Ten Rupees in the non-smoking International Arrival Waiting Area will get you a smoke in the ladies bathroom. I do not smoke but a new found friend does and she used her change to meet her need. Ten Rupees is not much with the exchange rate soaring around 60 rupees for a dollar. 50 is a safe bet but the exchange rate has been climbing of late.
My new friend is the mistress of a current world record holder in weight lifting from India. She is an Indian who is now from Spain who is a Muslim dating a Hindu who can't marry her yet because his divorce papers have not gone through. They were returning from Italy via Russia. There is a lot more to all that I learned in a whirlwind of words in the wee hours of Wednesday morning while I waited for my domestic flight.
This Chain Smoker Siren talked and talked and talked. My head, which was attached to my body by a thin thread of a cup of coffee and two pain killers, could not keep up with conversation. I just sat there in half curled in a sticky plastic chair gazing listlessly at my new friend as she punctuated the air with her beautifully manicured fingernails and jammed her phone into my ear to hear the marching band celebrating her man's new record in his parent's colony at three in the morning. As this band was marching through some undisclosed address in Delhi she was languishing in the waiting area and guarding the luggage while talking to me. It was a one sided conversation spoken from a standing position at me as I sunk lower and lower in my chair.
I was totally at a loss. I listened. I prayed. I don't think I shared any hope coherently . I could barely get a word in edgewise. Seriously. I had to sit for eight hours waiting for my next flight in a neon lit square room with languages swirling around me with the backdrop smell of people and myself how hard would it be to miss my flight. Sleep deprived panic started to grow in my heart that I might miss my flight if I did not nip the story in the bud. It felt rude but I had to do it. I gathered myself up for flight and as I started to make my departure she held up a finger commanding me effectively to not even try to talk but to continue listening. I was under the spell. I was like a deer in the headlights who is going to get hit!!
Her need for a smoke is what saved me. I did not offer to watch her luggage and escaped when her cigarette desire out weighed her need for my ears. There is a lot of hurt out there. A lot.
My new friend is the mistress of a current world record holder in weight lifting from India. She is an Indian who is now from Spain who is a Muslim dating a Hindu who can't marry her yet because his divorce papers have not gone through. They were returning from Italy via Russia. There is a lot more to all that I learned in a whirlwind of words in the wee hours of Wednesday morning while I waited for my domestic flight.
This Chain Smoker Siren talked and talked and talked. My head, which was attached to my body by a thin thread of a cup of coffee and two pain killers, could not keep up with conversation. I just sat there in half curled in a sticky plastic chair gazing listlessly at my new friend as she punctuated the air with her beautifully manicured fingernails and jammed her phone into my ear to hear the marching band celebrating her man's new record in his parent's colony at three in the morning. As this band was marching through some undisclosed address in Delhi she was languishing in the waiting area and guarding the luggage while talking to me. It was a one sided conversation spoken from a standing position at me as I sunk lower and lower in my chair.
I was totally at a loss. I listened. I prayed. I don't think I shared any hope coherently . I could barely get a word in edgewise. Seriously. I had to sit for eight hours waiting for my next flight in a neon lit square room with languages swirling around me with the backdrop smell of people and myself how hard would it be to miss my flight. Sleep deprived panic started to grow in my heart that I might miss my flight if I did not nip the story in the bud. It felt rude but I had to do it. I gathered myself up for flight and as I started to make my departure she held up a finger commanding me effectively to not even try to talk but to continue listening. I was under the spell. I was like a deer in the headlights who is going to get hit!!
Her need for a smoke is what saved me. I did not offer to watch her luggage and escaped when her cigarette desire out weighed her need for my ears. There is a lot of hurt out there. A lot.
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