I Have Arrived

I would never describe myself as a world traveler, but compared to a week ago, I feel like Hilary Clinton!  The leg of my trip from Chicago to Ammon, Jordan was about thirteen hours.  Not much legroom at all and there was no way I was getting much sleep between the little boy next to me who would occasionally sprawl across my lap and the little boy across the aisle who would let out a blood curdling scream just about the time I would start to nod off.  The term "weary traveler" has now taken a whole new meaning.

View at the top of the escalator at the airport in Ammon, Jordan

We arrived in Ammon at about six pm.  I went to the Royal Jordanian desk and picked up my boarding pass to Kuwait and discovered that I and and the rest of our party had been bumped to the next flight.  It didn't leave Ammon until seven hours later.  So I had some down time, which was actually not too

bad.  It felt great to stretch my legs.  It was eleven pm in Jordan, but I knew it was about the end of the day for my son's class of six graders several thousand miles away in Gibbon, Nebraska.  Back in February when I interviewed at the Overseas Job Fair in Waterloo, Iowa, I had FaceTimed this same class as I was waiting to speak to an administrator at a school in the Marshall Islands.  It was an amazing experience touching base with that same group of students seven months later.  I have to admit, technology is pretty astonishing at times.

The last leg of our journey began at 1:05 AM.  I can't describe the rush of feelings in my heart as the jet  touched down in Kuwait.  So many prayers for a safe journey were answered.  (Thank you, St. Paul Lutheran in Eldora, Iowa!) Ten months ago when I was essentially pink-slipped,  life as I knew it would never be the same.  The uncertainty of my future in education terrifying. In these economic times, older "seasoned" teachers are not always a valued commodity.  In the international community, quite the opposite is true.  There are many of us "over fifties" crowd that are making a fresh start in schools all over the world.  We are ready to hit the ground running!