To begin, I luckily had the fortune to fly from Botswana to Dubai with Jodi; it was such a relief having a travel partner. The ride to Dubai was surprisingly okay. I had a seat open next to me, and spent the majority of the ride drinking wine and listening to music. It’s amazing how much one glass of wine can affect you on a plane. I maybe slept for 20 minutes thanks to my Chardonnay. By the end of the flight my ankles were sufficiently twice their original size, joy.
Somehow, the Dubai airport managed to be just as smelly and unpleasant as before. It was crowded, no one understood how to walk efficiently, and people still didn’t fully grasp the necessity of deodorant. I stopped at the same Starbucks to get an iced Americano, bad idea. They made it completely wrong and put whipped cream on top instead of half and half mixed in. Jodi’s drink was basically shit in a cup, excuse my language. Not only did they first make it a milk chocolate iced mocha instead of white, they made it with water! I have never tasted such terrible coffee, even on the planes. So, I finally declared that I will abstain from any coffee until I reach Minnesota soil and Caribou territory; sweet sweet heaven.
One thing I have learned throughout my travels is to take full advantage of the perfume stores, but to avoid the salespeople. Also, bring sleeping pills…a lot. I have yet to sleep for longer than 20 minutes. I think within the past 24 hours I have gotten 25 minutes of sleep. The rest of my time has been spent in a lethargic half-awake slumber fumbling with my headphones trying to get the other ear to work. I can’t wait until I get my new Skullcandy’s in the mail! Mad props to Target for the free shipping.
My flight from Dubai to London was doubly exciting; I had a whole row to myself. There weren’t as many interesting movies, so I spent most of my time making a playlist and finding new music. I did watch Toy Story 3, Love and Other Impossible Pursuits (?) and 2 minutes of Red Riding Hood, up until the point that I realized Amanda Seyfreid reached her peak in Mean Girls. Nevertheless, I wasn’t sitting next to anyone who made me want to vomit, so it was a positive experience.
Gatwick was a nightmare though. Somehow it felt like a sauna in there and my suitcase wheel was broken to the point that I had to drag it around; my arm felt like it was going to fall off. I spent about 20 minutes trying to find my check-in area, which happened to be in a remote corner that I am convinced was previously hidden. Getting on the plane, all I could see was hipsters; oh how my Dinkytown memories flooded back. I ended up sitting next to two, both of which spent the year travelling in Europe, one of which goes to the U of M.
I cannot begin to explain the relief I felt when I heard everyone speaking about “bAgs” and “pooting them away.” How I missed the glorious Minnesotan accent. Unfortunately I am not near the window seat, so I won’t be able to see how green MN is on the way in. I’ll survive. As long as it isn’t humid when I get in, I think I’ll be okay; but I’m sure it’s more probable that I will ride a Zimbabwe train again before MN isn’t humid.
I’m almost out of iPod battery, I have 4 hours and 11 minutes on my computer, and I’m unusually hungry. And I really want a Kindle. We will see how this goes.
No comments:
Post a Comment