If stepping off the plane on to the tarmac in Almaty, Kazakhstan wasn't strange enough with the militaristic guards all over the place and an entourage of vehicles waiting at the base of the stairs, the brief but ever-so embarassing interaction with the lovely airline transfer agent, Laura, made the 5 hour layover memorable enough. Stepping up to the transfer agent in order to be approved to enter the international terminal, I kindly greeted the lovely Laura with a smile and "Hello" and the rest of the dialogue went like this:
Laura: "Dehli?" (indiscernible to me)
Daniel: "Huh?" (so absolutely confused what she just said)
Laura: "Dehli?" (indiscernible...still)
Daniel: "Daniel?" (was she just saying my name?)
Laura: (laughs) "Dehli?" (gah I am an idiot...did I not get it right?)
Daniel: "OH! Day! Yes, today." (crickets.......)
Laura: "Luggage?" (are you serious? not again...)
Daniel: "Lunch?" (please tell me I am right this time...fingers crossed)
Laura: (begins to laugh out loud and puts her head and hands to the desk and just looks up and smiles) "Luggage?"
Daniel: "OH! Luggage! Ha! Oh I am so sorry. No. I don't have any luggage." (I really am losing it aren't I)
Laura: (laughs) "Here's your ticket. Just wait over there until we call you."
...15 minutes later they call the passengers for Dehli. I had still not understood that she had been saying Dehli until she and the security guard look at our tickets and say that we are going to Bangkok; as we defeatedly begin to walk away they must have deemed this embarassment enough for us as they let us enter the international terminal.
So as the journey continues, and now in Thailand, there are sure to be so many more moments of complete and utter confusion, but I guess that is part of makes all of this worth it yeah?
Put yourself in my shoes for a minute: Daniel Koza's collection of thoughts and stories from adventures both domestic and abroad
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