I'm back from Athens

Assalamualaikum warahmatullah wabarakatuh,

I'm back in gloomy Cambridge again. Why gloomy? Cause Athens was sooooooooo sunny that there's no where to hide from the sun and there's no reason too to hide from it after living in the rainy UK for a long while. Anyway alhamdulillah got back safely after a horrible journey back.

We were scheduled to take off from Athens at 9.30pm (Greece time, or 7.30pm UK time) but the flight was delayed to 9.45pm. So we waited at the boarding terminal until 9.45pm but still we were not called to board. It was not until 10.15pm that we got on the plane and took off around 10.30pm. By then, most of us became friends already. It's always in this kind of difficult situation that people on the same boat unite.

After 3 hours and 20 minutes (as the captain announced), we landed at Gatwick airport. By the time we got to the luggage claiming area, it was 12.10am (UK time)! I was worried that I will have to take a taxi to go to my friend's house in London to stay the night as there is no train or coach from Gatwick to Cambridge at that hour!

We waited for another half an hour before the conveyance belt started to move. Everyone was mourning about the delay of the flight and then the luggage. By the time I got to Gatwick train station, it was almost 1am. There was no more tube service after 1am. My only option is the night bus or taxi. I got on the last Gatwick Express train at 1.35am. So, I arrived at the Victoria station at 2.10am. I was thinking how much do I need to pay to get a taxi, I mean the registered black cab which is the only safe option for me alone in London at that hour. I talked to a train conductor about my worry if I didn't the night bus and have to take a taxi, he assured me that there must be a night bus still.

Alhamdulillah, when I got out of the station, while the officers were chasing everyone out and preparing to close the gate, I saw the N52 was just right in front of me. I got on with my Oyster Card (actually, it's my friend's who allowed me to stay at hers) and was half-slept throughout the whole journey while keeping alert to the announcement on the bus. It's amazing that now the buses in London have this announcement system like the tube. So I don't have to look out to decide when to push the bell.

While on the bus, there was a group of black teenage boys. I don't know if they are muslims or not but they seriously were damaging the image of muslims. They covered themselves with hats and hoodies, only their eyes were visible. They were shouting in the bus in some kind of Arabic dialect mixed with English. And cried that they will bomb the bus while playing beeping sound as if a bomb is going to explode. Laughing and shouting that they want to kill the passengers, like drunk people. Such a disgrace to the muslims. As I was the only hijabi on the bus, I pretended to be sleeping (I was half-slept anyway) and push the bell when I heard my destination was near, quickly get off the bus.

To my shock, these boys stopped the same place as me. I dare not look back but just keep on walking with my heavy bags. After a distance from the bus stop, I turned back and saw that they actually walked in different direction of me from the bus stop. Alhamdulillah, I got to my friend's house at 3am. She has been waiting for me since before midnight. Poor girl, may ALLAH reward her a lot. I prayed fajr and went straight to sleep until 11.00am.

After meeting a friend in the afternoon, I went back to Cambridge in the evening. Alhamdulillah, I'm home now but since I've slept this morning, I can't sleep now, even I've tried. So, I decided to write a post of the journey back home though I have not said anything about my journey to and at Athens. I hope I have the time to do so, if not, please remind me as I have taken more than 250 photos of the historical sites of Athens.

There are a lot of lessons to learn from my trip this time. Just the journey back, patience is the main lesson to draw from it. Such calamity is also a chance to know people more and honestly I nearly cried during this journey back, not because of the difficulty but because of some little things that people did that really touched me.

The fact that even if my friend had forgotten about my arrival and would stay a night at hers, she still tried her best to ensure that I have the access to her room by the help of her housemates. The fact that, in such a situation, there is still someone out there praying and worrying for me, even until 3am. I felt really bad for keeping her waiting for me. The fact that there is a sister who is ready to come down to Victoria station to pick me up in case I missed the bus. One lady from among the passengers who also travelled by train bid farewell with me and asked me to take care of myself really touched me. She sounded really worried about me and we don't even know each other's names. Before the bus moved, the train conductor came near the bus window where I sat and gave me a smile and thumb-up, relieved that I got on the bus that I wanted.

There are so many people that I want to thank but I couldn't. May ALLAH reward them abundantly. There are so much that I want to say about this trip but for I have to go back to work now. Have to write another paper for another conference in Paris in July, inshaALLAH.

Wassalam.