02-14-2008
Oh, let’s cry victory! At last I am in USA. I could fly to Washington without any problem. The plane, Air France again was just great. Maybe because the destination was Washington and so everything has to meet the standards of such a great place. Or maybe because it was just a long flight: eight hours and thirty five minutes.
We were served hot food, better than the one we got from Casablanca to Paris. We were given menus to choose from. I opted for fish and vegetables. They gave me that, I could see the vegetables but not the fish. There was also a salad of eggplants and tomatoes. I dare anyone to eat it. The desert was some semolina pudding with canned fruits; I ate it as it was cold and refreshing.
At about 7:30, Washington time, we arrived to USA capital city. The view from the plane was just great. Sakina described that as a precious stone glittering at night. Unfortunately I did not have the opportunity to see the city by day.
As soon as I got in the airport, I heard my name called. I passed the customs and inspection with no problem whatsoever, I just felt like any other American citizen. That was my gift after all the turmoil I went through. I went to see the man who was calling my name and BUM, another bad news: my luggage is no in Washington; it was left by mistake in Paris. I did not have any other clothes with me. Luckily I had my tooth brush and laptop with me. They said I would get it the following day.
When I got out of there I found a man waiting for me with the Fulbright word written on a big cardboard paper. He was to take me to the hotel. Once out of the airport I felt the urge to get back in for it was extremely freezing or maybe was it because I felt that I was leaving a place I started to feel like home. Didn’t I spend more than 20 hours just in airports?
The car that was to take me to the hotel was a black gorgeous Limousine. I had chocolate at the back and some drinks. I did not even think of taking anything. The driver was a Pakistani, a very nice guy who offered to call my family from his cell phone. Unfortunately, my husband’s phone was switched off. I liked driving from the Dulles international airport to Holiday Inn. I told Sujji, that was the name of the Pakistani driver that America seems a great country. He said that it was before 9-11.
We arrived to the hotel and as I was checking in Jennifer Nupp arrived. She was very nice and seemed very glad to have me in the program. Actually, she sent me a limousine on purpose to welcome me in a very distinguished manner: “the latest, the richest” she said. I was definitely the latest and the richest too judging from the number of hours I spent in airports and planes.
Jennifer invited me to dinner, but I felt I could not have a bite of anything. So we just sat at the lobby and she gave me a file of all the meeting they carried out at the orientation. She also explained some of the things contained in the documents. I could not meet my other colleagues as they were attending high school musical.
I went to my room 819. It was very nice, I do not know how many stars, but I do not think they care about the stars as much as about the quality of the services. In Morocco the stars are very important, just the stars . But stars can be out of mud sometimes.
I took a shower and started wearing my clothes, the same pants and sweater I had been wearing for three days. I do not remember if Gulliver had to keep the same clothes for quite a long period of time. Five minutes later I heard a knock at the door, it was Sakina, Khadija and the other fulbrighters; they were very happy to see me and all were glad I could at last join them. Well, I guess I can see the good part of all this now: I became a famous important woman. I was driven in a limousine, my colleagues used a plain van, they room mated and I had a room for my own, they went to different places for sightseeing and I relaxed in the airport, they went to the bank to cash their checks and I still have my check, they attended a musical and I had the privilege of choosing my movie in the plane.
With khadija and Sakina we stayed up until 12:00 pm talking about all the adventures we had been through. Later, we wished each other good night and a nice trip as we would not see each other for a while and as I had an early flight to Arizona.
(to be continued)