So, this will be another somewhat personal blog, but I figured that everyone who read my previous blog about being stuck in Dubai should find out more about what happened. Spoiler alert…I did arrive home safely on March 9^th, and am slowly getting my life back to normal. And although it was my work that got me into this less-than-optimal situation, it was also—as readers will see—my work that got me out.

To pick up where I left off…as I mentioned last time, the airlines kept rescheduling my flights on a daily basis, but each flight was then cancelled. The folks at the State Department were extremely friendly during my almost daily calls but were totally unhelpful: The night that I sent off the previous blog, I received a call from State about 5pm, saying there was a flight out to Dulles and did I want it?—YES! I have friends who live near Dulles and there are almost hourly flights from DC to Boston, so…I was told to pack up and wait by my computer for an email telling me from which terminal and when the flight would leave.

Four and a half hours later, with no email, I dialed the number that had called me, and there were several options for help with my passport but absolutely no way to reach a person. I called the number I had been previously using for the State Department and talked with another very nice person who explained that he was on the “input” desk, used for obtaining information about folks like myself who needed help, that the people who had called me were on the “processing” desk, and that no connection existed between the two desks. Hmmm…I never received any email, ever…

So, I extended my hotel stay yet again and learned that the UAE’s offer to cover all hotel and food for those stranded covered ONLY people who were flying on Emirates Airlines. Thankfully, I had not been eating meals at the hotel restaurant, but had been buying food (much more inexpensively) at the mini-mall supermarket next to the hotel. And, although by this time, a few Emirates flights were leaving Dubai, they were all chartered, with no commercial access. My airline, Qatar, was still totally grounded with respect to flights from Dubai to Doha, which was their connection to the U.S.

My Dubai colleagues and I kept in touch with one another, making sure we were all ok, despite the nightly alerts coming in on our phones to “Shelter in place” (which made no sense, as there were no shelters anywhere). Friends in the U.S. tried to figure out if there was anything they could do, but all that happened was that they also talked with the same friendly but totally unable-to-help folks at State. I made a video call to the lab so that Griffin would know that I hadn’t abandoned him. I would try to do a bit of work each day (I still had papers to review and edit, the falcon data to transcribe, journal articles to read), while keeping an ear to the BBC on the television (the only reliable news) and constantly checking in with the airlines. (My overall phone bill came to over $1,200!)

The Long Road Home From Dubai

Right about this time, one of the donors to The Alex Foundation reached me via email to ask for some paperwork for their tax forms. When I mentioned where I was and my predicament, their response was amazing… “Do whatever you have to do to get out and we’ll cover the expense!” Well, at the time, there wasn’t much possible. Although the donors had heard about companies that were shepherding people to Oman (a 10.5 hr drive, and a very expensive one at that), that option was feasible only if one was a British citizen, because the U.K. was chartering flights out of Oman. As a U.S. citizen, I wouldn’t be doing myself any good.

Again, the U.S. was doing nothing, despite what was being said in U.S. news reports…the U.S. had evacuated all the Embassy and Consulate staffers in the area, as well as their families, but not private citizens. But my donors and I kept in touch, and the next day one of my airline alerts paid off; learned that Emirates would soon be starting direct commercial flights to a few U.S. cities. I got on their website immediately and found that the only seat available was on a business class flight to NYC on Sunday, the 9^th. Seeing the price, I hesitated, but, remembering my donors’ words, hit the “reserve flight” button. Well, despite the news of the war not being very good at all, for me there was now a light at the end of the tunnel. If it weren’t for those donors, I might still be in Dubai! SUCH amazing people…

 It is Friday, 7 a.m., and I’m just about ready to get out of bed when there is the sound of a huge explosion. Now, the hotel is extremely well sound-proofed, because the only thing that separates it from the airport is a 6-lane highway, so hearing this kaboom is not a good sign. I immediately turn on the news, but it takes awhile for information to get through. Eventually I learn that something on the periphery of the airport was hit, either by a drone or some shrapnel from an interception, and that the airport was closed. ACKKK! Fortunately, it was closed only for a few hours.

So, my flight is scheduled for 1am on Sunday morning. Although Emirates usually allows check-in 48 hours in advance of a flight, I’m not allowed to do a partial check-in until 12 hrs beforehand, which isn’t exactly reassuring. I learn that I won’t be able to get my boarding pass until I arrive at the airport, and it isn’t clear when I’m supposed to get to the airport. I decide early is best, and spend about an hour wandering around, dragging my suitcase, trying to find someone who knows where I’m supposed to go. Finally, I find a wonderfully helpful woman looks at me and asks what I need and my age and gets someone to personally assist me. They even provided a wheelchair, and by that time, I was so stressed I was not going to refuse. After several hours at a rather elegant lounge (business class has definite perks), I board the plane and, because the flight had WiFi, I start sending emails (“I’m in the air”) to those who knew of my plight.

I don’t think I was ever so happy to reach U.S. soil. I still had to go through Customs, another TSA security check (I was extremely lucky to hit a period when the lines were NOT insane despite the government shut-down), a long layover in NYC, a flight to Boston, and then the trip from the airport to my house, but none of that mattered…I was no longer in a war zone.

I’ve spent the past month rescheduling many appointments and meetings, and dealing with a lot of crazy things that would have been a lot less crazy had I not been delayed. I’m still a wee bit PTSD-y, and now that I’ve seen just a very small bit of what it is to live in a war zone, I cannot imagine how people who live in such places for weeks and months and years can possibly be coping, and, as I write this, things do not seem to be getting any better. My Dubai colleagues and I are still in touch, and they are still safe, if stressed. We are trying to figure out if there is some way to wrap up the studies without my having to go back next year.

So…the plan is to resume blogging about the lab and science next month, but I did want everyone to know that I’m home safe and, again, to thank my donors who made my return possible!