The past week was a whirlwind of action - driving from DC to NYC with my bengal cat Glue in tow, catching up with friends in the city, and packing for my year away in Cairo.
New York was gloriously hot. I stayed at my parents in Forest Hills, Queens. Brooklyn has its fair share of organic coffee shops and artsy hipster joints, but nothing beats the mix-up that is Queens. FH is fairly affluent, with private garden streets and a couple of fancy stores, but you can always find more interesting places too. Like the gritty diner on Austin Street. Or the amazing bakery run by a Gujarati family from Uganda (best arugulas ever).
I collapsed on Saturday night, and spent Sunday night at an unexpected birthday tribute to MJ at Habana Outpost with their special corn and six point Brooklyn brewed beer. Yum.
Sunday morning I got lost on the way to the vet to get kitty's travel docs. I went to the Vinegar Hill Vet Group, possibly the best practice I've ever been to with a pet. The vet (Sara Neuman) was amazing, really gentle, thorough, and extremely helpful. Not to mention hilarious. The techs did a star job on my almost-feral baby, and rather than being stressed out, as is usually the case at the vet's office, both Glue and I were pretty relaxed. The vet is USDA accredited, and great for anyone leaving with a pet from JFK. After a 1 hour drive (that should have taken 15 minutes) the next day, I finally located the USDA office. $35 and 1 minute later, the health certificate was endorsed and I was all set to go. Glue got a little liquid xanax for the plane ride and for the most part was quiet under the seat in front of me. I was relieved to not have to subject him to the stress of travelling cargo, and it was much nicer - and also cheaper - to have him with me.
I flew Delta to Cairo, and all I can say is: BUDGET.
The JFK terminals were under construction, there were hardly any ground staff, and no one knew where to direct any of the passengers. The check-in staff were grumpy and the Delta terminal was pretty grim looking, with almost no facilities. The flight was understaffed and there wasn't enough food or overhead cabins for luggage. There were about 10+ babies on the flight, all concentrated near me, all screaming for 8 out of 10 hours of the flight. One of the flight attendants was particularly sassy, and had far too many unwanted snarky comments (disguised as a jovial manner). One of the snack services was DIY - you had to get up and go to the galley to get what you wanted, which led to massive jams near the loo. The only advantage was their pet policy, otherwise I would have stayed away. A far cry from the polished service of Virgin, BA, or even Turkish Airlines (a pleasant surprise, by the way, with excellent airplane food).
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