Strangers on a Plane

Seat arrangements on airplanes are a lot like playing the lottery. On the way to Amsterdam I’m going to say… I lost.

I flew eight hours on the inside of the most annoying mother son duo I have ever encountered. This guy was in his mid-twenties and a hard-core momma’s boy. They spoke at insanely loud levels for the ENTIRE flight. They also spoke in some language that was completely foreign to me. There was lots of odd rolley R’s and some clicking. I think they were from the continent of Asia. Or Eastern Europe. Anyways, not only did they talk the entire time, but they also gesticulated quite a bit. And every so often the son would start tickling his mom or they would start like holding each other. I also forgot to mention that this guy made about four people rearrange their seats so he could sit with his beloved mother. There was this sweet older man on the other side of the aisle who sympathetically smiled at me and nonchalantly glared at them for being so loud, so at least I found a human connection.

On my way to Egypt from Amsterdam I got a little bit luckier. I was sitting next to this seemingly ordinary older couple and the husband made polite conversation with me. He was trying to guess my origins (a game played quite often) and then I found out that he had been in the US for the last few years because he took up political asylum from Sudan! He had a fascinating story and really interesting insight on the situation in Sudan currently. He left when the fighting was particularly bad between the Northern and Southern parts of Sudan and his wife is actually from the South while he hails from the North. He said the situation there is “very good” now and that is why he was returning. He was pretty reluctant to talk about Darfur, but had some interesting opinions on tribal fighting. He recommended that I check out Sudan when I had a layover there… hmm we’ll see.