Friday, July 2, 2010

summer trip : DAY 01

Friday, July 2, 2010

JOURNEY TO THE WEST
I felt sick. I was indeed sick. Worse, I would be traveling with a handkerchief always in my hand. I lost my will to travel. My fever did indeed take away the excitement I should be feeling. I’ve got no enough strength left that day that I asked Faiz to substitute me. I even offered him to support the online payment which I’ve already paid earlier. That was quite an amount. Like hundreds. That was an irrationalized idea sparked from crossfire inside my aching head. Heh. I was too wired for anything at the moment. But then he reminded of the name on the flight ticket booked.


Argh! I got no choice. So I packed my things last minute that night. I felt guilt though since I didn’t prepare much for the visits in Belgium which agreed to be obliged on me. Accepting the fact that I’d be inevitably gone traveling for 10 days, I set my energy back. I was grateful though that I didn’t get sick during the exams.

Abu Seif is just like his brother, (he is, right?) Abu Khalil. He’s punctual. Or at least he was being one that night. Few minutes are considerably forgiven. Syamil followed us. He got his aunt coming to Jordan. From Hijazi, the multi-purpose vehicle went to Zam Zam picking up the 3 girls. Oh okay, as you prefer; akhawat.

Just after finishing the Subuh prayer, we rushed for the flight though we in fact waited another few minutes before the check-in counter opened. The flight took only an hour to Larnaca, Cyprus. It was my first time stepped my foot on the land of Cyprus. I was a little bit discomfort by the environment. The atmosphere is different from Jordan. I couldn’t see any women covering their hair. I kept asking myself, are we in Europe yet? The toilets are devoid of water. I’ve read that Cyprus is the very first country governed by Christian nobles when the Pope visited there like many years ago.

The transit area is not much. Like always, there are the duty free shops. I took quite a nap while waiting. When I woke up, I felt embarrassed of myself as I couldn’t see any other sleepers. I just couldn’t understand how people managed to just seating there for hours doing nothing. Not even reading or eating. They were just waiting. Or is it just me who sleeps anywhere? LOL


The boarding time was delayed few minutes. We left Cyprus. On the plane, I quite entertained myself with some movies provided. We also got to fill our hungry tummy with Halal foods as we requested. We reached Paris at almost 1.30 pm. The sky was cloudy. But bright. Not so hot though it was supposed to be summer. Unlike my first journey to Europe last January, the immigration affair was easy this time. We didn’t receive such irritating questions like I did before.

From the Charles de Gaulle (CDG) Airport, we headed for Gare du Nord, the north station. I’ve already expected the blurring we had when we arrived at the station like I did in Vienna. Heh. Luckily there were so many people trying to help us buying the metro/train tickets to Les Gresillons. That’s where our hotel is located, Gennevilliers. A suburb northwestern of Paris. Kind of an outskirt.


We stayed in Hotel F1. The concept is like a hostel with outside shared bathrooms and toilets. The hotel is great. The rent is cheap after all, quite satisfying. Each room is locked with a code rather than the stereotype keys. Heh. So we have to memorize the room specific six-numbered code given.


I wasn’t enjoying myself this first day actually. I caught a cold and sore throat. I’ve lost my voice so I let Danial do most of the talking. I coughed a lot. Headache comes and goes. Most interrupting, my ear. I felt like something was blocking and pushing my ear drum inside. The pressure hurt like hell. My hearing was partly impaired. I self-diagnosed myself as being infected by some kind of bacteria causing my flu, sore throat and this indescribable pain in my ear. I think I had a common cold which then brought me pharyngitis which then disseminated into my ear causing Otitis. I checked my ear up till the ear drum and it was clear. The problem must be something inside. It was like a puzzle. It could be Haemophilus Influenza. So much for medicine. Heh.

The plan was supposed to be river cruising. But thanks to us lads who overslept, it was canceled. I still have the guilty for that. Sorry guys. Hehe.


to be continued...

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