Travel Journal Entries Part 1
The following is an entry in my handwritten “travel journal”. In fact, the next several entries will be from the journal in order to tell the story of our journey from the beginning. I dedicate it to Joseph C. McDaniel who tirelessly and relentlessly encouraged me to publicly display all that is me; well, really he would say, “Take it to the stage, Sydney! Your future is on the stage as a comedienne.” To which I would always reply, “Joe, I am only conversationally funny not stage funny.” So, here is me being conversationally funny in public… Joe, how’s this for a compromise?
Enjoy…
Monday, September 19, 2011
Today we start our big adventure… well, at least we’ll start the heavy travel of the adventure starting with leaving from San Francisco and flying into Chicago Midway airport.
Kaz (Kurt’s mom) tried to cry when she dropped us off but I quickly put a stop to that. No tears from her would e tolerated (frankly, if she had cried, I would’ve started and well…).
Monday, September 19, 2011 (supplemental)
We’ve arrived in Chicago Midway but not before having to pay for one of our bags as it was 2.5 pounds over the limit. REALLY?! You can’t just let that one go; I mean, 2.5 stinking pounds?! Well, it got worse because we also had to pay for an additional seat on the plane for me because “I’m too big for the standard seat”. F’ing Southwest Airlines- it’s the Greyhound of the skies (I told Kurt that I didn’t want to fly that airline- they have a history for crappy stuff like that)! Thankfully the ticketing agent negotiated the price of the additional ticket so that we only had to pay the same online price we had already paid which meant that even with the extra seat, both Kurt and I flew to NY for only $620.00.- this important detail could explain why y’all did not hear about the crazy fat lady going ape-shit in a San Francisco airport. Frankly, I am in favor of never flying with them again; however, knowing Kurt’s “money vein” will appear at some point in the future, I’m sure we’ll end up flying with them again. The only good thing that came from flying with them was that with that extra seat we technically were flying First Class. We had plenty of room and comfort on what ended up being a very full flight. Even still, I’d just as soon not do it again.
Our flight to NY La Guardia isn’t for a few hours (8:15p) still so we will be living in the airport for a bit. We decided to set-up camp at one of the charging stations that are all over the airport. Here we plugged in our phones and sent update text messages and Facebook posts alerting everyone to our safe arrival. I also placed a call to my dad to let him know that all is well so far.
Tuesday, September 20, 2011
Last night we flew into NY La Guardia airport and since our flight to Cairo, Egypt, out of JFK, isn’t until 6:30p tomorrow, we will be staying in a hotel near JFK. Navigating the very busy and crowded airport was interesting though not as interesting as the cab ride. The hotel Kurt booked for us is in Ozone Park (I know, where??) which is in Queens and not far at all from JFK. It sure would’ve been nice if the cabby we had known where he was going. Though, I suspect that he did know and as simply taking us for a ride- pun intended. When we finally got to our hotel the ride cost us $40.00 for what should’ve only been closer to $25.00. Oh well.
Anyway, by the time we arrived it was about midnight, in the suburbs, nothing was open and we were starved. But we decided that we were sleepier than we were hungry so we ate the last of Janet’s Snickerdoodles (thanks again, Janet) and we went to bed.
WOW, we slept great! The mattress was awesome. I want one… eventually.
Kurt and I decided to stay in the hotel until check out and then go straight to the airport instead of seeing the city. The weather wasn’t great and we thought it might be a better idea to focus on traveling rather than sightseeing. That turned out to be a really good call. After we ordered a NY pizza (which really didn’t taste all that different from a CA pizza- sorry NY) we headed to the airport via the hotel shuttle- no slick cabby to deal with.
Wednesday, September 21, 2011
Uhm, WOW!!! I’ll say it again, WOW!!! Big plane and lots of people on it. Thankfully, the flight was not sold out so the plane was not full; but still I say there were a lot of people on the plane. Oh, and I’m not sure but I think we might have been the only ones on the plane wearing deodorant. Clearly, this is something I will just have to get use to- but not so use to it that I am not wearing it myself… I am, after all still American.
So, we are finally on the ground after 10 hours in the air. We have safely arrived at Cairo International Airport in Egypt. (I know, I’m still in awe too! I’m in Egypt!!! No longer am I just looking at it on a map or a globe, I’m actually HERE in the flesh… Surreal is the only word I have). The flight was good and smooth and the food was fantastic. We agreed that we would definitely fly EgyptAir again. Sadly, and inexplicably we did not sleep much on the plane. Somehow I managed to sleep more than Kurt did so he is completely exhausted now. We needed to find our new airport “camp” and fast because I was losing Kurt. Also since our flight isn’t for another 10 hours and we had already been advised by several helpful Egyptians on the flight that we should stay in the airport for our safety, finding camp was dire.
After making it past what I can only describe as the Egyptian version of the TSA, I am now quite grateful for the American version. US TSA is gruff and horrendous but they do not carry heavy weapons- just say’n. One guy who patted Kurt down kept asking him where the money was, “where is money, where is cash?” Thank God I had the good sense to take all of our cash and stuff it into the Left Bank (the left cup of my bra) and they did not pat me down at all. The E-TSA was after our scary encounter with an Egyptian visa agent who informed us that because our flight is more than 8 hours away, we are entitled to a hotel room paid for by the airline however, we must surrender our passports and leave the airport to be taken to the hotel. Hmmm. Yeah, I don’t think so. My momma raised fat babies not stupid ones. We wisely opted to camp out in the airport as previously planned.
So, right at this very moment I am sitting in a Hagendaas café writing while Kurt takes an upright nap in a chair next to me. Tonight we fly to Abujah, Nigeria.
Wednesday, September 21, 2011 (supplemental)
TOILETS. One never truly appreciates the simple things in life until one leaves the comforts of familiarity in order to see the world. Here in Cairo, you must provide your own toilet paper. Yes. Yes, you read that correctly but just in case, I will repeat: BYOTP!!! Oh, and there is no flushing of toilet paper (at least not in the restroom I had the misfortune of visiting). You must handle business and then toss it in the trash. This was how it was in Mexico when I visited several years ago but I had not thought that Cairo, and the airport in particular, would be this way. Silly me; expectations are, I’m finding, a bad thing.
This BYOTP thing is amazing because while you must provide your own, everyone else uses the stuff for everything: drying hands, cleaning surfaces, facial tissue- you name it. Seriously, the restroom attendant handed me a wodge of the stuff in order to dry my hands but not in order for me to handle business- even when I asked (She sucked her teeth at me, in disgust or frustration, then, “You go first. Then paper. Go, go.”) So, when we come back for an actual visit I’ll be sure to BYOTP and paper toilet seats too… trust me on this one. I mean, really, someone could make a killing here selling paper toilet seats and small rolls of TP to American, British and Australian tourist. Hmmm… business venture, maybe?!
Thanks for reading! I'll post the second part of the arrival adventure soon....
No comments:
Post a Comment