Greetings from Dubai

I'm currently in Dubai on my way to the mother country. My cousin, Farah, is getting married, and my sister, Sarah, and I are taking a quick trip to Karachi, Pakistan. This will be our first time there in over ten years. I'm excited and anxious at the same time.

This was my first time flying with Emirates and I have to say that I've really enjoyed the experience so far. This is largely due to the fact that the neighboring babies were unusually well-behaved (and super adorable; I just wanted to eat their faces). But honestly, I think all children come off as angels after the demon-beast from Hell on my way to Istanbul last summer.

I'm assuming many South Asian families use Emirates to fly to India, Pakistan, and various parts of the Middle East. Our flight was delayed out of Houston (airfare was almost $500 cheaper departing from there instead of Dallas; crazy, right?) for two hours because...no joke...15 elderly people needed wheelchair assistance. Please don't take this as a jab towards people who need those services. I've just never seen that happen before.

There was a funny little Indian woman on our flight. She must've decided the flight crew wasn't picking up her dinner tray quick enough, so she made a point to walk up and down Economy (from her seat in Business) to find room to leave her tray. She woke up a baby by lifting its blanket to peek at them despite the mother's protests. I watched her try to leave her tray in the bathroom before other passengers, who were also watching her, started shouting at her. I think she took this as an invitation to first accidentally dump the contents of her tray in front of a row of gentlemen, and then to leave her trash at their feet. They, including additional nearby passengers, began arguing with her, but she wandered back to her seat, leaving us plebeians behind in confusion.

I know it's lame, but I like to check out Starbucks in different countries. I usually leave mostly disappointed, because they don't have my beverages of choice, nor do they accept my plethora of gift cards.

Square donuts?

Of course, Starbucks anywhere in the world never fails to misspell my name.

Our layover in Dubai isn't long enough to leave the airport, but it's crazy long to be sitting idly. I took some time to checkout the local souvenirs and had to stop myself from buying everything for just being amusing. I took more pictures but they won't load.

After seeing family I haven't seen in ages, I guess I'm most looking forward to eating fresh naan, shopping, practicing my Urdu, and of course, watching my cousin Farah get married!