I sit glued to the monitor with flight details. It's the only way I will know where and when to board. I am the only Westerner. Once upon a time there was a boy named Isaac, and then there was his brother Ishmael. Two very different boys...
My final destination is high in the mountains and the temperature is 18◦. I arrived in the early hours of the morning, a small rural airport. No-one to meet me. It’s the start of Eid and everything comes to a grinding halt. Feel a bit tearful and lost. Then calmly decide to go outside and wait till I'm found again. Sit for over an hour reading my book – Infidel. It really is the name of the book. I keep the title covered with my hand so people won’t notice. I am surprisingly relaxed. "Are you Miss Erika?" Zachary, the Indian driver/meet-and-greet/PR/HR has finally arrived. I want to kiss him. Pure relief. Before I get in, I at least ask him: And who are you? Have a brief vision of getting abducted and disappearing off the face of the earth. He apologises for having gone to mosque first. (A muslim with a name straight from the Bible!)
My little villa is beautiful. It is a blessing and a comfort. It is in a western compound and most people living here are doctors, nurses or teachers and come from commonwealth countries. It is 100% better than my last place of residence. Spacious, fully furnished, and my predecessor left me loads of extras to make life easier, including TV and microwave. The nominal fee I paid her, won’t begin to cover it! I have a little garden and the Indian gatekeeper comes and tends to it – also for a nominal fee. It feels so colonial! Don't know if that's good or bad. There’s a small courtyard at the back with a vine and a bougainvilla. Cats abound. Reminds me a bit of Greece. I don’t pay much attention to them, but it’s comforting having them around.
I'm exhausted and relieved to have survived day one.
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