Beijing, May 2017.
I’m on a flight to China, I can’t remember the names of the airline or the airport and I don’t care. I’m just glad I’m here because I almost miss this.
Yesterday was bad. I woke up with a weird feeling and I thought (or more like I hoped) it was a winter thing and nothing else. But turns out I was sick. I worked for a couple hours but I got a lot worst and I ran to the pharmacy as I got ready for a horrible day, feeling terribly ill. Nothing was ready for my trip, and my temperature kept getting higher. Great.
It’s midnight and I need to decide if I’m leaving or staying. But I already know that staying is not an option. I try to pack my things, but I feel so dizzy I can’t even stay on my feet for more than a few seconds. I finally grab a bunch of clothes and some other things hoping is all I’ll need and put it all in my bag, and then go back to sleep a couple more hours. I wake up and it’s time to go. We rush to the airport and get there just in time. The lady at the counter says we are too late and that she can’t sit us together. But the guy next to her interrupts and quickly fix that for us. And here we are, up in the air. I don’t even know what she was talking about, there’s plenty space on this plane. B..
*
People here stares a lot and takes photos constantly. It’s weird for me. I don’t like feeling observed like that. Maybe it’s because I’m used to being the observer, the one who is annoying and takes pictures all of the time. But at least I have a big camera and people can notice when I take their photo. With smartphones, everywhere you go, anywhere in the world, feels like the big brother.
*
I wake up feeling like I could kill for a good coffee. I know there’s a place across the street where I can grab a latte. I don’t care how expensive and bad it is, it’s coffee. So I take a shower, put on a dress and rush outside. We are waiting to cross the street, when a guy doing the same, turns to us and smiling, says “taking life in your own hands, huh?”
We look at each other, then look at him and nod.
I guess we do.
