The Flight

Now that the opportunity was given, the next phase would be the Flight into the foreign country; a land unknown to my mind, pictured from the photos of some Facebook friends living there and a totally new kind of society that I would be into for about four weeks.

The anticipation starts right from the airport while you are being subjected to several rounds of security screening and baggage check. Going by the advices from a cousin who was working at the airport (thankfully to alleviate much of my curiosity on how to board in a International flight) I had packed the baggage which was to be 'Checked-In' to be not more than 23kgs and one laptop bag to 'Carry-On'. The bags which were just a means to carry my stuff while traveling to and from home in Chennai suddenly got classified into two types - one 'Check-In' and the other was a 'Carry-On'. I was told to carry my personal care items in the 'Carry-On' bag along with my laptop (just in case I was bored at the airport, which eventually I was). And then came the strange customs which I was not aware of since then, at all the security check points where your bag needs to be screened; the laptop would have to be taken off it and placed in another box along with all the items in your pocket. Luckily for me there was a friend again who worked at the airport to accompany me and quickly guide me over the security check procedures.

After all the ordeal of the security barrier, I was a free man now waiting in the lounge near the gate for my flight to Dubai from where I would be taking the longer flight to the US. Luckily I had the chance to travel in one of the Finest airlines in the world - Emirates; and it has remained my favorite airline till date. The only odd thing you experience in a Emirates flight (or in most Middle East airlines I guess) is that the announcements are made in Arabic before English :) it sounded funny to me when I heard it first, only to realize that I would be spending more than 7hours at Dubai airport waiting for the next flight hearing the Arabic announcements!

The take off, which I believe for most of you traveling first time would be a scary part with the initial twists and turns giving you a feel that the plane is going to crash any moment :) . Most people on the plane were just relaxing and listening to some songs while I would peep out of the window every now and then to make sure we were safe (guess everyone else were pretty much used to what seemed totally new to me). Then came the interesting part - Food! Many of my friends gave me the speculation that the food served on flights were from 5-star cuisine and were very delicious. I could not wait to lay my hands (like any normal Indian I too thought hands, only to realize later that you had to use fork, knife and spoon) on the meal. I had opted for the Biriyani (a very popular dish in South India) and thanks to Emirates which gave the option to choose between the types of meals. While I was expecting a typical plate of Biriyani, there came another surprise! There was this tray with Biriyani being the main dish and a lot of other sides served along with it. The one thing I found the most strange was a piece of Bun which came along with the meal, I felt it strange all the way through even on my return.

All the time getting used to home-made food and eating them with bare hands without caring about anybody else, suddenly the 'Dining-on-the-plane' experience was a total stranger to me. In the middle of my meal I would carefully watch the fellow passengers treating their meal and slowly learned to catch up with the new setting. The flight to Dubai was not long and we got there pretty soon when compared to the total length of my travel which was close to 36hrs (Yes, you read that correct! I had almost 17hours of Layover). Making my way into the Terminal 3 of Dubai airport I was overwhelmed with the kind of facilities they had at the airport and the amount of people rushing about in every possible direction. I understood one thing - this was one busy airport and I had to spend another 7hours there which is called the 'Layover' (I basically had to Lay at the benches there to get some sleep :) ).

Strolling around at the huge terminal and exploring the Duty-Free shops did kill some time, but eventually I did get bored and had to watch a movie in my laptop; and since the layover was during the night and the next flight was only early in the morning. At the lounge one could easily get a specimen of the world, you could easily spot people from almost all over the world - some hurrying, some walking leisurely, some group travelers (with the same dress code and similar tags on them), some busy businessmen and of course the airport personnel.

As the morning dawned, I was noticeably tired but the excitement of the next flight; which would be the one taking me to the USA. The boarding gates opened up at about 6am and I had to rush through my daily routine to be in time for the boarding. Reaching the gates well ahead of time, I descended down the stairs to the boarding lounge with the Huge Boeing A380 flight overlooking the waiting area; the first sight of the huge aircraft made me all the more excited to be traveling on such a wonderful piece of human engineering. Walking towards the seat on this huge airplane was an experience in itself as I was spellbound seeing the amount of people it could hold. With the same energy I settled down on my seat and enjoyed the breathtaking view of Dubai as this gigantic metal bird soared effortlessly towards its altitude of 40,000feet.

Once again as was typical of Emirates airlines, I was treated to a wonderful hospitality and food relished by my taste buds. There were enough of regional movies to watch and spend the long 16hour duration; but each time I started to watch a movie, sleep would overcome me and lure me into short naps although in the rather crammed legroom space of the huge jet. I now always think as to why they are not so generous about legroom on these long distance non-stop international flights, as all the regional US airlines leave you with adequate breathing space for the legs. As the journey approached the United States people seemed to be more relaxed with a fresh energy flowing through most of them, some of them were obviously tired of the lengthy travel(like me). 

At last the hours of sitting in one place trying to watch movies, taking short walks in between (this was told by well wishers to avoid bodily cramps), watching the flight tracking map progress, getting used to the altitude and motion of the flight - finally the destination was here! The doors to the United States of America were now a few moments away.