After being held in the immigration office for a couple hours, I was surprised to find someone holding a sign with my name on it at the arrivals area. Jum’ah the embassy driver had been waiting for me since my last flight, which I missed. It felt so good to be welcomed in my new home, especially after my terrible flight.
Jum’ah dropped me off in the hotel that they’ve reserved for me. I had to stay in a hotel for a couple days since the embassy was closed during the weekends.
The only catch in this whole awesomeness was that I had to pay for the three nights in advance, since I didn’t have any credit card, and the embassy would pay me later. I got left with only 40 dollars for the next few days!
I arrived to the hotel at almost midnight and I couldn’t find any restaurant that deliver that late, even the hotel restaurant wasn’t working that night.
I woke up early in the morning and walked all the way down to “M” street. I ate and spent the rest of the day reading books in Barnes and Nobel, a bookstore.
Sunday night was a nightmare. I was starving and I only had few dollars in my pocket that I was saving for a cap for the next day, incase the embassy driver didn’t show up. I had never valued money till that day.
I woke up and checked out from the hotel and luckily the embassy driver showed up. After we finished orientation we had a hot pizza from dominos, it tasted so good.
The pizza made my brain to start functioning appropriately and I remembered that I had a hundred dollar bill in between my passport’s papers. It was a lifesaver; I wouldn’t be able to go to Richmond, my new home, without it!
The train usually takes an hour and a half to go from Washington to Richmond, but lucky me, it took the train seven freaking hours to arrive, due to a problem with the signals!
To be continued…
