah)

Craigslist rocks my face.

So, yeah, I wouldn't reccomend moving out of the country, because, quite honestly, it's really annoying to get rid of EVERYTHING YOU OWN. However, Craigslist has made the process far more enjoyable. We've managed to move some of our stuff, efficiently and even get some $$ in return. We're down to 2 finalists for the Matrix, and that is good news.

Only 4.5 days left in Los Angeles.