Tuesday, December 16, 2008

SF bound, iA

So I am excited. I am leaving for San Francisco iA in two days, and not only will it be a break from the grey days here, we plan to head to other cities further south as well. I also plan to meet up with Baraka, iA.

Speaking of Baraka, she messaged me the other day, "SF is now cold and rainy!" Well, cold I can handle (Canadian), but rainy I don't want to (even if I am Bengali!).

I love visiting new places. I feel if people visited other places they would gain an appreciating for each other and know each other and perhaps that would lead to world peace.

As long as they understand their accent! I am booking a car and I called this car rental company and I guess their call center is somewhere in the South.

"Sow, you would like to reeaaant an ow-tow?" The girl goes in this extreme Southern drawl.

"Er, yes, I would like to rent an auto." (Pardon me, but I DID call the car rental company!)

Moreover, it made no difference what I said to her, she would just extract the information she needed for the particular question and then ask her next, even if I already said it.

"I would like to rent a standard auto from Dec 18th to Dec 23rd at this location," I said.

"Okay!" She was very cheerful. "What size auto?"

I thought I said it, so I repeated, "I would like to rent a standard auto from Dec 18th to Dec 23rd at your SF location."

"OK. Standard auto. Now when would you like to rent it from?"

I answered, "I thought I just said it. From Dec 18th to Dec 23rd at your SF office."

"Good," She typed and then, "and when would you return it?"

*I shake my head*

At least she had a nice voice!

On another note, I was envying my British cousin the other day.

"You guys are so lucky. Two hours and you are not only in another country, but another culture! Another hour, another country! So much to see!"

And she goes, "And you guys are so lucky. So many great cities to see! New York. Montreal! Toronto! Las Vegas! Boston! I mean, what do we have?"

Truly the grass being greener on the other side of the pond!

ADDED LATER:

I noticed my blog friends Baraka (Rickshaw Diaries), Haleem (Captain Chaos) and Suroor (Achelois) are up for the Brass Crescent Awards this year. I won this award two years ago, and I am glad they chose these three worthwhile bloggers this year. So if you have the time, please go here and vote for Baraka, Haleem and Suroor (last date Dec 18). Good luck to them!

9 comments:

'liya said...

Take lots of photos, I want to hear all about your trip when you're back!

Anonymous said...

LOL! I tell my relatives the same thing about being in London. You can drive to any country in a few hours. Here, you go *visiting* someone in those hours :S. Have fun, always wanted to see SF. :D
sf

mezba said...

Liya, like last year, I hope to post on my travels.

Sf: I know. And flights here are expensive too, especially within Canada!

Safiyyah said...

Salaams!

Lucky you! Meeting up with Baraka!

Is she OK? She hasn't posted lately and she was ill a few weeks ago.

Give her my salaams, please, iA!

Suroor said...

"Well, cold I can handle (Canadian), but rainy I don't want to (even if I am Bengali!)".

Haha! This is so funny. I loved it!

Thank you darling M! I love you baby brother!

Anonymous said...

dude.. if youre in london, you can go to portugal, paris, italy, germany, wales, spain, for the weekend, and more.. all dirt cheap via their eurorail or the channel or whatever. my english cousins and friends do it all the time, they brag about it and it can get pretty annoying! unlike us in north america, as in when we go to america, we see more of us... when they travel in europe, you see completely different cultures at your doorstep. maybe your friend should look into it.

tee dimensionist said...

San Francisco is beautiful!

You'll have a great trip iA (first time I've seen that abbreviation, it looks so cool : P)
Enjoy your time!

Anonymous said...

Salaams dear Mezba,

It was so wonderful meeting up with you two - I only wish we had had more time together!

Insh'Allah next time in Toronto :)

Warmly,
Baraka

Anonymous said...

Just gave you the Butterfly Award. Have a happy holidays!