Skip to main content

Doing Transit Sucks! Big Time! (Flashback to 3yrs, 8 months ago)

So I'm supposedly *attempting* to pack. And I came across one of my lil' notebooks. Actually, about 4 years old now. And it's the book I wrote in when I was sitting in a Frankfurt airport terminal trying to pass 13 hours of transit time on my way to Boston and Mount Holyoke College! Amazing the things we say to ourselves. Check it out. Lol. (As for the picture....we gotta be silly sometimes).

3 years, 8 months ago...The start of my college experience.
-------------------------------------------------------------
About 11:30am, Frankfurt

As usual, when things get a lil' too unbearable, then one goes a-scribbling. I've been sitting here at Frankfurt Main close to 6 hours (!) now and God knows I'm even tired of waiting till 3:00pm when I can start the formalities for getting to Boston. Get this, I'm sitting in a seat which doesn't allow me much space to sleep (yea, and Mr. Jet Lag's decided to show up now!); I haven't eaten in eons (mainly cos I was asleep when "dinner" was served on the plane); I can't walk around cos I have to look after my hand luggage; I can't buy anything to eat/call anyone cos I don't have the right currency; and every single time I do succeed in getting some shut-eye, I have to re-remind myself where I am and why I'm sitting with a bunch of strangers! Oh, and smart 0l' me forgot to bring spare batteries for my CD player and I can't buy some either (not here anyway).

So, I'm sullenly (and dreadingly) watching my battery run down and boredom seep in! I really really wish I knew somoene here I could talk to, but alas (and when situations get extremely discouraging, you start speaking Old English!Lol) there isn't anyone. I made friends with my seat mate...he even invited me over to his house to pass the transit time (and I'm like "Oh c'mon! My first test so soon?!") But cha, from the way he was looking and talking, he wasn't referring to having tea over at his house, followed by idle chit-chat. Nada. In his own words, "I want us to really make contact." I say, "Nah, thanks, but no thanks...I'll just stay at the airport." He's like "Why, are you engaged?" Like hell yea I am...to my promises to myself! Besides, he was drunk.

The other friend I made was while I was doing transit time. He's South African. We talked loads; politics, Africa, careers, religion, etc. and that helped pass time. Unfortunately, his flight was before mine...waaay before mine. And he only has three more hours of flight time--he's heading to Berlin. Okay, so I reckon I'm all done huh>>wait! Course not! Almost forgot. You should see the lil'uns here (I mean the babies, kids, children?) They looking all cute dragging their lil hand luggages and tryna lose their parents. Lol. One mother actually had a string tied to her daughter's arm (via a handband kinda thing), so the kid couldn't stray too far. OH NO! My battery just ran out!! What to do...what to do! I can't leave my seat, else I might not get it back, and I can't sit here and wallow in my boredom, else...Darn, I don't really have a choice do I? Hmm...Doing transit sucks! Big time!

Comments

  1. I hate transits but enjoyed your piece to the max...very good writing!!

    ReplyDelete
  2. so funny! and I identify with it so much: 14-hour layover in London. Even though I went downtown, I still had around 7-8 hours to waste. Transit does suck big time!

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Lifestylz GH Interview: Sangu Delle

As part of Lifestylz GH’s interview series, we bring you our premier interview with Sangu Delle. Profile: Sangu Delle Sangu Delle is a senior at Harvard University. He was born and raised in Ghana, and is the youngest of five children in a bi-religious family (his father is Catholic while his mum is Muslim). He attended Christ the King Catholic School (CTK) and went on to study at the Ghana International School (GIS) until his O-Levels when he transferred to the Peddie School (a college preparatory school in NJ) on scholarship. His areas of concentration in academics are Economics and African studies, with a particular focus on development. Aspirations To be involved in the development of Ghana and Africa at large in some capacity. In the past, he was more involved in non-profit and development work, but has increasingly become active in entrepreneurial and business ventures; a testament to his belief that there should be “less foundations and more entrepreneurs” in Africa. In his own

Review of 'The Perfect Picture' & the Ghanaian Movie Industry

The Ghana-Naija movie industry saga. That's always a tough one where I'm concerned. On the one hand is my allegiance to Ghana - my motherland, homeland and basically where most of my formative years were spent. On the other hand is my undeniable connection to Nigeria - my birthland and the land of my ancestors. Even though I barely remember that much about Nigeria, I do joke about when I will "finally return to my birthland." Maybe it's this umbilical connection, that makes me slightly biased towards Nollywood when it comes to the Ghana-Naija movie saga. Truth be told, I barely paid Ghanaian movies enough mind when I was growing up. I was more likely to watch a Nigerian movie instead, and even then, I was picky. Ramsey Noah or Genevive Nnaji had to be part of the cast. Why this bias towards Naija movies? It's simple really; their acting was generally better. These days, I'm more willing to watch anything Ghana-related. For one thing, the surges of homesi

World Water Day: Water - Ghana's "Forgotten Oil"

NB: This post is part of a GhanaBlogging event to commemorate World Water Day (March 22)  -- The word floating around in Ghanaian circles these days is oil. Since 'the great find' the hopes of numerous Ghanaians have been buoyed and politicians are having quite the field day using the 'expected oil revenues' as bargaining chips for one thing or the other. I don't share in that optimism, hence my delay in writing about Ghana's "oil miracle". Instead, I'm focused on another precious resource, one that has unfortunately become more of a commodity than a right. Water. Science tells us that water and oil don't mesh together. They just don't. But if what the analysts are saying is correct, the two might have more in common than we think. At the rate things are going, water is becoming increasingly scarce. So much to the point where it's expected that water could be the next oil : a precious element in the hands of few. Unless Ghana realign