Part 4
Dubai International Airport. I’ve been several times over the years, and so have you. I’ve stayed for 1 hour, I’ve waited for 5. Once I missed my transit, but with a temp visa to leave, I saw pretty much all of Dubai in 12 hours. This time, no such saving grace.
15 hours, straight. No alternative arrangements, no making a plan. Straight up, 15 hours. Dawn till dusk, and then dawn again. A life cycle of a male fruit fly, the time it takes for bananas to overripen. I had to wait, but under no circumstances whatsoever, was I to miss the flight. There were flights to Dubai, but absolutely nothing from. This was it, the flight that would get me home.
I had to sleep, no man could stay sane for 24 hours eyes bloodshot, and then another 6. Especially not draped in layers of protective gear, and restricted breathing. I had to find a place to sleep, but before that, I had to eat.
And that would mean removing my mask.
I hadn’t eaten in 8 hours, and that also meant I hadn’t removed my mask for the same duration.
Dubai airport was desolate, but I was still on a knifes edge. The crown could be floating anywhere, ready to christen my being. I was not having it at all. No way, no how. Every precaution possible.
I had to be very clever about it. Concourse A and C were utterly shut, but B was still active.
This suggested that the fringes of the terminal would be emptier than the atriums, so I had to take a calculated decision, and settle in one wing, and bide my time. I was travelling, and I was hungry. I timed everything. Bathroom break, mask in a zip lock bag, Wudthu for salah, mask on again after being certain I’d scrubbed my hands and dried, combined both the midday and afternoon prayer, mask off again, and eat, being careful not to drink too much water, so I wouldn’t need the bathroom again.
Rinse and repeat again for the evening prayers and supper.
T-10 hours till take off.
I couldn’t keep this up. I had to do something about it. I couldn’t go 10 more hours without sleep and still be so wary.
Drastic times call for drastic measures.
I had to do something drastic.
So I did.
(final part coming very soon!)
Video montage of the trip:
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