Kuwait!! I’m here!!

July 28, 2007 at 2:01 pm (Personal)

I’m in Kuwait now,, Glad to be with family, Love the feeling ..

To a breakdown of my journey:

– I left my flat at 6.30 AM (GMT) as I was so worried about my luggage’s weight, and I was afraid that I might deal with paying excess charge.

– 6:55 AM: Reached Eithaad Airways counter in Manchester Airport. Their counters are deserted of passengers!! , It’s a good sign !! I went to one of the unoccupied ladies and finished in less than 4 minutes.

– 7.10 AM: After a long wait due to security reasons, I was able to enter the passenger’s lounge.

-7.12 AM: 3 hours until my flight and I don’t know what to do!! There are few occupied seats and some duty free shops. I had to use my time unwisely moving from one shop to another and returning back and forth.

I was so bored. I couldn’t call anybody as it’s very early and it’s rude, even if I was too desperate to do something meaningful (eg, calling someone).

Some of you, might ask why didn’t you go to your departure gate and read/eat/do anything rather than walking in circles until the departure announcement. Well, the problem was that they didn’t provide us with the gate number , so I had to wait with my fellow passengers until the gate number was announced on the screen.

8.20 AM: Still, no sign of the gate number on the screen, I had already bought some chocolate from one of the shops , so here goes another round in the shops.

8.30 AM: Now I was able to call anybody I want. It’s a week day and everybody are on their way to work or had already reached their workplace. I called 3 people and left voice messages (Long ones) for another two.

8.55 AM: 5 minuted until the announcement of the gate number. I met a nice Bahraini woman who was doing Masters in communication. Mash’allah!! … She was called ” Madeena “.. ‘City’ in English. She said it was a common name in Bahrain. I didn’t know that!

9.00 AM: Finally the gate number was announced. I marched to my gate, then I’ll able to sit down and read my book. Gate 29, Here I come!!

9.25 AM: Hungry and unable to function, I wasn’t able to read my book with concentration and was easily distracted. 5 minutes later, and the gate opened, Thank you God!

10.00AM: My seat location was excellent as I wasn’t bothered if it was an aisle/window seat. The person who sat next to me was a 10 year old boy, travelling on his own to visit his family in Abu–Dhabi. Mash’allah he was so polite and bless him, he enjoyed talking (He was a bit talkative) and telling me about his ambitious dream to be a magician in the future. His old dream to be a rapper, why did he like 50 cents and etc.? His favourite movies? how he take care about his teeth? His dream to move to Abu Dhabi and to start a family there (So young to think about these things)? I think I treated him like a young brother/son.. whenever he had to go the toilet, he would put his food tray on mine, I was encouraging him to eat and like any other boy he wasn’t keen on the plane’s food. Although I didn’t sleep as I intented to do, I managed to sleep for an hour which was an achievement considering the circumstances, bless him.. The boy was talking and pointing at this and that, asking question, but it was fun. In the other hand, I met a girl who was doing medicine, she heard me talking to ‘Amir-The boy’ about dentistry, and Subhan -Allah it turned out that she knew a fellow Kuwaiti students who are doing 4th year medicine who I know. I didn’t expect that!!

8PM (GMT +3): We reached Abu–Dhabi,said goodbyes to both Amir and Aneesa (The 4th year Medic) and parted our ways, each to his/her respective way. Due to the fact that I didn’t have money as I didn’t want to exchange British pounds to USD/Emarati Durhim’s, I found a seat and continued reading my book. I didn’t think it was a good idea to look at the duty free shops as I didn’t want to carry anything with me.

Believe it or not, I sat there on my chair reading for the next 6 hours. Well, let’s say that, 3 hours were for reading purposes and the other 3 were observational. I witnessed the arrival of an Indonesian Team (Consists of old people) and one of the few women who were there, shocked me with her striking resemblance to Amilda Marcus (The previous first lady of the Philippine). Another Kuwaiti man with long hair and his wife (Shorter hair than him) who wasn’t dressed appropriately. There was this Funny Emarati’s couple; the husband was dressed in purple jeans and shirt, his wife was wearing what looks like 6 layers of Aabaya(3abaya) which I assumed to be very heavy. 10 minuted later, I see the same couple, but without the Abaya and the Nigab.. She was wearing yellow skinny jeans with a matching top. Another Kuwaiti man had a fight with one of Etihaad Airways’s staff because she refused to provide him with a free accommodation. It was interesting to observe so many people and see how colourful the airport can be with so many nationalities and races.

1.20 AM( GMT+3): Boarding the plane to Kuwait, I’m on way to my beloved hometown. I sat next to a Kuwaiti man and continued reading my book, who assumed I was British.. I was shocked ??  and with my Hijab as well. ^_^ (Found it funny).Due to the undergoing construction in Abu–Dhabi Airport, we were taken in a bus to our aircraft. Half an hour later, we are still waiting for another set of passengers who were late .. They were shopping in the duty free area!!  I can’t believe how some people can be so inconsiderate and show up when “The final Calling” is announced. Why bother? Miss the plane, it’s easier for you and quicker for us.

2.30 AM (GMT+3): The plane took off after the delay. I wasn’t thrilled, my parents said that they we going to be in Airport by 2 AM so with the delay, my poor parents had to wait for an extra hour to see me.

3.30 AM`(GMT+2) Kuwait, I arrived .. My parents and my younger brother were there.. Oh, I missed them so much..

Glad to be finally in Kuwait…

…. About Etihaad Airways: I would recommend this airways for their excellent service, friendly staff and for their tasty food. An enjoyable ride that was disturbed with the long waiting hours. Would go with them again, but I will hope in the future, they would consider reducing the waiting time.