Sunrise, Sunset…

Sunrise

My journey to The Motherland began on Wed. afternoon. My cousin took me to the airport where I checked my bags, ate lunch, and waited to board the plane. I took the longest route possible – Houston to London to Cairo to Lagos. I think the flight was so indirect because I used my frequent flier miles. I flew 1st class from Houston to Cairo, and watched the movie Precious while eating dinner. I sat there balling my eyes out 36,000 feet in the air surrounded by strangers. The flight attendant offered drinks and dessert while I was wiping my eyes; I’m sure she thought something was seriously wrong with me. After that movie, I only wanted to watch comedies the rest of the trip.

I opened my window to see the sun setting on North America before we crossed the Atlantic Ocean. I slept for a few hours and then woke up to see the sun rising over Europe. I’m glad we crossed the ocean in the dark, because seeing all that water scares me. Knowing that my seat cushion turns into a flotation device is not comforting in the least bit. I arrived at Heathrow Airport early Thursday morning. The airport knew that a special guest had arrives and made arrangements for a Benz to pick me up. I took pity on the other passengers and allowed them to ride with me to the next terminal. Actually, the airport shuttle bus was a Benz, but I know they planned it just for me. After arriving in the new terminal, I looked for my gate, but the gate # was not displayed. Instead, the screen showed a time when the gate # would be displayed 30-45 minutes before boarding. All passengers sat in the same waiting area of the terminal until it was time for their respective gates to be displayed. Basically, there is a mall 1/3 size of The Galleria inside that terminal where passengers are forced to wait until they know where to go. The retailers have a captive audience. Most people do not sit still while waiting; They walk around this “mall” and buy drinks, food, clothing, jewelry, electronics, etc. The genius who came up with this layout was probably given a key to the palace.

I walked around for a while since I’d sat so long on the plane. One thing that stood out in the Duty Free shop was a huge sign that said “Smoking Kills”. At first, I thought it was a joke or a sign posted by an anti-tobacco vigilante. However, as I stepped up for a better view, I realized that this same message was on all the cigarette cartons in huge letters taking up nearly the entire box. There was also another label that read “Smoking seriously harms you and others around you.” Wow, those Brits do not play with the tobacco companies.
Finally, my gate # was displayed, and I walked over to board the plane to Egypt. Muzak boomed (you didn’t know Muzak could boom?) on the speakers and "Sunrise, Sunset" was the last song I heard before stepping on the plane. I sat next to a young man whose wife and 4-year old son sat across the aisle. We chatted briefly as the rest of the passengers filed in. I asked him if it was his son’s first time flying, and he said he’s flown several times. In fact, he flew to India for the first time when he was less than 2 months old. That little boy is off to a great start.

I chose to watch “Up in the Air” for my in-flight entertainment while flying to Cairo. There were various points in the movie where the sound cut out and came back. However, at the end, there was a long section where I could hear music and see the mouths moving, but I could not hear the words they were saying. That was a bad bootleg. I told the flight attendant what was happening, and he restarted the whole system. I did not have time to start over and just to see the end. I will have to watch the movie again later to see what I missed. Please no spoilers.

Sunset