Time Flies...

It was a long, long trip to Hangzhou, China, after arriving some 25 hours after we left our home in Miami. It was first a short hop to Newark, to connect with Continental Airlines Flight 87, final destination Shanghai, China.

Time flies in ways we can only express but not so much describe because, metaphorically speaking, time flies. Well my friend, it is a good thing (given the fact that I am writing out of my semi-burned brain) that I remembered such a word, "metaphorically". Time actually freezes over, remains still, unmoved, untouched, when you set up yourself for a 14 hr flight. Time is non-existent, it makes no difference, it actually makes no sense because by the time you set your watch, you are exposed to different time zone.

The 87 flight was actually pretty cool, long, but cool. We left Newark towards Shanghai, and the interesting thing here was, we went "atop" of the earth in order to get to the far away Chinese Empire. I mean, it makes all the logical sense to take the shortest route, but don't you agree it is actually cool? Well, this was a 14 hr flight aboard a Boeing 777-400, a very new aircraft with an entertainment center on every seat, making available to every passenger some 325 movies, 14 games and some 40 TV shows; how can you sleep! Well, I did and not only because I was so tired from waking up so early last night, but from knowing the jet lag I am about to experience. I mean "about" because I have not slept a single minute after I got off the plane.

Anyways, celebrating the 8th hour on the flight I figured I needed to get some sleep to relax and kind of "fool my soul" into thinking we where actually going to rest. I popped up a couple of Ambien CR sleeping aid pills and after that, you could say I was completely knocked out. Some say I was talking in my sleep, what an uncomfortable place to do both!

We landed in Shanghai at around 1.45PM local time (1.45AM EST). At around 2PM we where actually invaded by aliens. Aliens that had white suits, blue masks, clear goggles. They where semi-human beings that came out of nowhere and started pointing a wireless device to our foreheads almost as if with the intention of sucking out our spirit. These where the Men in White, just like in the movie, but white. Shortly after an announcement inside the plane which was conducted in Chinese (I was freaking out!) we where informed that this where not the Men in White, that there was nothing to fear. They where not erasing our brains or taking control of the plane. These where The Men of Quarantine. The men who came in search of the Swine Flu carrier. The wireless pointing device? A temperature reader to determine if someone had a fever. We where in China, this is the place I came to for answers; the Chinese Embryonic Stem Cell Treatment is going to work... they just proved they have "technology".

Heading towards the Biotech Institute (which now I am aware is part of a whole floor in a hospital in Hangzhou) we where picked up by a private driver who new little, or as I call it now, negative English. That is for you mathematical heads out there, -EN. What I mean by this, for those who did not get it is, well, let me tell you a little story:

Lost in Translation

As we where driving towards Hangzhou over the big, clean and traffic-less highway, I realized myself how little or negative English some people speak. The driver was in complete silence; no words came out of his mouth, just silence. After some 30 minutes, he expressed himself both physically and verbally. He raised his hand holding just two fingers as he said "two hours". Not only was I in shock that after such a long trip, I still had to cover a couple of hours in a car, but the individual actually spoke! And so with my intention of establishing a conversation for the next "two hours" I responded back: "Really, two hours, that is a long trip, how many kilometers in total?" He nodded. "Umm, h o w m a n y k i l o m e t e r s?" I asked again. The man nodded. Now, I held my arms wide open while at the same time pointing the road: "distance, from here, to there?" He answered: "5 o'clock". I was right then and there, Lost in Translation.

We finally got to Hangzhou and where welcomed by hospital staff. It was a short day for that matter, but tomorrow we will have things more clear. We have a room assigned for the three of us, only that extremely small and not quite comfortable. Although we are not here on vacation, we where expecting something better since it was going to be our place to live for the next 4 weeks. I mean, we are in a hospital, and this is a hospital room. Nurses and doctors are going to be coming in and out as they so require, so privacy is not an item to consider.

I am hungry (although I'm not going to eat), I am tired and I am worried. I am in a very strange place, far away from home, far away from my kids, my family, my beloved job. But I am here for a reason, and I have plans to see those reasons go through.

Love you all, my best to everyone.