The Job Cancellation and Rerouting Has Resulted in My Becoming a Global Circumnavigator…..

……something I always thought would be neat to do. I left Houston flying west and arrived back in Houston from the east—literally flying around the globe. I guess the world really is round after all—frankly, I’d always thought that was just another conspiracy theory. The first person thought to ever have circled the earth was Magellan so I guess this puts me in pretty good company.

When the job wrapped up Wednesday in Jakarta, I flew to Dubai, United Arab Emirates for a short layover then non-stop to Houston. I really liked this itinerary because, besides letting me do a “circle” around the globe, it only resulted in one layover although it does include one of those “monster” 16 ½-hour non-stop flights. Since I’m flying business class, I’d rather be in a reclining airplane seat that hanging around in airport lounges at Singapore and Los Angles International dealing with airport security and trying to catch a connection to Houston.

The one layover at Dubai was only 3 ½ hours and was my first visit in the Middle East. Egypt was very “Arab” but is considered North Africa so, although I never left the airport here, I did get at least get a “feel” for the area since the airport was full of Arabs in the white robes with head scarves, the airport shops were full of Middle Eastern souvenir goods, and the business lounge had a buffet bar full of foods I couldn’t recognize or probably even pronounce. There were a considerable number of women in full burkas—the very conservative full-body coverings with only a very narrow slit (maybe an inch) for them to look through. There were even some ultra-conservative ones that had a thin lacy film between the eyes and the opening. I agree that it really is demeaning to women and I’m glad we haven’t had to confront that problem at home like so many European countries are forced to do right now.

As you would expect from an oil-rich nation, the airport is like something out of the future. The arrival area is huge and looks like the lobby of a 5-star hotel with huge chrome pillars and everything is covered in beautiful marble and granite. Near the customs entrance point, there is a three-story waterfall with fountains. The restrooms are all chrome and marble and the most immaculate I’ve ever seen anywhere with classical music as the background. Sure beats the Nairobi dump they call an airport or, for that matter, Hobby Airport in Houston.

All in all, this was a good job. I was disappointed at the Philippines part being cancelled, but it ended up with me spending eleven days in Jakarta and only working six. I enjoyed the Jakarta city tour and the overnight trip to Bali—so this has be considered “one of the good jobs.”