Tuesday, September 28, 2010

Day 800: The Smell of First Impressions

First impressions are very important, right?  First impressions set the initial tone for every journey. 
Upon arriving in Belgrade, as soon as I stepped off the plane I was overcome with the stench of stale cigarette smoke… and coming up the gang way, the first thing I saw inside Nikola Tesla Airport was a ‘no smoking’ sign.  I found the combination of smell and visual very funny and this will always be my first impression of Belgrade.
However, arriving in Islamabad was a little different.  We didn’t exit across a gang way directly into the airport… and enclosed space like a gang way is excusable when it comes to random smells when entering new lands.  But no, in Islamabad we exited to the tarmac.  And as soon as I stepped out of the bulkhead doors into the early morning air, I was hit with another overwhelmingly pungent aroma: 
Urine.    
That’s right.  Urine… outside… where there was plenty of ventilation.  I knew at that moment I was in for a very long year.
And no… I didn’t see a ‘no peeing’ sign… If I had, it would have been the most hilariously awesome thing I’ve ever seen in my life.

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