Skip to main content

The Melting Pot

"Alles wird perfekt"

I didn't expect the start of my trip to immediately give me the opportunity to check off things from my bucket list. As I entered Frankfurt airport the day after the Brussels attack, a TV reporter accosted me and asked me some questions about how I felt about flying that day. Of course being Indian and finding direct refusal awkward and a situation best avoided, I went along with the "interview". In German, unfortunately, Im not sure Im able to convincingly expound on my feelings on current affairs and world politics. Yet. I really didn't want to relive the embarrassment, so no, I don't know what channel it was on. But at least I was on TV. 

The flight being overbooked presented an opportunity to me make up some of the expenses for the trip, by agreeing to be rerouted the next day via Hamburg. It gave me the chance to spend a night alone in a 5 star (another check), and explore a little bit of this beautiful city! Alster under the full moon really makes up for the fact that United Airlines sucks balls compared to my original airline Lufthansa. 

I always wondered in the Mensa, why the bolognaise of spaghetti bolognaise always sits at the bottom of the plate, however much you mix it. This remains my question after the 18 bucks bolognaise I had at the 5 star. I didn't want this to be the case, but the Mensa one really is better. 

0323

"Alle Jläser huh"

Taking an early morning flight presents its own unique challenges. But I ignored my watch and asked for a wine anyway. Don't judge, I'm on holiday, and if its okay to drink before 11 am on Karneval, then why not now? It definitely helped me survive the long flight that had no TV screens. 

Newark Liberty International was quite underwhelming. I was feeling adventurous so I took the train, only to regret it when I realized I didn't know if I had to get off at Newark Penn Station or New York Penn Station. Why would you do that to your visitors, America? Couldn't you come up with any other name? 

I did manage in the end though, to find my cousin's apartment. Arriving in NYC feels like being in the movies. The police officers you are so used to seeing heroicly smashing down doors and chasing dangerous criminals. Just that the cops I saw were standing around looking bored so its not really an exciting movie. 

 We went to a good ole American sports bar that evening - also a good way to keep the flight - wine high going. Its really different from watching a game in Germland. But the beer was just as good, as was the Hamburg-er. 

 I added and checked off something new on my bucket list that night - break a law in NYC. Luckily none of the movie cops were around to see me, only the live ones who didn't notice me and my friend drunkenly squash into a turnstile together to avoid buying me a ticket.

0324

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

From a Caterpillar to a Butterfly

I read a grandma’s blog today- that’s right- a grandma’s BLOG! It all started with a project at work- I needed some information, and google only gave me a 1 line definition. Then I came across this blog by “Ugich Konitari”. Even through an impersonal portal like a blog- a Grandma’s serenity came through. Her wealth of knowledge wasn’t sitting locked up at home. It was a lovely post, with pictures and all. She had 179 followers! That’s 35 times that follow my blog!! But after reading it, I started envying the grandkid that, in my head, helped her create it. In retrospect, it’s possible that she that even made it herself. Either way, it made me miss my Grandma. She passed away a couple of years ago. When I was 10, she was diagnosed with cancer. She was already 80 then, and the doctors gave her about 2 years more. I think I was lucky to have overheard this shocking news. Then on, I was so afraid of losing her, that I cherished every moment I had with her. Every year my family spent...
5 comments
Read more

Behind the Sightscreen (Part 2)

It was my greatest fear that the stadium lights would go out – plunging the ground into darkness and basically broadcasting this (power) failure to the entire world. I can now safely say that this did not happen. Unfortunately, everything else did. Among the many bombs that had been casually tossed around the South-East basement offices, the first that exploded was the one where a last minute ‘request’ was made to provide baggage handlers to carry the players’ luggage. Seeing the stretch on manpower, my tomboyish, feminist colleague immediately offered to lend a hand. I, failing to come up with a quick excuse, found myself accompanying her in stumbling around under the weight of the heavy kit bags – the sizes of which were comparable only to the size of the heads of their owners. Now I am not one to shy away from attention, but the sudden deluge of comments and flashes from cameras disconcerted even me. I looked out from under the bag to see shocked faces all around me. Some of th...
6 comments
Read more

Shades of the Village

Venue Specific Training- 1st September was the first time I stepped into the huge, dusty, confusing mess that was to be the Commonwealth Games Village. It was love at first site, (pun intended) I knew I could overlook the very apparent shortcomings and ignore the problems caused by missed deadlines as long as I was part of this venue- that would be completely transformed in the coming month. Eventually I even spent a night at the village. Sent there to test the residential facilities, I ended up spending the night playing football, making a new friend and avoiding a strange man. It was beautiful at night, calm, serene and yet full of activity. The metro ran up and down and as the night wore on eventually it stopped. Dust settled down and room lights flickered out. It was quiet as death, but not at all scary. It was blue. I was in charge of the countdown on the white-board in my department. And when it came to 4 days to go- I was literally jumping about in excitement. In just 4 days th...
4 comments
Read more