5 hour flight from Maui-LAX
4 hour layover
6 hour flight from LAX-DC
8 hour layover
13 hour flight from DC-Kuwait City
1 hour layover
1 hour flight from Kuwait City-Bahrain
11 time zones passed and 13 hours ahead of Hawaii...
I slipped back into the country rather easily, except that my flight from DC to Kuwait was delayed 3 hours due to the starter not working for the right engine, so I couldn't pick up my car when I got to Bahrain because it was after 11pm. Hopped into a taxi and headed to StarVilla, where Sheika Spot and Sami Bey had been summering with the other kitties and Spanky, the silly dog. What to do? It's 1 am and not a creature is stirring in Sar it seems. The night air was thick and still, trying to suffocate me. I saw my reflection in the pool. THE POOL! Moments later I was splashing around in glee. An unexpected Bewitching Hour skinny-dipping session. The water felt so cool to my sun-kissed skin. After a summer back home in Hawaii this felt so normal, yet I felt a bit exposed. The only animals watching were the neighborhood cats high up on their perches. The impending jet-lag somehow buffered my sudden coquettish-ness... No one was around but myself eavesdropping onto the nightly chatter of insects and animals. A nice way to re-enter Bahrain I suppose.
The kitties. Oh those naughty kitties. They were so animated when I saw them. I spotted Sami Bey first. He was on the stairs looking down at the mysterious creature that somehow seemed a familiar scent I suppose. Shaika immediately started talking to me, as she does. Sami Bey stood around in silent wonder, as he does. He looked like he was plotting something positively dastardly, as he is prone to do... Somehow I managed to doze off at a fairly decent hour- meaning that the sun hadn't yet risen...
Twas not a lengthy slumber though. The forces that be in the pantheon of jet-lag gods/goddesses made sure I was up in no time. The sun had already risen, yet was still behind the villa so I, rather modestly, donned my bikini and jumped back in the pool. One by one, all the villa kitties came out to greet me. I must have been lazing in the Ez-boy pool chair for a few hours before any Homo Sapiens' came out to greet me.
Now in full jet-lag mode, Starrberry Delight and I shared a cuppa joe and caught up on our summer shenanigans. She bike toured through parts of Ireland and France and I, well you all already know what I was up to... Sarahkins decided we should all meet up for lunch for our ongoing "Ladies Who Lunch" lunch series. Quick thinking on her part as I knew I was going down soon into the never never land of jet-lag lethargy. Driving around left me observing familiar sights as if I remembered them from a parallel universe that I was once absorbed in. I know it has only been 2 months since I left Bahrain, but it was always like a dream- living here in the Middle East. It was like a dream that wasn't mine, but became mine.
Soon enough, I had my car, packed the kitties and headed off home. Home, of course, hadn't been aired out for 2 months. Home was full of dust and pent up angry heat. Thank goodness I remembered to change the sheets and cover up my bed before I left because I made a mad dash to my bed- my headquarters here in the Middle East :) My bed is like my island within an island. It is my lifeboat when I need saving. As well, the air conditioner in the bedroom is the most powerful one in my apartment so there's that...
The kitties were busy remembering their lives here. They were searching around for lost toys and smelling new developments since we all departed in July. It was all I could do to unpack and slightly clean up the place. This consisted of taking Clorox wipes and going around all the floors with them attached to my slippers. Not the most impressive cleaning job, but it gets the job done with minimal impact on my agitated frame of mind. Feeling fairly impressed with myself, I simply laid on the couch underneath the air conditioner and gulped the 1 bottle of water and 1 bottle of Gatorade that I managed to leave behind knowing that I would probably not be able to grab more when I returned in September... Smarty pants I am.
Three days later and minimal jet-lag lingering effects, I can say that the impact of jet-lag is lessened considerably when one does not partake in adult beverages on the airplane. I experimented with this hypothesis when I left Bahrain, and sure enough, when I reached Hawaii I wasn't in too bad of shape. Last year... Last year I managed to drink copious amounts of libations both on the plane and in the airport during my long layovers... Last year I spent 5 days on Katie-girl's couch watching 3 seasons of Game of Thrones while nursing my jet-lag. So, my hypothesis is correct- always a ego-boosting feeling indeed! I managed to get to work within 35 hours after touching down on Bahraini soil :) Winning.
I'm almost 'normal' (wouldn't that be something) with my sleeping schedule. I pass out at 9pm, walk up at 2am and it is now 7am and will pass out again right now until about 10am, and then race to work. Good thing this week is just a 'filler' week with nothing much required of us except light conversation and re-acquainting ourselves with course materials, etc.
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