I'm finally sitting in my apartment in Cairo. It sure took a lot to get to this couch.
I left my mom and Ryan at JFK after lucking out on checking in my luggage. If I had gotten a different check-in agent, my travel nightmare would have begun then. I lucked out with a gentleman who didn't question my carry-on and even taught me how to break into my own luggage since I remembered to put a lock on my luggage but failed to bring the keys to said lock.
At the airport, I met up with two other teachers and the girlfriend of one of the teachers. We chatted while waiting for our plane to board but had no clue at the time just how much bonding time would ensue during the next 48 hours. The plane was slightly delayed-maybe half an hour. Not much, but a world of a difference when you only have an hour between flights.
You guessed it. We ran what felt like a mile from one gate to the other only to see our plane door close. I was really too exhausted and dehydrated to understand the severity of the situation.
We went from desk to desk in the airport to straighten matters out. Finally, it was decided- we would stay in a hotel for the day and take the next flight out which was 16 hours away. We bought visas for Turkey and made our way to the hotel. Istanbul was beautiful- cobblestone streets lined with colorful houses. Evening torrential downpours turned the hilly streets into raging rivers. The included meals were quite good and I see our little Istanbul adventures as a free vacation courtesy Turkish Airlines.
A shuttle bus, two hour flight, and scrambled egg soup later, we are finally in Cairo. We made it- but our luggage didn't.
What's the first rule in flying? Carry a change of clothes in your carry-on. My I-Home and bananagrams aren't doing much for me now.
I left my mom and Ryan at JFK after lucking out on checking in my luggage. If I had gotten a different check-in agent, my travel nightmare would have begun then. I lucked out with a gentleman who didn't question my carry-on and even taught me how to break into my own luggage since I remembered to put a lock on my luggage but failed to bring the keys to said lock.
At the airport, I met up with two other teachers and the girlfriend of one of the teachers. We chatted while waiting for our plane to board but had no clue at the time just how much bonding time would ensue during the next 48 hours. The plane was slightly delayed-maybe half an hour. Not much, but a world of a difference when you only have an hour between flights.
You guessed it. We ran what felt like a mile from one gate to the other only to see our plane door close. I was really too exhausted and dehydrated to understand the severity of the situation.
We went from desk to desk in the airport to straighten matters out. Finally, it was decided- we would stay in a hotel for the day and take the next flight out which was 16 hours away. We bought visas for Turkey and made our way to the hotel. Istanbul was beautiful- cobblestone streets lined with colorful houses. Evening torrential downpours turned the hilly streets into raging rivers. The included meals were quite good and I see our little Istanbul adventures as a free vacation courtesy Turkish Airlines.
A shuttle bus, two hour flight, and scrambled egg soup later, we are finally in Cairo. We made it- but our luggage didn't.
What's the first rule in flying? Carry a change of clothes in your carry-on. My I-Home and bananagrams aren't doing much for me now.
Empty restaurants and closed stores due to Ramadan.
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