Arrival

The journey begins!  I had a great family lunch at Champp's before I had to leave for the airport.  I was so glad they all could make it and I know I will miss everyone of them!  After lunch my parents and I headed to Detroit Metro.  They got passes so they could come to the gate with me.  After a tearful goodbye I got on the plane headed to Chicago.  At this point I was thinking, oh my gosh this is actually happening, and I can't believe I am doing this. 
I arrived in Chicago safely at 3:50 and had a long wait until my flight on Etihad Airways to Abu Dhabi.  I made my way to terminal 5, the international terminal, and got checked in with Eithad.  I found my gate around 5:00, but realized too late that once you pass the security point in terminal 5 there's nothing.  So I had to sit at the gate for quite some time.  The only benefit to this was the fact that there were a lot of other people from Teach Away there so we could talk.  We chatted away the hours before boarding and finally boarded at 7:30 and that is when I realized there was no going back now.  There were 41 of us on this flight.  The rest of the group was coming in from New York and Toronto. 
I got on the plane and walked through first class and marvelled at how roomy their seats were and then I made my way back to my cramped economy seat.  14 hours sitting on a plane with zero leg room is not fun.  At least I had an aisle seat so I could get up frequently and stretch.  Between sleeping, watching movies, and reading I survived the 14 hours and arrived in Abu Dhabi at 7:30 pm local time (11:30 am).  I coudln't believe how dark it was!  It was only 7:30 and it looked like it was 10:00.  As soon I step off the plane Tracey (one of the other ADEC new employees) mentions that our pay starts now!!!  So now I am officially paid again!  I won't get my pay check until the end of Sept. but I am earning money!  That got a shout from all of us! 
We were met at the gate by some very nice people from the travel agency.  They gave us our visas, took us to customs where we got our iris scanned for our visa, and then to get our passport stamped.  I got my first stamp in my passport!  Hopefully many more to come!  After we collected our luggage we had to get to the bus that would take us to our hotel.  It is 90 degrees here, and this is after the sun has set!  HOT!  We were greeted by more friendly people who welcomed us to Abu Dhabi and gave us a rose!  Everyone was/is so nice here so far.  We load up the bus and head for the Intercontinental Hotel, which I hear has its own westernized beach!!!  Havne't been there yet though too tired to do anything last night.  As we make our way to our hotel we pass Sheik  Zayed's mosque.  It is amazing!  I can't wait to take a tour.  We also pass the palace, which happens to be within walking distance of the hotel, so that's where some of us are going after orientation this afternoon. 
At the hotel we are met by a line of employees!  Nothing like in Sex in the City, but a lot nicer than a regular hotel greeting.  We are told to give our passports to the people from ADEC at the hotel and then we get our room key.  A little scary handing over my passport, but we were reassured that we would get it back as soon as our paper work was finished.  I got a glass of some very nice orange juice drink and got my room key.  I tagged my luggage so it could be brought to me and went to find my room.  I am on the 17th floor and the view is amazing!!  Palm trees line the road, building lit up, water in the background.  Absolutely beautiful.  The hotel room is amazing as well.  Nice big comfy bed, huge bathroom with a tub and shower.  Looks like we're going to be treated very nicely.  The only issue I had was figuring out how to keep the lights on!  You have to put your room key in a slot by the door and leave it there for the lights to stay on.  There are no switches.  So as soon as you take the key out it gets dark!  Weird, but I figured it out with a little help from someone else who is staying on the 17th floor.
Well I think that about sums up my flight and arrival.  Orientation is at 10:00 this morning so there is a little time for exploring before orientation.  I hope I make it through the day!  I hear jet lag is worse the next day.  Maybe we'll check out the beach as well as the palace.