#136 Quest for Connectivity at Jeddah
Saturday, December 09
Last weekend, I was on my way back home, mentally bracing myself for a whopping 24-hour travel. The journey kicked off with a 15-hour flight from Los Angeles to Jeddah. But little did I know, the real fatigue wasn’t the travel so far, it was lurking around the corner.
During my 3-hour layover in Jeddah before hopping on the next flight to New Delhi, I discovered a major letdown – no open wifi! Can you imagine being stranded in a foreign airport for 3 hours without internet? It's like being left in the wilderness without a map. Sleeping? Not in my playbook. So, there I was, wandering the airport at 1 am in search of internet connectivity. Much to my surprise, I found myself surrounded by a lot of Hindi chatter. Turns out, the majority of folks at the airport were from India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh, fresh from their Hajj pilgrimage.
As I wandered around the airport, trying to figure out how to get online, I stumbled upon a little coffee spot. Guess what? It's run by an Indian (you can spot your people in a foreign airport just by looking at them). I sat close by, doing the usual thing we humans do – finding comfort in being around our own kind. Suddenly, this lady comes up with the classic, "coffee kitne ki hai?" The guy behind the counter throws prices like it's a math test – 12 riyals for medium, 16 riyals for large. No small coffee, not even an option. The lady, after staring hard at the cups, does some thinking and confidently says, "Two medium coffees, please."
While the coffee's brewing, the guy asks if she's from India.
“Aap India se ho? Kahan se India mein?”
“Laxmi Nagar. Delhi”
“Arre waah. Mai Ludhiana se hun, har 2 mahine mein jaata rehta hun, yahan work permit par kaam karta hun.”
After a few more exchanges, out of the blue, she says, "Phir kyaa de rahe ho coffee ke saath khan ke liye free mein? ab toh hum padosi hain!". Free food! He gave her two cookies, to be exact.
This was my lightbulb moment: If I copy the game plan – buy one small coffee, chat a bit – maybe I can get something free too. For me, it's the airport wifi password I'm after. Operation: coffee for internet, plus a side of friendly talk.
So, here's the next part of the adventure. I'm all geared up to buy my coffee, but there's a tiny glitch—I only have dollars. Off I go to the airport exchange, swap 5 dollars, and voila, I get 16 riyals. Ready to caffeinate my blood. I came back to the coffee shop, order my medium-sized coffee, but this time, the guy doesn't ask where I'm from. Okay. No worries, I got this. I break the ice in Hindi, "Yahan sab Indian hi kaam karte hain kya?" (Translation: Do only Indians work here?) The guy chuckles and replies, "Nahi nahi, sab Tarah ke log hain!" (Translation: No no, people of all kinds work here!) Now, it's chit-chat time. I throw in a casual, "Aur life kaisi hai yahan? Kaisa hai sab kuch India ke comparison mein?". He shares some funny incidents about the airport, about differences in life, we laugh a bit, and then I drop the bomb: "Internet kaise milega yahan?"
There I am, all hopeful for my free internet miracle, but then reality hits. The guy, with a serious face, drops the bomb: "No internet for people." It's like the universe decided to play a prank on me. My dreams of smoothly sailing through the web crumbled away. It's like those card houses we used to build as kids – one big puff, and it's gone. I try to look disappointed, but honestly, I'm probably staring into space like I'm about to solve the world's biggest puzzle.
Tough luck for me. I couldn't find internet and my hopes of staying updated with whatever happened in the last 15 hours crashed. It was just me and my thoughts, pondering the mysteries of why some things just don't go your way. Oh well, maybe the next adventure will have a different plot twist.
See you next weekend, have a wonderful week ahead :)
Cheers!