The Travel Saga & My First Week In Oman

photo stop during our layover in Frankfurt

August 25, 6:00 am.

I woke up early in the morning, and rummaged through my things, praying I wouldn't wind up forgetting anything crucial. I changed, brushed my teeth, snuggled my cats, and waited for the sound of the door chime to signal to me that my dad had come home. Fast forward a few hours and I was saying goodbye to my parents as I walked through security and away from my home.

A few more and I was at Dulles international airport with the other girls and our group leader, waiting for our flight to Frankfurt. As far as flights go, this one wasn't too bad. 8 hours long, there was food and movies, and it was a fancy new 747 with *gasp* two levels. At the very least, it was a bit of a novelty.

By our arrival in Germany the six of us were exhausted, hungry, and über dehydrated. So we stopped at a nap terminal (crazy, right? They have little cots and it's super quiet) before loading up onto our next flight, this one to Oman.

Fighting growing weariness and the general urge to pass out atop my tray table (Linden...), I stayed awake through the flight to Abu Dhabi and all the way to Muscat. Disembarking the plane felt like stepping into a bath (literally, it's crazy humid) of hot air. Reminder: the sun had already gone down. This was just residual heat.

We received our visas and went to pass into the country, but where everyone else went in easily I was left standing with my passport as confusion unfolded. It turned out my visa had been prepared using my old passport, but after the officials worked this out it was simple to get in and collect my bags.

In the following few days, we had AMIDEAST orientations, a city tour, and I spent some time getting to know and integrating with my incredible host family.

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One day we went to visit our schools - here Linden and I are at ABQ

My school starts on Wednesday, so until then I'm hanging out at home with my host family and trying to de-jetlag in preparation for the year ahead. 

I still have trouble believing I am actually here, and sometimes I need to pinch myself to make sure this is not a dream. But it is not.

This fabulous, hot, beautiful, friendly, amazing country is not a dream, my wonderful host family is not a dream, and I feel incredibly blessed to be able to spend a full 10 months exploring and growing to better understand Oman.


🎶Remember The Name (feat. Styles of Beyond) - Fort Minor🎶

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