Back in Dar

Once I got off the plane in Istanbul I was really tired and it seemed that the first flight was delayed since I only had 20 minutes till my boarding to Dar began. As a first time at Istanbul airport I was amazed. It was crazy. I checked for my gate, which was 502 and I was standing there somewhere around gate 200 maybe and just decided to walk really fast since 300 gates seemed quite a long way to go.

I managed to make it to my flight and was lucky since there were only a few of us, so I got a whole row to myself, which meant that I could for once sleep on the plane, so when the plane landed in Dar I was well slept and had the energy to wait in line for my visa. Something I have to mention however is how much stupid people piss me off. I mean, you know when they always say “please remain seated until the aircraft has come to a full stop”… right? Well, NO ONE did. The seatbelt light didn’t even go off and we were still at the middle of the airport waiting for a green light when people started standing up and gathering their bags. So in a short while the plane started moving again and they actually had to call “please return to your seats, the plane has not come to a full stop yet.” I hope they felt even a little bit embarrassed realizing it was just a red light. HAH! And to top it all it happened on the second flight as well (except only one guy got up and he really did get embarrassed). I just don’t get it. What is the rush? The doors won’t open immediately, so why are you all in such a hurry to get up and stand in a row for a few minutes? And what is the hurry to get out? You want to rush so you can wait for your bags a little longer? Cause really, the bags won’t be faster then you, I promise.

Otherwise the flight was nice. I felt the nice humid air of Tanzania as I stepped outside and saw a familiar face: my friends fiancé was there to pick me up.  The first day I hurried to the store to get the essentials, because there were no fruits in the house and I wanted to get the oatmeal me and my mom used to eat. Of course going to Shoppers (a supermarket) brought back many memories and I had to buy a couple of tasty samosas for lunch as well. All the vegetables and fruits had to be bought elsewhere, from the street, cause they are cheaper and better there. I made a good fruit salad and had my first Safari beer in two years, which was fantastic. Rest of the day we just watched tv, made facials and talked about the wedding which was taking place the next day. Marina wasn’t suppose to leave the house before the wedding since she had hennas all over her legs and hands, which is the Indian way of preparing for a wedding or celebration.  We actually got a little too excited and Marina decided to practice by decorating my hands and legs with henna too. Well it looked nothing like the ones she had on her hands, but it was fun and I respect the effort. She ended up making a really pretty flower on my right foot actually, so yaaaay.

Marinas home made crisps! <3

Since my friend Marina is a muslim now, we couldn’t have a proper bachelorette party, so our way of celebrating her last night as a “single” woman was to get pizza and watch a great movie. So that’s what we did….