So, I have come half-way, and currently sitting in the transit area of Kemal Atatürk International Airport, typing up a blog entry on Kinga’s borrowed laptop after finally finding an outlet and somewhere to sit next to it. My flight from Budapest was nice; it’s been a very long time since I’ve received a hot meal on such a short flight! I was a little late getting to the airport by public transport; fortunately Türk Hava Yollari was late as well, so there were no problems.
This is my first time at Istanbul’s airport, the last time I came by cruise ship, so I didn’t have a chance o see it, and I must say that I am quite impressed. I expected a crowded, small, unorganized, smoky, dirty and loud airport, and I got exactly the opposite. It is large and clean, has a lot of space, quiet –except for the occasional announcements – , adequate seating, no smoking – not even smoking rooms, as far as I can tell- and many stores and cafes. It also looks a lot safer; there are two security checks, one when entering the zone for ticketed passengers, and another one when entering the gate area, both with metal detectors and x-ray machines!

Alright, enough about the airport, let me tell you what I’m doing here. I am currently on my way to Beirut, Lebanon. “And why?” you might ask. “Why would you want to leave your cozy place in Budapest and instead of going to a sunny island in Italy, go to the Middle East, to a country full of terrorists, car bombs, and Israeli rockets?” Well, it’s all because of Amnesty International . Let me explain…
It all stared out sometime in 2004, my love, Manu, wanted to do something productive while she was in Hungary trying to find a job, so she started volunteering for Amnesty International, taking the train from Székesfehérvár to Budapest a few times a week to help at their Hungarian office. One thing led to another, she ended up the Director of the Board, and decided that she liked Human Rights so much that she wanted to get a Masters Degree in the subject. After spending six months in a classroom in Pisa, she had to decide where she will spend the six months of her internship. She did have other choices, but it is clear why she chose Beirut, when her other choices were Darfur and Somalia. And after almost being done with her time there, for my birthday on Friday the 13th of this month –some of you might remember ;) – she bought me a round-trip ticket to come visit her and go traveling together in Lebanon.
I have two and a half more hours until the next flight, so I will eat the last of my sandwiches with Medve sajt and Szalámi, it will be some time before I eat these delicacies again, but from what I hear from friends, I won’t be disappointed in Lebanese food…