I was in The United States of America - the country which millons of people the world over feel fascinated about, the place which is considered the land of opportunities, the country whose opinion matters the most on any issue of International concern, the country which defines fashion, the country which gives respect and refuge to talent from all over the world, the country which I was going to discover and which had already started opening its pages to me - I was feeling great. Suddenly life seemed very happening. The change was wonderful. I discovered that I enjoyed walking into unknown worlds. I realized that the mystery that uncertainty held in itself gave me a lot of pleasure when it revealed itself to me. Life would be boring without the element of uncertainty in it.
It was cold outside the Airport. I went from the Airport to the Hotel in a cab driven by a Mauritanean. Mauritanea, I came to know, is a country in Africa. The driver was very friendly and helpful. I learnt from him how to use calling cards to make international calls. He even gifted one to me. It costed $3. He refused to take money for the calling card.
I reached my hotel in about 20 minutes. The hotel, where I am still staying, is called - Best Western.
The cab dropped me right outside the lobby. The Mauritanean enquired at the lobby to confirm that we came to the right place. He wished me a great stay in America, and left. As I went inside the lobby to confirm my booking, I came to know that there were 2 kinds of rooms in the hotel - from the smoking point of view - smoking and non-smoking. That was the first choice a lady who came to book a room was asked for. The office at the lobby had a "drive-thru" as well - wherein you can shout into the window that you need a room, then answer the questions asked, then give your credit/debit card, then collect the room keys and your card and get into your room directly from there. The booking for me had already been done by my company, and I had to just take the keys after getting my ICICI Travel-Card swiped and signing on a few forms. I came to know that mine was a non-smoking room with a king-sized bed. That felt awesome to think about.
There was a TV at the lobby. It was playing the movie - Gladiator - on the channel called - tbs. I looked at the screen and smiled, and said Gladiator loudly. I think I did that coz unconsciously I wanted the white guy at the lobby to know that I had a high level of awareness, that I knew the good movies of Hollywood and also that I had good tastes in movies. The guy turned out to be an Usbeki. His name was Aziz. I felt ashamed for a while. I didn't have to do that. Even if he was an American. Made a mental note, an entry in Lessons-Learnt, took my keys and came out of the lobby to head for my room.
Though Aziz had given me directions for my room, I didn't quite understand him. My attention was somewhere else. And he spoke bad english. And also I was confident that I could figure it out.
There were 2 buildings facing each other. My room had to be in one of them. The room-number was - 232B. I went towards the nearer of the 2 buildings. I figured that I had to climb the stairs. There was a guy standing near the stairs with a bottle of bear in his hand. He looked as scary as any other drunken person. I told him my room-number and asked him where it was. He said I had to go up the stairs. Then suddenly he jumped to grab my bag and insisted to carry it for me. It wasn't easy to get rid of him. I told him 3-4 times that it was ok, and I would carry the bags myself. Finally he stepped back, smiled and said "Positive". I guess he meant that he was ok with what I said. He let me go. I found that my room was not in that building but was in the other building.
I reached my room after some searching around. I stood outside the door with the card-key in my hand. I had seen this kind of keys, and I had also seen my brother use one when he stayed in a 5-Star hotel in chennai. But I never take interest in How-Things-Work unless I get into situations when I have to understand them to go ahead. So here I was, trying to open my door. I figured that I had to swipe my card through a slot on the door. I inserted the card in all possible ways. One of them worked! I made a mental note of exactly how I inserted the card, and then pushed the door open...
To Be Continued...
It was cold outside the Airport. I went from the Airport to the Hotel in a cab driven by a Mauritanean. Mauritanea, I came to know, is a country in Africa. The driver was very friendly and helpful. I learnt from him how to use calling cards to make international calls. He even gifted one to me. It costed $3. He refused to take money for the calling card.
I reached my hotel in about 20 minutes. The hotel, where I am still staying, is called - Best Western.
The cab dropped me right outside the lobby. The Mauritanean enquired at the lobby to confirm that we came to the right place. He wished me a great stay in America, and left. As I went inside the lobby to confirm my booking, I came to know that there were 2 kinds of rooms in the hotel - from the smoking point of view - smoking and non-smoking. That was the first choice a lady who came to book a room was asked for. The office at the lobby had a "drive-thru" as well - wherein you can shout into the window that you need a room, then answer the questions asked, then give your credit/debit card, then collect the room keys and your card and get into your room directly from there. The booking for me had already been done by my company, and I had to just take the keys after getting my ICICI Travel-Card swiped and signing on a few forms. I came to know that mine was a non-smoking room with a king-sized bed. That felt awesome to think about.
There was a TV at the lobby. It was playing the movie - Gladiator - on the channel called - tbs. I looked at the screen and smiled, and said Gladiator loudly. I think I did that coz unconsciously I wanted the white guy at the lobby to know that I had a high level of awareness, that I knew the good movies of Hollywood and also that I had good tastes in movies. The guy turned out to be an Usbeki. His name was Aziz. I felt ashamed for a while. I didn't have to do that. Even if he was an American. Made a mental note, an entry in Lessons-Learnt, took my keys and came out of the lobby to head for my room.
Though Aziz had given me directions for my room, I didn't quite understand him. My attention was somewhere else. And he spoke bad english. And also I was confident that I could figure it out.
There were 2 buildings facing each other. My room had to be in one of them. The room-number was - 232B. I went towards the nearer of the 2 buildings. I figured that I had to climb the stairs. There was a guy standing near the stairs with a bottle of bear in his hand. He looked as scary as any other drunken person. I told him my room-number and asked him where it was. He said I had to go up the stairs. Then suddenly he jumped to grab my bag and insisted to carry it for me. It wasn't easy to get rid of him. I told him 3-4 times that it was ok, and I would carry the bags myself. Finally he stepped back, smiled and said "Positive". I guess he meant that he was ok with what I said. He let me go. I found that my room was not in that building but was in the other building.
I reached my room after some searching around. I stood outside the door with the card-key in my hand. I had seen this kind of keys, and I had also seen my brother use one when he stayed in a 5-Star hotel in chennai. But I never take interest in How-Things-Work unless I get into situations when I have to understand them to go ahead. So here I was, trying to open my door. I figured that I had to swipe my card through a slot on the door. I inserted the card in all possible ways. One of them worked! I made a mental note of exactly how I inserted the card, and then pushed the door open...
To Be Continued...
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