Washington

So finally after 8 hours I got off the plane at Washington Dulles airport. Just off I noticed the smoking lounge (well, not really a "lounge" as they call it, more like a gas chamber, taking 28 people according to the sign...imagine more than that continuously smoking all the time...it's almost like you don't have to lit up yourself, just inhale). Unfortunately I was on the wrong side of the glass wall. Think of that, only 5 cm from a smoking room after more than 8 hours without a ciggie! FRUSTRATION!!!

Had to walk the corridors to the passport control and VISA check. Two (!!) fingerprints, both index fingers AND a retina scan. These guys are not the trusting types I tell you. I asked him if he needed my boarding card too. He didn't understand. So repeated. He still didn't get it. When I explained, he said oh, you mean boarding PASS (pronounced päääs). So ok, forgot I was in the States. It's not like I speak American English on a daily basis.

Then I had to go and find my bag off the luggage belt, drag it 20 meters to a drop-off (why? I guess it's because they don't trust themselves of having tagged all the bags properly) and proceed to another security check. Off with shoes again, transparent bag separately, and you know what? They confiscated my lighters! All three of them! Why? It sure beats me. I mean if I had something in it that would cause a fire or a blast, couldn't they just ask me to light it? Ah ok, I could of course be a suicide bomber. Yeah, right! Seriously, the Americans are a bit weird.

Finally, FINALLY I was off the hook. Smoking "lounge", here I come. Of course I had to ask a fellow traveller for a light...