I hate flying

I hate flying a lot. I love seeing the world, but airplanes and airports? Oh God, they are a nightmare. I mean, I would prefer long layovers over long hours on an airplane, but still, the whole flying thing is so not my thing.

Airplanes make me feel so claustrophobic, and dizzy and sick and just so boring. I am so thankful that I only have one and a half hours on my next flight to Beirut, but right now I am at Sabiha airport in Istanbul, three hours in on my layover, and three hours to go until I fly. And I am just so bored.

I mean, granted, I could have booked a business lounge and sat on much more comfortable chairs, but I would have been so anxious that I might miss my flight that I would have probably left the lounge like three hours earlier, which basically would’ve brought me to where I am right now, on a crusty chair near some gate – as I still don’t know which gate my airplane will be in – with my butt hurting as I stretch my legs over my handbag.

I am not in my best mood, even though I am well fed(:, and I am sleepy, and I just want this three and half hours over sooner.

The only thing that is really getting me through this is watching Sex Education. I started watching it on my flight to Tbilisi, and right now I am on the last two episodes, which I find perfect because then I will not have to continue watching it at home and it will always be part of this mystical trip.

A lot of my colleagues recommended Sex Education. When I first started watching it, I was like wtf. This is a series about horny teens’ obsession with sex and unfortunate bullied victims who really do not have a chance. But as I made my way through the series, I realized that it is more than that, and I understood what my colleagues meant by homey.

It is a wonderful series that break the taboos about sex and address the topic as it is, unfiltered: humans are sexual beings and there is nothing wrong with pleasure, desires, and identities.

It teaches the audience that diversity is not only important but should be celebrated. That we should all be entitled to explore ourselves and our bodies and live through experiences to grow and learn. Our bodies, who we are identified as, and who we choose to love, are never wrong.

I still have two episodes left, and even though I consider myself progressive and a know-it-all, I learned a lot watching the series, about my body, and other people’s sexualities and identities.

I think the one thing I knew before, but the series has engraved it more in my mind, is that no one, no one, should feel the pressure to explain why they are the way they are. People are different, and it is absolutely beautiful.

No matter the color, ethnicity, gender identity, sexual orientation, religion, belief, creativity, etc. it is to be praised and encouraged. Plus, I really wish Maeve and Otis end up together.

But I won’t spoil it for you.

I’m going back to watching the last two episodes, in hopes it get me through most of this painful waiting. The two episodes are two hours, so it will be 10:30pm by the time I finish them, which is only 20 mins away from boarding. So it should be fine.

The other option I have, except for reading (which I do not feel like I have the concentration cells to do), is to work on what is called a Daily Saving Allowance (DSA) package for work; each package needs to have 12 documents, and each document needs to be reviewed. And nope, no, sir. I know that I have been on leave for a week, but it’s still a Sunday night, and my leave ends on Tuesday. The last time I tried working on these packages was on my last layover and even though I spent two hours trying to sort the documents out, it felt like an endless maze.

Nope, thank you.

Back to Sex Education for now. I hope it’s a good ending, and I hope there is a fourth season soon.