The Flight..

The flight was packed and long, but not a long as I thought. We were scheduled to leave JFK at originally 9:15 pm EST and arrive in Kuwait at 5:10 pm Kuwait time. So by all calculations that would be 13 hours? Kuwait is 8 hours ahead of EST, factor in the daylight savings that would make it 7 hours. So we were supposed to leave at 4:15 am Kuwait time, and arrive at 5:10 pm, thats nearly 13 hours. We actually took off shortly after midnight EST or 7 am Kuwait time and arrived at 5:23 pm Kuwait time or just over 10 hours. Must have been one heck of a tail wind. My new manager here hired a person to walk me through immigration and customs. I was impressed at the ease of doing things if you know who to talk to. One thing I remember from previous travels is that if you take your hand off your suitcase, someone will pick it up and want to carry it for you. Of course a fee (tip) is involved. I am not familiar with the currency yet so I have no clue what an appropriate tip would be. The current exchange rate today is 1 KWD will cost 3.68 USD so if you were to tip a porter, probably no more than 1 KWD would be more than adequate, using the $1 a bag theory.