Friday, March 14, 2008

Arrival

You wake up at 11pm. You have been sleeping for 14 hours, but you feel like you want to sleep more. You decide, however, to take a break from your exhaustion by getting up- just for a little while. You perform some essential night-time rituals and then pull out your journal to add a final entry to the day. How did you get here? And, why are you referring to yourself in the second person singular? If you, as a second person plural, are curious to find out these answers, then please continue reading.

The day has finally arrived for you to leave for Cairo, Egypt. You have planned for months, said farewells, and you wait in one line after another (one herding after another) until you end up on the airplane. You wonder when that gut-wrenching feeling of “Oh (insert interjection)! What am I doing?” will sink in, but it doesn’t. Instead, it is a different feeling- one quite refreshing. It is a feeling of peacefulness and content. You think, “This is it. I am a world traveler, and today it continues.” And so, the fasten safety-belt sign is lit up, the flight attendants take a seat, and we are ready for take off.

Useful things to know:
*Lufthansa sells used aircraft seats! Email
juergen@dlh.de for more information.
**Alcohol is free on any plane outside of the U.S., so drink up! They are even so kind as to serve an after dinner cognac!
***At McDonald’s in the Frankfurt Airport, you must pay an extra .25 EURO for ketchup.
“ich liebe es”

You have arrived at the Frankfurt Airport. The local time is 9am, but for you, it feels like 3am and you have not slept. Since there was no survival kit with toothpaste on the plane and they won’t allow you to carry-on your own toothpaste, you are in desperate need for it. In the restroom, you see a small vending machine that has little toothbrushes in it for 1 EURO. So, your next task is to somehow get a EURO coin. You decide to buy a mocha at McCafe- yes, you are not mistaken, that is a coffee shop owned by McDonald’s. You drink your mocha and brush your teeth. One hour down, 12 to go.

The rest of the time is a blur. The only comfortable chairs are inside the gates, and the only gates that are open will board in less than 2 hours. You try to sleep, but they kick you out when they board each flight. You fill the time trying to sleep in 1-2 hours intervals, filling up your water bottle, using the restroom, playing solitaire, and riding around on the terminal train. The outside world looks so far, and you haven’t breathed natural air in over 24 hours.

Finally, you arrive in Cairo. You impress yourself with your memory of the arrival procedure at the Cairo Airport and your ability to say “NO!” numerous times to relentless taxi drivers. You hop on the terminal bus, because that is the only option from here, and exit at the car park. You know there should be a bus into town, but you don’t see where it is, and there are some men watching you and asking where you are going. You decide to sit and think. The men do not go away, but they do not continue to bother you. You decide to, probably incorrectly, ask for help: “Ana aiza bus fi Tahrir, mish taxi” (I want a bus to Tahrir, not a taxi). One man chuckles because you waited so long to ask, and you come to an understanding that the bus will not start again for another hour and a half, seeing as it is 4:30am in Cairo.

As you are waiting for the bus, you realize it has been about 31 hours of flying, waiting, and travel time, in total. A shower sounds really good; so does a bed- a nice, comfy one. Ha. You wish. You arrive in familiar territory, and as you are walking the street you suddenly feel as though you were here yesterday. In some way, it feels like home, but in another way, it doesn’t at all. You are in Cairo. You finally arrived. After settling in, taking a shower, and sending out an “I survived the trip to Cairo” e-mail, you fall asleep. It is 9am. You wake up at 11pm and continue to sleep on until 6 the next morning. To be continued…

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