Flight back to Cairo via Jordan during our Spain trip

I just found this in my Apple Note apps. I think it was written on my iPod back when I was a medical student.

Flight back to Cairo through Jordan. Me and Pait's seat (I got a middle seat, Pait took the window) were surrounded by Jordanians. The one sitting by the window on the row in front of me leaned his seat backwards and turned around to peek at me.

"Are you Singaporeans?"

"No. We're Malaysians." 

"Ahh. Have you prayed?"

The silent Jordanian on my left said in Arabic, "They prayed at the airport just now."

I nodded to him. You saw us? "Yes, we did."

"Zohor? Or Asar?" The chatty by the window asked. 

"Both of course."

"Why? You can pray Asar at Jordan once we've landed."

"We jama'a." The flight was for five hours wasn't it? It was then two plus. Landing at Jordan around seven plus means it will be Maghrib already, dude.  

"You can ask Bilal anything about this." He nodded at the silent sitting on my left. "Bilal is the imam of a mosque in Jordan." 

I looked at Bilal. "Oh really? Alhamdulillah that's very nice."

Bilal shook his head at his laughing friend. 

"You can ask him about jama'a and anything.." He paused for words. 

"About fiqh ya'ni?"

"Yes, anything fiqh to him, because everything is inside his head. He has a qamus up there."

"Neat. I will."

"You are very lucky, sitting next to him. Barakah."

I laughed. Dude laughed. Bilal ignored us to chat with the guy separated from him by the isle. The dude corrected his seating and I saw that his nails were neatly trimmed except the little finger's was left longer than the rest... 

And everything he just said changed from fact to fiction, lol. You're allowed to call me a generalizing dimwit now. 

Guy was social. He then proceeded to ask me what I was doing in Jordan and Cairo, so far as the details of my studies and living in Cairo. 

"There are so many people in Cairo. People everywhere."

"Yeah, imagine Cairo itself is smaller that the whole Malaysia. There's around 30 millions of us in Malaysia and Egypt-"

"Has 80 millions. You've only 30? Wow."

Inevitably he asked about Malaysia and how cheap and safe was Kuala Lumpur. He asked me about the rumours he heard that KL had bad girls and such and I really didn't want to lie and say everything was alright. I myself felt safer wandering around Malaga and Barcelona alone at night. 

"So what are you doing in Barcelona?"

"I'm on a business trip. We've been in Barcelona for three days and before, four days in Valencia."

"We had a day in Valencia. Place was nice."

"Yes. But Barcelona is more beautiful."

"Si you're right. 

"Did you went to Andalusia?"

"Yes we went to Cordoba, Granada.. Is Malaga part of Andalusia?" I turned to Pait who was silently reading her chic-flick and leaving me at the mercy of this chatty stranger. "Yes? Oh we went to Malaga as well. Did you went there?"

"No. Next year maybe I'll come here and go to Andalucia. Malaga is a beautiful place." 

"Yes but for me Granada is the best because of the Al-Hambra and Albayzin. There's the Granada Mosque on the top of Albayzin and you can see the Sierra Nevada, the Al-Hambra and the city below all from there. The contrast is magnificent."

"Wow."

I nodded enthusiastically. Somewhere along the journey I had signed up as a part-time Granada ambassador. 

"Okay if I go there and it's not that beautiful, you will have to pay." 

"Haha, c'mon."

It was near 20 minutes and he even helpfully and excitedly disseminated my information to the rest of his friends. Thank God I didn't sit next to him or I wouldn't get to catch up on my movies.

---

I was into my second movie in the darkened cabin. He shifted, stood up and saw I was still up. 

"Sleep. Everyone is asleep."

I pointed to my screen. "Got movies to watch." 

We've only talked for a while and already dude was giving orders, gah.