Life is a Bitch - Season 2, Episode 3

(Continued from here)

I was really curious how I'll figure out if someone will be waiting for me or not because I didn’t know anyone from the hotel. I have seen in the movies that it is customary in such situations that the one who awaits has a sheet / placard / poster or something similar that reads the name of the one awaited. So after I got my luggage I set off with big determination towards the exit. There was a longggggggggg aisle I had to go along and at some point I began to wonder if that was indeed the way to the exit because it seemed endless. Positive, I was on the right track.


I was sure of that when I reached a large place where, behind some sort of a fence, there were lots and lots of people waiting for the passengers, that was obvious. So when I arrived there I started to look for sheets and posters. There were many. There were especially a lot of A4 size sheets with hotel names written on them but less with people’s names. My heart began to wander of excitement ... And there was my hotel, too! :) A big, hulking, half-bald Indian man, with a motionless, kind of sulky face (no wonder, considering the hour, he needed to wake up early morning, before dawn, to come to the airport), but gentle, was holding a sheet with the hotel name written on it.


I went straight to him and asked if I was the one he was awaiting (I told him my name, of course). Positive. Yu-piiiiiiiii! (I thought to myself :). So, everything went well! Thank God that at least they waited for me.

It would have not made much sense for them not to wait for me, true, but you never know, if they messed up the time or planes or terminals (Dubai airport has about 3 huge terminals, each one with its own huge entrance, parking, etc.) it would have been enough for us not to find each other and then what would I have done? No idea, I guess I would have found a solution, but there was no need for this any more. :)


We went to the car. It was not too good looking. In fact, it was not good looking at all. I was going to a 4-star hotel or what? Well, considering how tired I was, I did not really feel like getting too grumpy.

I asked him if the accommodation was far away, he said No and did I have my passport handy? Hmmmm, yes, I had it, but why? Give me! What? Give me your passport. I gave it to him without much thinking, at that time I only wanted a bed to throw myself in, at the end of the day, what could he do with it, he would not have eaten it, for sure. I would have recovered it later, the next day after I would have woken up and gone to the hotel, and clarified the problem, if there was one.


We arrived. It was not far, indeed, either from the airport or from the hotel, which, at its turn, was near the airport (I had looked on the internet to see where I was going to work), which was in the old part of the city, the so called Deira.


Judging by the surroundings, I was indeed in the old city, literally, that was a kind of a district with low, one or two floor houses, a hundred years old, or so they seemed. Whatever.


Now what can I say, in my naive ignorance I had thought that the Romanians only are jerks, now I learned that the Indians were very much alike, too. At least the one who waited for me at the airport, I do not want to generalize because it's actually not the case, I realized this some time later. He didn’t move one finger to help me with the luggage. None. And he was a very big man.


Anyways, I didn’t say anything, he lead me to the room where I was going to live, while I was dragging my two heavy bags up the stairs. Fortunately, I didn’t drag them for too long for a white girl was coming down the stairs, probably a European, probably an angel sent by God, who must had spoken to the “polite” Indian driver who told her about me. And she only came to help me. She took my biggest, heaviest bag and bravely set off up to the second floor, the last one, although she was not chubbier or stronger than me.


She said to me, in a very strong Bulgarian-English, your room is not here, is one floor down, but now you stay here till you get back to your senses, I’ll make you a tea or coffee ... Thanks a lot, but I would like to go to sleep. I know, but it seems your bed is not ready yet, they did not know you were coming and did not get your bed ready for you ... (?!?!?!?) Well, so then how they waited for me at the airport if they did not know I was coming ?!?!?!? Yes, I know, but that’s the way it goes here, you’ll get used to it... Really? Will I get used to it? Will I?!?!?!?


I was completely down, in all respects, but determined that the next day to go to the hotel and make a huge scandal. Given this, I started a relaxing and interesting conversation with Galina :).

Signed: Vali

(To be continued)