I Landed in Abu Dhabi

Since I think I have jet lag or something lag and I can't take a nap, I will update you on the haps.  Well, my sister took me to the airport and I did what I said I wasn't going to do.  I ended up taking clothes (workout pants) out of my bag so it wouldn't be overweight.  Plus I did the unthinkable!  I actually removed two pairs of shoes!! Lawd help me!  It wasn't too hard, but I did it and just told myself I'll get them back in December.  I also told myself..."Girl you can buy some new fly shoes in Abu Dhabi!"  So I was satisfied.

I tried to keep the mood light so that my family wouldn't be sad because truly this is a happy experience for me.  I didn't cry when I left my parents' house.  I hugged them and said my see you laters and I love yous.  I hope they didn't cry either.  The thought of it makes that lump come up in my throat and the tears well up in my eyes, even right now.  :(  When my sister and I said our see you laters, we hugged and said our I love yous and we didn't cry.  I know she cried in the car on her way home though. Ha Ha!  Love you Sissy!  :(  I had to contain myself because I was slightly discombobulated after having to rearrange my luggage.  God sent help though because the man at the curbside check-in stepped right in to assist me.  He took my checked luggage and basically Debo-ed his way to the front of the long line of people waiting to check in and took me to the front.  I know they were wondering who in the crap I was that he just brought me on up ahead of all of them.  That's called Favor!  God's Favor!  And Favor ain't fair!  Plus I paid zero dollars for my second checked bag that I was supposed to pay for so I gave the man a nice tip for his help.  I was also supposed to pay an overweight fee because my other bag was 3 lbs over (oopsie).  Ain't God good?  Yes he is!

I prayed for window seats and just to let you know, not only did I get a window seat on my first leg of the flight to New York with no one sitting next to me, but also on my connecting flight to Abu Dhabi...Boom!  I got another window seat with no one sitting next to me either so I could stretch out and that's exactly what I wanted! Hey now! Favor! God is real yall, no joke because now how else did that happen?  I'm just saying.

After approximately 13 hours, last night I landed in Abu Dhabi.  A representative was waiting with my name (my whole name too) on an ipad along with two other ladies that are teaching here also.  There were only three of us teachers on the flight.  Yes, I was country and took a picture of the sign.  Hey, I never had anyone to hold up a sign at the airport with my name on it ever before in my entire life, so I captured the moment.  Call it country, or whatever, I sure did take my picture of it and I will always remember that.  We were whisked away on a golf cart thingee and boy was he driving that cart fast, blowing the horn at people too.  I was holding on to my bags and couldn't help but smile showing all teeth as the three of us looked at each other with the wild eye wondering why this man was driving so fast.

Now moving on, we got our luggage, well a bag man got my luggage and followed us as we were escorted to the moment I had been told about, but there aren't really words to explain.  The heat!  Lawd yall!  It is a heat your tail has never experience before I won't lie!  I thought it was hot in South Carolina and Georgia!  Man please!  I had on my glasses when those doors opened and it was so hot my glasses fogged up!!  What the world?!  Then I had to take some deep breaths because the heat literally will take your breath away when you first start to try to breath in it and I'm used to hot weather, but not like this!  The humidity is greater than the south in the states also.  Just to let you know how humid, we were standing waiting on the hotel van and about three minutes of being outside, I literally felt sweat dripping down my back!  I had on a light jacket that matched my workout pants so it wasn't heavy but yes immediately sweating!  I only sweat like that when I'm running!  That's the best I can do to explain this.  Otherwise, you will just have to see for yourself.

On the way to the hotel I couldn't see much of the landscape but I could see the bright lights, the waterfront park area also.  What I saw was beautiful, the architecture, amazing!  And guess what?  I did not see any homeless people sleeping under the bridges!  Plus in this heat, I don't think that would really work out.  I'm just saying.

I am in awe with this island!  It is more than I could ever dream of seeing with my own eyes and to think...I live here now! Wow!  So as I sat in the van as we drove through the city, I finally had my moment and I started to cry, not sad tears, happy tears, tears of joy, grateful tears.  This is actually happening to me kind of tears.  God is making my dreams come true I thought.  Thank you God I whispered and quickly wiped the tears away.

Finally, I landed in Abu Dhabi.  I am now comfortable and well taken care of in a gorgeous Five Star Hotel with a view of the deep blue green sea from my balcony and it is wonderful!  Now if I could just lay down and go to sleep.  

Oh the Places I'll Go!

“You're off to Great Places!
Today is your day!
Your mountain is waiting,
So... get on your way!” ~ Dr. Seuss

In a few hours I'll be headed to the airport to begin my Abu Dhabi adventure.  People keep asking me if I'm excited.  Hell, I don't know!  I think I am.  Of course I am, I think.  Getting prepared to leave the country has a million little tasks one must complete and it can be quite overwhelming so I guess I haven't had enough time to get excited.  I am 1000% sure that I am on the right path for my life with approval  from the Most High, (and my Mama and Daddy) so no worries.  I'm just grateful to God for this amazing opportunity to teach halfway around the world that I have been blessed with.  Words cannot really express how wonderful this is for me and how happy I am to have this experience.  So yes, I am a bit of everything right now, excited, nervous, anxious, happy, elated, in awe, and humbled, at the same damn time.


I'm off to Great Places!  
Today is my day!  
Abu Dhabi is waiting,
Up, up and away! ~ Satirah

Can I Get A Window Seat?

I know I'm supposed to be updating this blog everyday but, I have been so busy doing nothing until, I just haven't done it.  So, what's been going on lately?  Well, in the past couple of weeks, I've celebrated my last birthday in the United States at least for the next two years!  I've visited friends and continued my new pasttime of ordering stuff online!  Wal-Mart loves me and so does Amazon.com!

Last week, all English Medium Teachers (EMTs), which includes me, received an email from the travel agency welcoming us and letting us know that the etickets are on the way.  Yay!  I was hoping that email was the eticket.  I got all nervous and excited for nothing!  They really know how to play with our emotions.  I'm ready to go, even though I'm not packed yet.  The email did inform us that travel arrangements will be made and be ready to depart.

That put the fire under my tail and I got my two suitcases organized.  I'm still not packed to walk out of the door though.  I'm working on it.  I'll be ready to pack it all up to go at a moment's notice as soon as they email me that eticket. 

Wow!  This is finally happening!  Whew, there is alot I still have to do too.  I think.  Anyway, I was just happy to get the email so that I can stop thinking maybe we all got Punk'd and Ashton Kutchner was going to knock on the door with the cameras! Haaaaa!  But this is very real and I am getting a little more excited by the little teasing emails because we got another one today from the education council.  Yippee!  An amusing part of the message was the following:  deferrals will not be entertained!  I know that's right!  I guess you can't blame them.  If you said you are going, don't be emailing or calling talking about you want to wait and leave later.  Whatever date your eticket says, your rass is going! That's fine with me!  Abu Dhabi here I come!  Oh, and...Can I get a window seat?

Diurex Is My Friend

I took a ten hour plus trip to New Orleans and discovered something new about myself a few days ago.  Apparently, I am one of those people whose ankles and feet swell when sitting for long hours while traveling.  When did this start?  I guess I have been flying for the past 10 years and my flights were not longer than a couple of hours so I never knew!  You learn something new everyday, tis true.

Lessons learned:

1.  Always FLY on an airplane to my longer distance destinations greater than 5 hours...driving is a no, no <---- (actually a hell to the no, no)

2.  Prepare myself before long flights in the future by drinking lots of water the day before and carry along some water pills if necessary.  

Diurex is the business.  Those little blue pills sure did help the swelling go down, a true friend indeed.  Again, I will NOT be riding any sort of wheeled vehicle for long trips more than 5 hours again in life. (flying on the big bird)

3.  Always carry a pair of stylish, compression socks. 

The opaque/nude granny style stockings/socks is a negative, not happening boo.  My feet will be swollen first before I wear those things.  When I turn 85 years old, then I'll consider wearing the nude colored ones. Then again, no I won't.

So as I continue to wait on my eticket, for my next long trip to my new home in Abu Dhabi, I will be purchasing some fashionable compression socks for traveling.  Hopefully, my foot won't look like a water balloon and my toes won't look like lil smokies sausages on the flight across the Big Pond to the Sand Box in August.  

Gramps and Mimi's House

Now I'm feeling more excited as time keeps winding down and Abu Dhabi is closer than ever.  So I am once again living with my parents, now known as Gramps and Mimi.  Mind you, when I left to move to Georgia, almost 13 years ago, that was not the case. 

Side Note:  Please pray for me as I am over 30, have lived by myself for many years and don't exactly know how long it will be before I start feeling some kind of way about my temporary home at home.  Yall know how that is.  Don't start looking sideways like you don't know what I'm talking about.  I just wonder how long it will be before I become the Honey Do Girl, Errand Girl, You Ain't Doing Nothing But Waiting So Do This Girl, etc.  :/  I'm just saying! :-)

My nieces and nephew are also here staying at Gramps and Mimi's House for a few weeks while on summer break from school.  My sister, their mother (of two of them), is at her home chilling like a fat rat with a giant hunk of cheddar cheese right next to her, while her precious ones are up until midnight singing gospel to the top of their lungs, eating snacks every 12 to 18 minutes, playing the Wii, arguing, crying, and pointing fingers at each other every time Auntie (me) comes in the room with a yard stick, threatening to get to chopping them to sleep.  You know, just doing what kids do.  Oh, and we were also blessed with a late night pajamas concert from the kids who decided to sing like the choir did at church this morning.  HILARIOUS!  I got it on video and will get my laugh on many times by watching that in Abu Dhabi.  These kids are a trip!!  Gotta love the lil crumb snatchers. 

The End

June 30, 2012 marked the end of an era of my life.  I really felt free as I drove away from Georgia and headed to my hometown in South Carolina.  Whew!  At one point, I was feeling like I couldn't ever get out of Georgia.  Straight aggravation!  I managed to keep it together and did a "woosah" to keep it moving.  It was all happening that way by design, but I just moved on.

We had a good run Atlanta and the surrounding areas in which I worked, lived, and played.  However, the book has been written and "The End" is inscribed in the back cover.  I've met some good people there, even up until the last couple of months of my tour.  I also had the opposite and wanted to rip those people a new one.  Since jail time would not allow me to continue with my new life in Abu Dhabi, I decided to just pray for those that know not what they do.  So I let go and I am not kidding when I say I am happy to be done with that!  My life in Atlanta was not bad at all, don't get me wrong.  I loved it there most of the time, liked it there some of the time, and wanted time away from the tomfoolery a little of the time.  I guess I should say when you know it's time to leave a place, you know.  There were no tears, no second thoughts, and no regrets about leaving the A, which further confirms I am absolutely on the right path.  

Goodbye to the old life!  Hello to my new life, new cultural experiences, new opportunities, new people to meet, new places to go, new book, new chapter, new beginning!

God Don't Like Ugly

Where there is opportunity, there is opposition.  I finally sold my car today after a few weeks of hesitation, going back and forth on offers, and I can't begin to talk about how many little "deals" I thought I had that panned out to be "No Deals".  I am glad this part of the process is over.  The transaction wasn't as painful as I thought maybe it would've been. It did have it's share of moments when I thought I might have to bust out some Jujitsu on folk, or a least rip them a new one!  I think a big black belt to just whip some rass would do it.

So, here's what happened.  Said buyer, test drives my car and brings it back.  Buyer is disappointed that there is something new wrong with the car not noticed before.  It is dripping alot of oil!  There was a nice steady drip of oil too.  By this time I think I was trying to retract the horns I felt growing out of the sides of my head.

Oh hell no it was not dripping oil until you took it somewhere and brought it back. <---That was my reaction.  Boy stop!

God don't like ugly!  

Needless to say, I held my ground and stuck with my asking price.  In my mind I was thinking: You better go back down the street and tighten up what you loosened.  That oil dripping = $100 off the asking price in his mind.  Excuse me while I laugh!  Did he cause the dripping oil I have NEVER seen in the 3 years I've owned the car?  I don't know, but in the order of things, it's not looking like he didn't cause that leaking foolishness on purpose to get me to lower the price of car yet another $100 or $200.  Uhm...No!  I neglected to mention that said Buyer planned on reselling the car to a new owner, which I had no problem with and I'm not knocking the hustle, just don't try to low ball me and shit me so you can make twice as much as you bought it for.  I was already $600 lower than my original asking price.  Seriously?  I think I'm too nice.  Anyway.

It is just a shame how people think they can just get over on you and you're not supposed to know.  To make a long story short, I sold the car "As Is" and he went on his way.  Sometimes people just don't realize who they are calling themselves trying to run the okey doke on.  Be that as it may, I was able to sell the car and move on with my packing, selling, giving, or throwing away operation.  For this I am thankful to God.

Like I said before, God don't like ugly.  Don't play with or test it.  You will lose one hundred times more than you tried to gain using your evil ways.  You reap what you sow and Karma is a mean azz Heffa!  God don't like ugly, but He gives you a chance and forgives.  Karma don't care and she forgets nothing.  You will pay, good or bad, either way.

Thank you and good night!