Day #1 -- Getting to and Arriving in Abu Dhabi

Enjoy every second of everything you do; even when everything seems so surreal.

Who would have imagined that it would take me over 30 hours to travel just to get to the JFK airport in New York City? I took a 3 hour and 50 minute plane ride from Guam to Narita; stayed in Narita for 6 hours and 55 minutes before the gruesome 10 hour flight to Minneapolis; stayed in Minneapolis for 3 hours and 20 minutes before finally arriving in JFK after the 2 hour and 15 minute flight. Needless to say, when I landed in NYC, I made a call to my Truman buddy Ryan Merola filled with enthusiasm and excitement. One friend had asked me that evening while eating the most amazing pizza I have ever tried at Grimaldi Pizzaria (we waited 40 minutes in line), “You just traveled half the globe and are about to do the same thing in a few hours, how is it that you still have so much energy?!” It is the excitement, I suppose.

Gallivanting through Brooklyn with my friends and visiting through the city with my family before the 13 hour flight to Abu Dhabi was a very needed uplift after the long, seemingly endless travel time from home.

Nonetheless, I was excited about heading to JFK airport and meeting up with the other Trumans (most of whom I would meet for the very first time). The experience at JFK was unbelievably torture. We were in the east coast, but we felt like we were already in the desert. For some reason, the A/C was just not cooperating with airport officials. But as soon as we entered Etihad Airways, the National Airline of the United Arab Emirates, all thoughts of being back at Southern High School enduring the ridiculous heat in a closed door environment went out the door. The airplane is gorgeous. It was seemed so surreal.

Coach had first class treatment, Business Class had celebrity treatment, and First Class was given the Royal pampering. Each seat was equipped with its own touch-screen monitor that had all the latest movies including “Slumdog Millionaire” and classic movies such as “An Affair to Remember”. Can you believe that I actually watched a Tagalog movie on the flight?! The craziest part of the touch screen monitor is that there is “Maps” feature where one could track the flight's progress to its destination. Within that feature is another feature that could allow one to view the outside of a plane! There are two outside cameras that capture real time video of the surrounding areas. Imagine looking onto the screen as we passed over the Greek islands and other European countries.

The 13-hour flight was bearable because of the constant attention and pampering we received from the flight crew. It seemed as if every 15 minutes we were offered a beverage, a snack, a meal, or flight-bearing products such as a Bosse-like earphones, a package of socks, blindfold, toothbrush and toothpaste. We were handed out menus to look through prior to our meal being served. It seemed like we were dining in a fine dining restaurant aboard a luxury plane. Everything on the plane was just too surreal.

The arrival in Abu Dhabi was an indication that the plane ride was not the only thing that would make us wonder if we were dreaming. As soon as we got off the plane, we were met by officials from the Emirates Foundation, finally putting a face to the coordinators who constantly emailed us with travel plans. As we were walking towards immigration, the group of 17 Truman Scholars were lead through a door that looked like it appeared out of nowhere. It was just like a movie scene. One minute you're walking through the airport amazed in wonder about the architecture, and the next, you're being lead through a door way that looks out of the ordinary and you wonder, “where did the door come from?”

We were then asked to wait in a room lavishly decorated for royalty. The room had this surreal glow that could have either come from the lighting, or the light as it shone off the goldenly clad room. Two of us looked at each other and sheepishly agreed that our travel attire made us feel unworthy of being in the room. A woman then walked into the room carrying a tray of freshly squeezed juices and sodas.

Outside of the airport, in a whether that could be comparable to Bali, a bus was waiting for us. Surprisingly, we felt like movie stars as a videographer and a photographer started taking videos and photos of us. I couldn't help but notice that cranes were present just to the side of the airport. One Truman had joked when I pointed such out, “Didn't you know cranes are the national bird?” Funny how some didn't get it right away that the national bird is the falcon. On the way to the hotel, construction cranes could be seen at every turn. We were in the middle of construction city.

I was dozing in and out on the bus ride to the hotel as I tried desperately to listen attentively to our traveling buddies from universities across the UAE who will serve as our hosts. Meeting them for the first time was very interesting because we all shook hands ... contrary to what the “traveling to the UAE” guide indicated. But these individuals were so welcoming and so enthused about having us with them, I don't know if I have ever experienced that kind of hospitality ... and I come from Guam, where hospitality is one of the staples of the island culture.

We arrived at the Hilton Abu Dhabi where we were welcomed with freshly squeezed juice and a cold wash cloth. Hotel officials met us as we exited the bus with smiles on their faces and warm greetings. We got our room assignments and instructions that we were to eat at any of the restaurants and charge everything to the rooms ... but we needed to be properly dressed.

Clad only in jeans, sandals, and a hoodie-sweatshirt, I felt awkward as I entered the 10th floor to get to the room Laura (a 2006 Truman and a 2L Harvard student) and I would be crashing in for the next couple of days. Everyone on that floor was dressed up. I was half expecting hotel officials to approach me and tell me I was on the wrong floor. But it didn't happen.

I'm sure that you have already realized that the word of the day is “surreal.” We are here not even 24 hours, and already I know there will be much more wonder to captivate my mind.