Diary of an HR guy in Iraq

9/28/11     To My Awesome Family!
Well, I’m finally settled in after a long, long, long, looooooooooooooooong, flight! Let me tell you about it...
After you guys dropped me off at the airport, I rushed to my plane. Made it just in time, too. So I found my seat, got settled, and waited. Then I waited some more. After more waiting, the Pilot announced that a light on the control panel had burned out and they were waiting for a replacement. A silly light! Well, after 40 minutes of waiting, we finally took off. My first stop would be the Atlanta Airport.
When we landed in Atlanta, we were way late because of the light bulb replacement. In fact, when we pulled up to the gate, I only had twenty minutes to get to my next flight! The pilot had trouble linking up with the gate tunnel and took up up ten more minutes of precious time! When I finally got off the plane, I had just 10 minutes to race to the other side of the airport to catch my flight to Dubai. I ran and ran! I dodged people, scrambled up escalators, and panted, “excuse me” and “coming through.” Also, my belt was loose, so I had to grab my pants to keep them from falling down while I ran. I probably looked pretty funny. Anyway, by the time I ran up to my gate, the plane I was supposed to be on was just barely pulling away from the gate. I
had missed it by only a few minutes! Argh...
Anyway, I said a quick prayer then asked the airline people what I should do. They sent me on a plane to Dubai that went through London. Isn’t that funny? Remember how I was joking with Mommy that I was going to England and that I would have my own little vacation? Well, this was no vacation!    I guess I should stop teasing Mommy! On the flight to London, I sat behind a lady who had a fuzzy, black mohawk. I could only see the top of it peeking over the top of her chair and it reminded me of a giant tarantula...I almost took a picture of it!
After my stop in London, it was off to Dubai! I was excited to see that each seat in the plane had a movie screen with tons of movies to choose from. There was a really old lady from the Philippines sitting next to me. I had to laugh when I saw that the movie she was watching was “Thor.” Can you imagine
that?

Dubai was an interesting place. There were tons of strange smells and sounds...and boy, it was hot! I thought it was interesting that they had a room that people could go to just to say their prayers. Check out the sign. Everything was written in both Arabic and English.








The Airport ceiling was so high. It reminded me of a giant palace. There were mirrors on the ceilings and lots of flashing lights. All the workers there wore long white robes and had white scarfs draped over their
heads.








 To get to my next flight, I had to ride the bus to a city called Abu Dhabi. But before I could do that, I had to take a taxi to the bus stop! My taxi driver was really nice. He kept making jokes and laughing. I didn’t understand his jokes, but I pretended to and just laughed along with him. After I paid him, I began walking away from the taxi. The driver called after me. “Sir, don’t forget this!” I turned around to see my wallet on the seat. I smacked my forehead...isn’t that just like Daddy to forget something like that? I thanked the taxi driver and then thanked
Heavenly Father...He was really looking out for me!

The bus ride to Abu-Dhabi was cool. I sat by a man named Arun who talked to me about all of his business ideas. He has big plans to help people. It’s fun meeting so many different people. I love seeing the goodness in people’s hearts around the world.

As the bus rumbled along, we passed old buildings that looked to be straight from the movie, Sinbad.
Most of these buildings are called Mosques. Mosques are places were the Muslims here go to pray and worship. They’re kinda like our wardhouses. See the big towers? That’s where the priests call all the Muslims to prayer each day. Can you imagine the Bishop building a big tower by our church house and shouting to everyone to remember to say their prayers? Muslims do that five times a day. I hope you’re all saying your prayers!

The bus finally pulled up to the Abu Dahbi International Airport. When I got to the main waiting area, I felt like I was inside a magic mushroom. Look at the strange patterns on the ceiling! They’re made of little tiles glued in interesting designs.  





 Believe it or not, there was a McDonalds in the airport. I could have had a Big Mac and fries for lunch! Instead, I bought something that would be more unique. I picked out a goat cheese and orchard leaf sandwich (seriously). Once I picked it out, the man behind the counter took it out the bag, grilled it, and
brought it to me. It was gross, but at least I can say I tried a goat cheese sandwich. Not many people can say that, right? I also had an orange Soda and a fruit plate. Orange soda is good wherever you get it...even in Abu Dahbi!

Everyone there was so nice and they all spoke very good English!
From Abu Dahbi, I flew to Iraq. On the plane, I showed an Iraqi man how to play the video games on the plane. Boys will always love video games...regardless of where they come from! Anyway, when I got there, I had a few meetings and then went to bed!

Check out my room...pretty small, huh?

Well, I’m meeting lots of new people and seeing tons of interesting things. I can’t wait to tell you more! I'll send another update soon. In the meantime I love you all so much and miss you more than I can say! I’ll try to call you on my computer...It will be tricky finding a time when we’re all awake!
I love you Sally! I love you Grandma! I love you Savannah! I love you Sydney! I love you Zackers! I love you Summer! I love you Zo-Zo Bear!
Talk to you soon! Love Daddy...


I sure love this guy.  I don't function well without my better half.  He had some cool pictures that went with his email but I couldn't copy them over.  I'll keep trying.


♥