Apprehensive

Travel days are just different. Turning in bed sets the mood for the rest of the restless day. You have no option but to get up and face the music. Your stomach turns. Your mind is racing because you don't wanna hit yourself later for fucking up that one tiny detail that will trigger a parade of serial fuck-ups. You'd better get it right, mister!

So you pack your bags with two years of your life, praying to heaven that some clerk at a counter will not put any further hurdles between you and the airplane. But you know very well how it's gonna go. "Sir, you're way over-weight." You think, "I only ate a bagel this morning." "That's gonna be $100 per suitcase."

You should be ready for that, but good luck maneuvering a carry-on full of books, weighing at least 45 pounds. Let's practice... You'll lift it as though it were a feather pillow. Immerse it deep, deep into the darkness of the over-head compartment, so that no one drags you out and forces you to ship it cargo. Breathe. Put a shining smile on your face, and go on reading the bargain book you bought at Barnes and Nobel. Give that air of sophistication, until the drool of your inevitable cross-Atlantic sleep gives you away.

Wake up to that stupid transit terminal, where the layered vocals of all your hommies yelling at their brats will mark your gate with shame. Possible banging of some aluminum pots may occur. It will bring you a few hours ahead of time to the bitter reality of being home all too soon. Tafeeda and Ferial are probable names to prepare yourself for; don't expect any lookers here. The agent boarding this flight will NOT be happy.

This plane, heading from Zurich to Cairo, will suffer. Mischievous hands will tamper with the AC, lights and oxygen masks, and window shutters will be snapped shut, even though the sun is pretty welcoming outside. Devote a special prayer that no one will take their shoes off. And bear with me while we survive the landing applause.

You're home. Now you can really breathe.
Cross that out.
Don't inhale too much. You're back in Cairo.