July 2010 i decided to go and see my hometown Hargeisa, which is the capitol of Somaliland,,, i have never been there and i had no clue what to expect, so i did my research, what would be the perfect airlines, what documents is required, i wanted to go there prepared.
The thing i never thought of was that no matter how prepared u are, u will always get surprises and surprised i was.
My problems started before i even left Jeddah, my flight got canceled 3 times, and on the 3rd time i swore that i wouldn't be leaving and just cancel the whole thing.
On the day of departure the agency had informed me to be at the airport at 10:30 pm which was weird when the take off was at 2:30 am, when i asked why, he said that it would be crowded at the check point and the gates will be closing at 12 Am. So i was at the airport at the time i was told, and to my lovely surprise there were no agents, in fact i was the third passenger there.
They started taking the luggages at 12:am, so far so good, i went inside the passenger area waiting to be called to board the plane, but then 2 hours passed and still no call, i looked at the board and it said that the flight to Hargeisa was on time. i was puzzled so i got up to ask the agent, he looked at me and said '' The flight is at 4:00 am '', i thought maybe he was pulling my leg, so i asked him again '' Are you sure ? '' He laughed, shook his head, and told me to go and wait at the cafe, because Jubba airlines are not accurate when it comes to their flight schedule.
Its a good thing that i sat close by the gate, or i would have definitely missed my flight, because all of a sudden i saw all the Somalis gathering calling their kids to get their pack bags and to stand in line.
Now for you who don't know Jeddah airport, we got buses that take us to the plane, so now am in the bus, so excited that am finally going to see this country of mine, that i only heard stories about. Once the bus reached the plane, everyone started rushing to the door even before it had opened, i was shocked looking at them, thinking to myself when will my people act civilized, because whether they ran to the plane or not, everyone was going to be seated according to their boarding pass seat number, little did i know that the joke was on me, because as i waited comfortably in my seat at the bus, the rest of the passengers were rushing to secure a good seat.
Where i in my whole glory was the last to reach the plane, thats when i knew i was doomed, because the minute i reached the door, i saw this flight attendant, and when i asked him for my seat, he looked at me, laughed and said '' sit where ever you like '' .
As i looked around i saw that the only available seat was the one next to the bathroom, which smelled. I sat there looking around me swearing at the agency and their fake website, claiming that it was the best of the best.
That was not the end of my nightmare, there was no safety instructions like the ones you get when you are in a real airplane, it was only this one flight attendant and a Russian Pilot who was wearing a stripped t-shirt with a pair of jeans, when the plane started to take off, everything around me shook, and i swore i thought i was going to die, started saying my prayers, crying that this would be the last time i ever see my loved ones.
After an hour of flying we landed in Aden so that the plane could fill its tank. Then we continued with our journey, when it was time for the food, i was expecting to be served a decent meal, oh to my genuine surprise i saw the flight attendant carrying a box of water bottles, and started to pass them around with mixed fruit juice, and one of those croissants that come in a pack thats sold in local stores.
I wanted to reach my destiny, because the suspense was killing me, not knowing if this plane would crash. Thank God it was only a 4 hour flight, and till today i don't know how i made through it.
On my way back, I have learned my lesson, meaning i was the first at the gate, no way i was going to be seated next to a smelly bathroom, funny thing is even though everything was fine, there had to be a twist to make this trip so memorable.
45 minutes after taking off, the plane landed in Djibouti, i double checked my ticket, and no where was it written that we were going to land there. It turns out they don't tell you that when heading back to Jeddah, you literally stay in Djibouti for 8 hours, and that was not all, i wasn't prepared for this other nightmare, i had not eaten anything thinking i would be with my family during lunch time, little did i know that i would be starving and waiting in a weird airport for 8 hours.
When they decided to let us know that it was time for us to be on the plane, i was too tired to care where i sat, i just wanted to be with my mom. The plane took off and landed again because of technical problems, so we had to wait for another 2 hours, and then we were on our way.
I reached Jeddah safe and sound, and seeing my mom at the airport waiting for me, made me forget this whole experience.
Till my next post on another flight ,,,
Ni
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