erjpilot

Congrats Tim and best of luck! They are lucky to have you. You were a great CFI to me back in the day! Time sure flies!

Avpilot

I paid him to say that.

Tim

schoolio

Congrats and good luck!

Avpilot

Hey friends. I am here in Kuwait now, on my 2nd day. The flights were brutal, especially the IAH - DXB (Dubai). That was 15.5 hours nonstop in economy class. I will say, though, that the service and entertainment is excellent on Emirates. They have the ICE entertainment system...over 600 movies on demand (Tivo style) at every seat, etc.

I arrived in Kuwait at about 10PM and it took probably an hour to get my visa issued before I left the airport. A couple of other Americans who work for UA picked me up outside security and took me to my apartment.

Driving down the road I was really surprised of how much Kuwait resembles the USA. The streets are wide, smooth (much smoother than Houston), and high quality. The place seems pretty clean, with good landscaping, nice looking buildings, etc. The food is great. I had spaghetti from next door today that was great and then ate at Ruby Tuesday tonight. I had New Orleans style Jumbalaya that was just like back home.

I went to a mall later and bought a cell phone which was pretty expensive. I got a basic tri-band that will work internationally and it cost 34KD which is about $125 USD. The company i work for gave me the sim card to use on the phone, so my service is paid for by them. I think I can even make international calls at their cost, but I'm sure if I use too much they will take the overages out of my pay.

Tomorrow they are having a driver pick me up around 10 to take me to the tailor to be measured for my uniform. After that I have to go talk to someone about requesting a visa for my wife to come live here. It seems like they are taking it really slow at first to allow me to rest and recover from the jetlag.

Overall I am very impressed with both the country of Kuwait and with the company, United Aviation. I haven't flown yet, so I still have a lot of "discovering" to do, but I will post here with updates if it interests anybody. Feel free to ask questions and I will find you an answer.

Tim

sspears737

Awesome Tim.....let me know if you find a VIP'S......:P

imr

As far as the food goes may I suggest you get recommendations on, and start delving into:
1. Lebanese restaurants
2. Turkish restaurants (similar to Lebanese, but with some differences)
3. Arab coffee houses. The real deal, where you sip strong tea or coffee and puff up some fruit-flavored tobacco, while listening to Egyptian pop-music and watching the highway traffic.

Man I miss those days.....

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IMR
EWR CA

judge

ok, i got one for ya Tim: is it true that the government will keep your passport and when you want to go anywhere (e.g. USA) you have to ask for it?
someone told me that once. it kinda turned me off as far as Dubai is concerned.

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Mmmm... crack pipe....

Avpilot

Thanks for the advice. I've done some of those foods in the states and am definitely open to trying just about anything, so I will take you up on all of those. I've done the flavored tobacco thing before, too. If you're ever going to be in town, let me know and we'll go let you experience those days again. Thanks again.


I'm not sure what they do in Dubai. I am in Kuwait and they don't do that here. I had to give my company my passport so that they can get me a "multiple entry visa" but I will get the passport back when they finish.

ImperialxRat

Very cool. I never flew with you, but always enjoy reading some ex-pat stories... It's definitely something I've considered doing myself!

Please keep the updates coming whenever you have time, and congrats.

wing-zero

good luck with the Legacy job.

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RJ PILOT