we made it!

We're here and the journey is ready to begin!
Not that getting here wasn't an adventure. We left DC on Wednesday morning (thanks for the lift Ange) and first flew to JFK. The delays started in the air. As is common in New York, there was too much traffic for us to land. So we circled around the airport in the air for what seemed like hours....("look kids, big ben...parliament...").
Amal met us at JFK for a hot minute to hang out between flights. We ate really delicious, well made sandwiches. Oh wait, no. They were terrible, poorly made sandwiches. Let's be honest though, I ate the whole thing. And it was nice to see Amal, even if only for a minute.
The flight to Istanbul (all 10 hours of it) was fine. I slept literally one wink, then watched Invictus and Valentine's Day. Both good, but Invictus was awesome, highly recommend it. Aaaand I finished my Lightening Theif book! 10 hours is a long time to accomplish stuff...
We landed in Istanbul and had only about an hour to transfer. At the Middle East Air counter, we got upgraded to first class (finally, accommodations I can get used to!) My cousin works for them and was working our flight so we got the hook up.
The flight was quick, just over an hour and soon my cousin told us to go in to the cockpit, as the captain had invited us to watch the landing from inside. Baller status: check.
We got in, sat in jump seats (reminded me of Leo in Catch Me if you Can haha). You can imagine how awkward I was. Do you talk to a pilot as he flies or just sit there are look at stuff? You have probably guessed that even though I had a million questions, I awkwardly sat and looked at stuff. I saw a lighter sitting among the buttons and wondered if it was there for emergencies. As if he read my mind, the captain picks up the lighter and lights a cigarette. In the cockpit. Of the plane that he's flying...Ummmm what? I died, revived myself, and started snapping pictures (which I'm trying to upload now but this Lebanese interweb is being rather fickle).
Then the captain puts both hands behind his head and relaxes, which explained to me why there are 2 pilots: so one can smoke cigarettes and do nothing while the other actually flies the plane. Hilarious. We flew right into a cloud too! My mom pinched my arm so hard that I thought she drew blood. I must say though that the experience was pretty awesome. Watching the landing from the cockpit was gorgeous. I didn't know what to say the whole time and my mom just kept making observations out loud, which I clearly ignored and refused to respond to. (Right now my mom is taking my picture as I blog and telling me that I can blog about blogging...). All in all, it was pretty great though.
It doesn't look like pictures are going to upload, so I'll have to work on that when I have some more time. Right now, I'm being rushed by my mom and aunt so that we can go home and continue to eat, drink coffee, and do nothing. I'm not bothered. So far, I'm pretty darn happy.
Coming up: Info about the family, coffee cup readings, and hopefully some pics! Hope you guys are doing well!
Love,
Leyla