It had been a long flight to the JFK airport in New York, including the connection at London´s Heathrow. He had just finished his breakfast as other passengers moved around the cabin getting their stuff together. Some near him still sleep. Flight attendants do their usual job in preparation for landing. Fortunately the children seating behind him kept quiet most of the time. Family images, younger brothers and sisters, loving and dedicated parents, cousins, nephews and nieces flash through his mind while glancing at the clouds, near and distant. He misses everyone already, even the family dog. He can´t wait to see the first signs of the Big Apple, its buildings and highways down below. Something he dreamt for since his teenage years.
He is taken over by a mixture of anxiety and excitement. Ipod plugged to his ears listening to his Jazz collection. Tries to relax. A great deal of preparation, investment and hard work on the part of his parents and study, on his part, have been put into it. Will it be worth it? Shouldn´t he have had remained in his country to help his father in the family business? There is no turning back. Future will tell. He is on his own now. The thought of having to catch another flight makes him apprehensive. There won´t be much time to get off the plane, go through Immigration and Customs and find his way around JFK´s madness, find the gate for the connecting flight to Dulles International airport in the Washington DC area, his new home for the next couple of years for his graduate studies on International Relations.
Once at the airport, a couple of people from the university will pick him up and take him to the University campus. This is what he had been informed anyway. Will they recognize him as he comes out the Arrival area? Will they have one of those signs with his name – “Youseff so and so” - on it? Is his English good enough? Zillions of questions go through his mind and make him even more apprehensive. Is he ready for everything he is about to experience? Off course not. No one is.
