After a heart-warming last day in the UK, kissing good bye all my friends at Jamie’s and getting Kristina’s notebook signed at Food Passion- a long day was still awaiting. Loads to pack and quite a few chores to be completed, thanks to Ladka and my neighbour all jobs were done and i can rest assured my house/cat will be looked after whilst i’m away.
That did not mean i had much sleep. None whatsoever. But the excitement of leaving home and the ever reaching realization i’d be with Kristina in a few hours, not to mention Noelle after almost 2 months away… plus her family in Malaysia! It was enough to keep me awake.
4am I leave the house. Last sight of Britain was an inspiring one. The Sun rises behind the fields giving its skies lysergic orange-purpleish tones, accompanied by a thick low mist that extended between trees. Lush! (write Lush! on the board)
Eyes are heavy. Legs weak. Check in done, I drag myself to the boarding gate where I sit and wait. One and a half hour still to go… People start arriving, I blink a heavy lingering blink, and when my eyes open all seats are taken! Kids… thousands of them it seems. Earphone off – endless screaming, a mind shattering clatter that feels like the world is about to end! Earphone on… chill out music. Ah! Like magic the never ending horror residing in that room turned into a comedy show. People are weird!!! The more normal they look the weirder they are. Fact!
“Emirates flight to Dubai will start boarding soon” the stewardess announces. Everyone rushes to the gate, as usual. Business men, old ladies, wheelchair users, men of all creed and belief, and of course – families with kids… All those little buggers with their panoply of toys, trolleys and gadgets. What the stewardess forgot to mention is that they were going to call people by groups! Disabled persons first, families with kids then, followed by and organized seating from back to front of the airplane. Chaos was installed!
Wheelchair users were the easy ones. There was in fact only one disabled person. When it came to families and kids… God almighty! Parents were rugby tackling people in despair, as if the plane would leave without them at any time! I could swear I saw a father throw his kid forward to his mother, like an American Football throw just to get there faster… maybe I was already delirious at this time. I wish I had seen it tho. I would not be surprised.
When they started calling people to board from the last seats, I was already trapped between the mass and the gate. I was - unfortunately - sitting in the front of the plane, and i knew or a fact that it would take bloody long for me to get to my seat. Animosity reigned in the room, and in an exhilarating quick chain of thoughts, I casually showed the steward my DUBAI-DELHI boarding pass, in which seat was in the back of the plane and already walking in I was allowed into the tunnel. That was smooth and put me in a very good frame of mind, albeit the plane departure as a result of all confusion was 1 hour overdue.
The stewardess was an overly friendly american girl. She was standing on my seat, after a few jokes she moved away. A very nice Pakistany couple sat by my side. I can only remember telling the man: “I haven’t slept properly in ages. I haven’t slept at all tonight. I know i will pass out in a minute, would you PLEASE wake me up every time food comes!”. “No problem”. And so he did! What a saint of a man… bless him! First round was breakfast… continental. Dinner was next and it was the schizzle!!! I was so hungry then I could’ve eaten a whole cow. When drinks came, I somehow felt like something really refreshing and sharp to clean the palate – “Tonic Water!”… “I would not mind some Gin aswell” I mumbled… “Of course, Sir” the American stewardess replied, handing me TWO 50cl bottles of gin and adding “I will give you another one after your meal 
” Paradise!!! I did not need any help to sleep, but all that gin sure knocked me out. The 3rd bottle though, I kept for Kristina…
Just before landing, the man by my side engaged a conversation. He was going to Malaysia as well. I talked a bit about the country and he reminded me of the Barça x Real Madrid match later that night, adding he supported Real Madrid… I guess I let go a bit of a rage towards that institution, anyhow thats besides the point and completely irrelevant to the course of this tale.
ARRIVAL IN DUBAI
There I was… expecting my bag. 1 hour is past. Bags stop coming, and there I still bloody am… “Baggage Service”. Track: Sent to Delhi! WHAT?! “But I’m only flying to Delhi tomorrow, I confirmed when I checked in”. “Sorry Sir. We can retrieve you bag, most probably, but it would take a minimum of 4hours…” Sod off… Kristina must be freaking out outside already. So I go!
INTERMISSION: Faye and Meg, thank god you did not go on with the plan of hiding inside my luggage… You would not have seen Kristina! ahaha..
With time only enough to pass thru Duty Free and grab a couple of bottles (once it is illegal to purchase alcohol in Dubai without a special license – mainly during Ramadan) then I stormed out! Kristina is there, and with a mix of surprise, excitement and disbelief on her face… It was nice seeing her =)) Unfortunately i had to carry out all people’s requests of hugs, pinches, squeezes, bites and licks (Faye, you again?! ;o)…
On the way to the taxi, the heat of the Middle East strikes. I had forgotten how it was, and how much one can sweat in just a couple of minutes out under those conditions! Its not only the temperature that bothers you, but the hot breeze that stubbornly keeps hitting you, constantly. The feeling is that after properly marinated one can easily be served as a slow roast after long hours out there… I’m damn sure of it!
Into the taxi, asap, and Kristina drops the bomb: “We’re going to Jamie’s!!!”. “Really?!”. I honestly haven slept in bed since I last been into a Jamie’s Italian restaurant… and I had the whole goddamn grill section at 9am! What about all the fun in Dubai? Hard Rock, crazy discos full of gringos and expats??? Its Ramadan… Hard Rock is closed. Jamies it is.
Getting there I get to meet all her colleagues. Most of them seemed to know I was coming, and the sight of the restaurant’s decor with all that familiar jazz: Vespa, canned tomatoes, Bottle Green cordial, oven gloves and all that merch, added by the white shirts, tie and aprons I remember I had just dumped pleasurably in my laundry basket just a few hours ago… boy, that felt weird!
Weird was a feeling that was quite washed away when i received the menu… no pork! no alcohol! WoW! That was exciting… what would I eat?! I would not be able to recommend anything were I working there. The waiter sure did… a bit nervous, he talked thru the specials and recommended a rhubarb/strawberry/ginger fruit juice. Starters? Meat plank! I had to try it without pork. Main: King Fish steak cooked on the wood fire s/w vegetables with pesto and dollop of mayo on top. Dammit they were nice! Musatti espresso and the best news: Bill was 100% comp! Manager came to speak to us personally and offered the meal. So nice of her =) Kristina, you must be very loved xxx It wasn’t a bad idea after all to go to Jamie’s, was it?!
PS: During the meal she took her time to read all the sweet notes on her book… Guys, she teared up! Thanks all for the effort, mainly you Charis <3 It meant a lot to her.
Back to her apartment, we catch up for a while just before heading to Reece’s room. Reece is a safe and very sound South African dude, who is head of the bar at the restaurant. He welcomes me very warmly just to cool us down with a lovely 5L Heinneken keg… Lets not get into the legality of those drinks. So cold, just what I needed! We chat and listen to music for a good while, until his roommate Jacques arrives from work and we start the drinking game. That was the last whistle of the night… Two games, 5L keg + a case of beer was gone, and so was I. So were all of us! Kristina and I had plans to go early to the beach and roam thru famous sights of Dubai to take some pics, but honestly I do not remember hitting the bed.
When I opened my eyes it was already 12.30pm. Time enough to enjoy the last few hours with Kristina and stretch once more to the airport. Stuff bellies because no eating or drinking are allowed outside during Ramadan. Cab, coffee at the airport (when I see the newspaper with the best news yet: Barça 3 x 2 RM), and it was time to say good bye! Kristina it was great seeing you, and on behalf of the whole Jamie’s Oxford I can say: We want you back!!!. Thanks for the hospitality xxx
FLYING TO DELHI
Time to think of India… It is going to be 3 weeks! Never been, and with all fairness I have no expectations. I’m in a kind of a let it be mood you know. Drink the wine kind of a thing… anyways. Hitting Delhi, I found my bag. Straight away! What I could not find was the bloody hotel pick-up. Changed some cash, and the lady said: “Outside… they wait outside, Sir.” She was partially right. Most of the pick-ups were outside, but no board with my name on it. Trying to go back into the airport, two security guys stand by the door: “Ticket?”. “No, I just came out, need to check something inside”. “Entrance only allowed for departure, Sir. You have to go now. Out, out!” making movements with his hands to emphasize my direction out. Noelle was in the train and she would be in the hotel long after me. So I quickly jump into a taxi – which was the worst decision I could´ve ever made. Oh well, let the journey begin!
At first instance I thought “Its quite hectic… nothing far stranger than I’m used to see in São Paulo”. The minute the taxi gets closer to the city, my jaws drop. It was about 9pm and the roads were completely taken. By all kind of vehicles, people and species! My taxi driver surely pays 2 road taxes. He must! I haven’t seen him driving ONCE with all 4 wheels inside a single lane…
Amidst the clutter of Delhi’s traffic you can find pretty much anything – a weird 3-wheeled hybrid between a truck and a van, dogs, pedestrians, disabled people on the pavement begging for money, thousands of bicycles; the rickshaws and the autorickshaws (tuk-tuk); which are a 3-wheeled vespa with roof! Trucks carrying people on top of the roof top, buses carrying people hanging by the door… It is all chaotic but still very peculiar, so particular of the city! They all seem to know what they were doing and after a minute you forget accidents can happen.
Getting closer to my hotel, the taxi driver drops me. “This street”, he says, pointing to this place I had no intentions of waling into. It was 10pm and the street was buzzing with people! Such narrow alleys and it felt busier than Cornmarket on a saturday afternoon. Food stalls everywhere. Shops, street sellers… “I cannot walk there sir. Take me to the hotel”. “Sorry no taxi”. Leaving me unattended, with my best “I’m-full-on-tourist” look, full of bags, sunglasses on top of my head, camera and laptop bag carrying a Duty Free package, i basically had both hands taken, and no courage to face the crowd.
I did not need to… the crowd came to me! “I carry for you, Sir”. “I take you to my hotel, Sir.” “Very nice, air con, clean sheets. Best price”. “Come on my bike, Sir. 50 Rupees” No, No, No, No, No!!!! I had absolutely no clue of where I was. Each person sent me on a different direction. Half of the crew tried to make me use their rickshaws or tuk-tuk. The other half tried to sell me something. This man tried to sell me all his collection of fake RayBan’s, when I clearly had my sunglasses on top my head. I gave up. Found a shop by the corner, he seemed friendly. No english. Call Noelle, who speaks to him in Hindi just to find out where the hell i was. Call the hotel who sends a pick up. Rickshaw. The bicycle one!
Finally I felt i was going to be safe, rest my bags and just relax! The receptionist of the hotel was with me, while the poor man pedaled us thru the narrow streets. Just before the last corner, between shops and restaurants, a huge figure approaches… swaying toward us, I see… It’s an elephant!!! Two men on top, as if it was normal, they stroll the big mammal around the city. Our rickshaw showed no sign he was going to stop, until very close he made the wise decision to pull over and let the beast pass… A sensible decision I’d say. Don’t wanna imagine who would win that clash…
As the elephant passes, the receptionist asks: “So how you find it?!”.
“Crazy!” – with a silly grin on my face.
