The Great Crusade

     "You are about to embark upon a great crusade, toward which we have striven these many months... The eyes of the world are upon you." -Dwight D. Eisenhower.

     Now I'm fully aware that Eisenhower was talking about the epic undertaking that was D-Day when he wrote those words, but I think anyone in a position like mine can appreciate them all the same. 

     Getting onto that plane in O'Hare was one of the biggest actions I've taken, and will spawn many more very important actions; but my exchange truly began nearly 10 months ago and I have been preparing ever since. Between interviews, conferences, and speeches, I've done a lot more than just hop on a plane to get here (here, by the way, is Doha, Qatar where I'm currently waiting for a 2am flight to Jakarta).

     I also didn't get on this plane all by myself. From Ed True, the Asian Southeast coordinator for Central States; and Dennis Swetlik and Kelly Mundell, district 6270's former and new chairs; to my family and girlfriend; and the other exchange students I'm seated beside, people everywhere have devoted themselves to helping me get here: the eyes of the world are upon me. And for that, I thank them.

     That's enough seriousness though. On a more down-to-earth note, flying with Qatar Airlines was pretty awesome (that pun was completely intended). The food was definitely the best airline food I've had, which I know isn't setting the bar too high but the lamb I had for dinner was solid. The flight was long, about thirteen hours, and I only slept for a couple hours, but it wasn't all too rough. Having the seat next to the window seat, I was still able to see the landscapes of Eastern Europe, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, and of course Qatar.

     Touching down in Qatar was something else. As we descended, we saw desert, just a lot of desert. But as we got closer we realized that there we concrete houses scattered about. They were clumped together with a bunch of desert in between, something like this:

Now this was cool and all, but what really did it was after another period of desert, there was this very new, very wealthy looking place. The picture is a little Bluetooth, but if it had a few more lights it very well could have been Las Vegas:

Actually looking at the picture doesnt do it justice, but suffice it to say that it was impressive.

     After landing and taxiing for nearly five minutes, we deboarded on old school stairways pulled up beside the plane. Mind you we were on a 777-300ER, which is huge. As we stepped out of the hatch, we were blindsided by scorching winds. It was if someone had installed wind tunnel fans in a sauna, and this is at 6pm so the sun is setting. We hopped on a bus which drove us pretty much everywhere possible in the airport I think, and eventually took us to the departure terminal where we are now.

     I'll give another update in a few days once I've made it to my final destination: Yogyakarta. T-five hours until our next flight.