The flight

Now I’m happy as a beaver, after 6 months, I finally get to see Akilah. I had a friend drop me off to Dulles airport, I check in. No problem. We take the shuttle to the gate. No problem. We board and take off without issue. No problem. I had a comfortable first leg of my journey. No. . . well, not really.

See as I boarded the plane, I was sure to tell myself, don’t have expectations, and you won’t be disappointed; as well as, approach everything with a jolly attitude and not the usual cynical one that is natural for me.

So I board the plane, look for my seat, and see that I’ll be sitting next to a young lady who appears somewhere around my age. I’m thinking, “Cool, someone I can talk with a little.” What was I thinking of. I get to the seat, place my carry on down and say to her, “Good evening?” Nothing. No response. No movement. Nothing.

Hmmm, did I speak to low? Did she not understand me? All I know was this six-hour flight; we may have said two statements to one another. What a drag!

Then to top it off, in front of me there was a gentleman, who was ever so restless and could not help but fidget in his seat. But, it wasn’t like it was an average sized man. He was about 6’1″ and at least 300 lbs! And to have someone like this fidgeting back and forth on the seat and constantly pushing it into your knees, is no Sunday picnic. Did I happen to mention this was an issue, as I am 6’4″ and had maybe a half-inch of space between my knee and the meal tray.

He moved back and forth and on my knees so much that finally I had to tap him and say, “Sir, each time you move you’re on my knees, please stop.” It did. For all of maybe 2 hours. No fun.

The flight itself was good, but I made one error. Did not request a vegetarian dish before hand. How could I have prepared for everything else but this? So when mealtime came, I sat and watched the carnivores, wet their palate. Normally, this would not be an issue for me.

However, considering I was in the final phases of fasting for my observance of Ramadahn, I needed something on my stomach while I could. And water was not going to be enough. I reached in my bag and decided to eat one of the Coconut Macaroons I was delivering to Akilah.

We landed in Paris on time. I walked through the airport and kind of relaxed. Not before going to one of the boutiques and purchasing a camera for about the equivalent of $86. I was happy to come up like that, as a Minolta just like it in the states would’ve cost me over $125.

We boarded our connecting flight in Paris, and had a wonderful flight. My only disappointment was that I could not understand the younger boy next to me who wanted to talk on occasion. So we just sat and watched the movies, in between falling asleep.