This should be the last one. These are some notes I took on the flight to New York.

• Looking around the departure lounge at the information boards for other flights, I really felt like we were rather "east" -- there were flights to Pristina, Kiev, and Damascus in nearby gates.


• The area next to us was for a flight to Cairo. There was one Arab woman near us wearing a sweater and well-fitting camel-colored wool pants, and her son was named William. Most of the women for that flight wore head scarves.


• The airport bookstores have quite a bit of gay porn for sale -- most stores would only have straight stuff, especially in America. They also all have special sections for books on the Nazi period. One tiny store had a fountain in the middle with fish.


• There were two female flight attendants - one a chubby latina and the other a black woman with a shaved head -- pushing around the duty free cart. They were FABULOUS. I told them I loved them both, but I didn't feel like buying anything. The latina suggested I buy the big box of chocolates, suitable for sharing with the crew. When I laughed, the black one asked me what I was laughing at. I said, "you laughed, so I did too." Her response: "Good answer. It's like the old Welcome Back Kotter show -- I'm not laughing at you, I'm laughing with you."