Last time I told you about the first 12 hours of Jailbreak.
We had just gone to bed, when Yassar found us and told us that his boss had backed out and that he had postponed our flight to Dubai from 9 am to 2 pm to give us time to get a copy of Ian’s passport, credit card and a signed email confirming that he would indeed pay for our flight. That is what you usually have to provide if someone is paying for someone else’s flight. I tried to convince him that this was unnecessary, because his boss had already agreed to make an exception for us if we sign a contract in return saying that we are able to pay in case Ian doesn’t (which we did). But it was 1:30 in the morning and my brain as well as my German were not fully functioning, and I lost the argument. So the first thing we did in the morning was to send a mail to Ian trying to get him to send all of those things and apologising a hundred times for the inconveniences caused.
By 11 am we still hadn’t heard from him, which was probably due to the time difference and the fact that Ian had been to a pub with his friends the night before. I too wouldn’t get up before noon, if I were him. Our problem was that we had to pay the tickets before noon or otherwise we wouldn’t go to Dubai! At 11:30 am we were still without any answer and we had to make a decision: go to Dubai and hope that sober-Ian pays “again” or stay in Frankfurt and cry. We went back to the Last Minute counter where the most nerve-racking 30 minutes of my life happened. My heart was literally tingling and I thought I might have a heart attack. Not even joking here!
Fanny completely trusted Ian and said that he had already agreed to send the money to our bank account, so if we cancelled the first payment, he would certainly pay again. My counter argument was that he had already paid so that he might get suspicious if we asked for money a second time. Also, he had been drunk when he had offered us a trip to Dubai, therefore, things were very likely to be different this day. After a 10 minute discussion, Fanny said the crucial sentence: I am going to pay for the flight. YOLO!
For those of you who don’t know what YOLO means… it means: You only live once! That is something you should say when you do a bungee jump or eat as many scoops of ice cream as you can in an hour and see how many it takes for you to throw up. You do not say it to justify a day trip to Dubai for more 1800€. I repeat: You do not!
Well, Fanny did. And I agreed close to having a nervous breakdown: What if he does not pay? What next? A baking sale to get the money back? Good plan…
With the tickets in our hands, Fanny seemed to regret her decision, but I was cool as a cucumber. It’s too late to freak out anyway.
When we boarded a plane from Emirates Airline we were blown away! Our very own TV screen? With the latest movies? Had we accidentally booked business class? No… this is just an awesome airline!
Because I have a hard time sleeping on airplanes I watched movies the entire flight (6 hours and 10 minutes): Percy Jackson and the Sea of Monsters, The Avengers, Despicable Me 2, …. I absolutely agree with you: I definitely went for the intellectually stimulating movies!
When we arrived in Dubai it was around midnight, which meant 10 pm in Frankfurt and 9 pm in Cambridge: about time to send our final coordinates to the map!
After queuing for an hour to have our passports checked, we went straight for a counter to help us find a hotel (all the youth hostels had been booked), because let’s be honest here: after two days in the same clothes in airplanes, trains and airports without a shower, the only thing you crave for is… right: a flat screen TV and a hotel bar! 🙂
The friendly employees found us the least expensive yet for students expensive hotel including transfer from and to the airport. Our room was really big, we were allowed to smoke, and it included an arrow on the ceiling to help us find Mekka in case we felt like praying. Also, we had a flat screen TV! All we ever wanted! And a shower! But that was the least important thing. Seriously… who doesn’t want to smell like a pig? 😉
We washed our clothes, and most importantly ourselves, and went straight to bed.
Unfortunately, you will have to wait for the grande finale, as I am already tired and there is too much left to tell. I promise I will try to post it soon!
secretlifeofangi 