Dhaka to New York

It was my first aeroplane journey. So far, I had travelled solo only once, a one day round trip to Sylhet, culminating in my fateful meeting with three muggers. I was sad to leave my motherland for an extended stretch of time. I was anxious about how my parents will handle leaving without me. I was (and still am) mostly concerned about what kind of job I'll get in USA. All these thoughts registered little on my mind of my impending flight.

As scheduled earlier, I reached ZIA by 6pm and was way early for my flight. Rana uncle had already managed an acquainted official to handle my boarding passes. Though I was told I'd receive two boarding passes (Dhaka to Dubai and Dubai to New York), I only got the imminent one due to some security issues. Dad filled out forms for me and I passed immigration without much hassle. The next hurdle for me was the customs check before boarding. Thankfully, Rana uncle crossed security borders and managed another helpful acquaintance of his to look after my customs process. I was sitting at the terminal waiting for the plane to arrive, marvelling at the gigantic Gulf-Air plane that was boarding at that time. A couple of phone calls from Mom, Dad, Abir, Lablu and Nijhu kept me occupied to pass the time. I duly boarded in the Emirates flight at 8:25pm and bade my family goodbye via phone.

I got an aisle seat on the right hand side of the middle column, near the back of the plane. My co-passengers were mostly Bangladeshi workers in Dubai. I noticed with surprise that most of them were hardly bothered by the instructions to fasten/unfasten their seat belts at proper time. Thankfully though, they showed me the where the remote control of the TV was. Previously I had heard lots of praises about the beautiful Emirates air-hostesses and I should mention that none of those were exaggerating. After everything was set and done, the plane seemed to taxi at a very slow pace. Later I came to realize that it must have taken a long winding route to reach the main runway from the terminal (guessing ZIA is not a spacious airport). Afterwards, I felt a sudden mild thrust which I would like to compare with a nitro boost in a racing car. As previously advised, I plugged my ears with my fingers during the takeoff to prevent the buzzing noise and the plane gracefully left the soil of Dhaka.

After the plane was air-borne, there wasn't much to do. At around 9:30pm, we were offered dinner. I was greatly satiated by the servings. Later, I managed to catch some sleep as I always do in a moving vehicle. At around 12:45am, I woke up and waited for the plane to land.

Much to my dismay, the plane landed 10 minutes late. We had to get down from the plane and board on the shuttle to reach the terminal building. I was mostly tensed if I'd be able to collect my tickets, check-in customs and be able to board on my next flight in so little time. I boarded the shuttle to leave the plane in a hurry. Just before entering the shuttle I had a small taste of the heat of middle-eastern climate. The shuttle was void of any seats. Though I was tensed, I could not stop marvelling the enormous size and vanity of Dubai Airport. The huge multi-storied terminal building waiting in front of me with its mazes.

I got down from the shuttle in a hurry and then rushed to find the appropriate counter. To my relief, I had only two persons in front of me in queue. The total time to collect the boarding pass took less than 7 minutes. I started for my terminal and then to my dismay, had to stand behind around 150 people to get past the security checking. They made me take-off my shoes, belts and glasses - any metal object I was carrying in my body. After getting past the security, I started running to my destination with my shoes unlaced and my unbuckled belt in my coat pocket.

What followed could only be compared to the journey through Crystal Maze - my favorite reality show from my teens. I went through numerous tunnels, descended three stories and then ascended two more to find my terminal gate. The queue contained 20 or so people in front of me but I was relieved thinking that at least now they won't leave us behind. After a while I was let through, got down further through a lift and boarded the flight to New York.

This time, I had the leftmost seat in the middle column, again at the back side of the plane. My co-passenger was a Bengali from Kolkata and there was an Indian girl across the aisle. I couldn't find any place to stash my carry-on and a cute east-asian air hostess helped me (For some reason I always find Asians more attractive, but that's another story). They waited 15 minutes more for all transit passengers to board and then started to take-off.

This flight's take-off was much smoother, even with a shorted run-up. I went to sleep after a while and was awaken after some hours for another full course meal. The food in this flight was better and was abundant in variety. Though I was tempted, I didn't taste any liqour thinking Rosie Fuppi and Fuppa (aunt and uncle) would be able to smell it. After meal, I shifted between sleeping, and watching movies (12 Rounds and partially Watchmen and 7 Pounds) in the flight.

I was awake with the glimpse of sunlight while the plane was over France and then followed my largest spell of dawn so far. I went to the restroom once to brush and take a leak, but as habituated, couldn't do anyting else.

Just an hour before reaching New York, we were served breakfast and then appropriate forms to pass the immigration. A couple of minutes before landing I got the glimpse of the shores of New York and experienced another smooth landing. I rushed to get ready to get down but had to wait a while before the long queue in front of me got down.

May be it was morning, or may be it is true, but JFK didn't impress me as much as Dubai. I came out of the tunnel and starting jogging through to reach the immigration. It helped eventually, along with the fact that an officer spotted a couple of Bangladeshis like me with Diversity Visa papers in hand and took us to a specific counter without any others. I went past the immigration officer in less than 10 minutes in total, got my luggage clearance signed without any hassle, and then spotted a lady who was in my flight from Dhaka to Dubai. I saw her taking her bags off from the luggage rail and received my two bags after a while. I was surprised to find my luggage unaltered and also at the $5 price to rent a trolly. I decided to drag both of my bags on their wheels, followed the directions, got out of the main building and saw Sarah, Fuppi and Fuppa waiting with a warm smile. My journey was over.