Though I don't actually believe in reincarnation, I do hold the notion of Karma to be a good one.  It has transcended the Hindi rhelm and reached the modern vernacular, and genrally holds that doing good brings good to your life, and doing bad....likewise...bad stuff.
Now, I have to wonder...what it is that I did wrong somewhere along the line!  Sometimes things go a bit wrong...sometimes they go pear-shaped. Today...they went, in my current feeling, nuclear reactor on the brink.
Zakaria went to the airport this morning...this afternoon here in Korea.  I've been jumping around like a pre-teen cheerleader, positively estatic about his impending arrival...but things rarely go as planned it seems.
I got a call at about 4pm, just as I finished up classes for the day.  The number came through my phone as just 5 didgits and I had no idea what the heck it could be.  I picked up the call, not knowing that my day was about to get a whole lot ickier.
Zak was calling me to tell me that Royal Air Morocco would not let him on his flight!!!  I have to say, to my chagrin, I went into some sort of neurotic tizzy that made little sense. AKA -I started freaking out.  I asked a
bunch of questions, told him to yell at people, flash letters and visa and get his ass on the plane no matter what.
He called back 20 minutes later to tell me...it hadn't worked.  It seems he was not allowed to fly to London for his connecting flight to Dubai (and then Seoul and then Busan!!!) because he didn't have a round trip back to Morocco.  I didn't book the round trip because it was 4X the cost of a one-way...as low-cost airlines often are when booking more than a weekend trip.  He tried to buy the return ticket at the airport but they said it was too suspect to allow him on the flight. (!!!)  They said lots of people book tickets this way so they can stay in London...but I wonder!  How could they stay in London without a visa?  Why would they have a Korean visa in their passport and a near $900 ticket to Korea paid for if all tehy wanted to do was sneak into London.  It doesn't actually seem to be possible anyway.
I checked London Gatwick's webpage for all possible information about flying in, connecting and visas neccessary.  After ascertaining Zakaria didn't need a transit visa I went ahead and booked the ticket there for the next flight on to Dubai.
Well....I made a HUGE mistake it seems.
Though I don't feel like it's my fault somehow....
And I would totally own up to this is I felt it was poor planning....
And I can't conceive of how things went so VERY wrong...
Because now...I'm properly screwed (excuse the language.)
I've spent all afternoon trying to figure something out. Trying to find flights from Morcco to Dubai in time to catch the Dubai-Seoul flight. Trying to identify cities in Africa likely to have connections to both Morocco and Dubai. Trying to convert money, on the fly, from British Pounds, Euros, Moroccan Dirhams, and other, more obscure, African currencies.
And it's all to no avail!
I've been on the phone with Emirates 3 times. I've called the travel agent twice. I've been on the phone with Zakaria at least 6 times.   And no matter how hard I try...it's just not going to happen.
Worse still...Emirates, and the travel agent in Korea who I can barely communicate with, refuse to do anything about the $850 ticket. No change. No refund. Nothing.
And Royal Air Morocco...same thing.  No refund. (Though they, at least, offered to fly him to Casablanca for a flight to Dubai...but there are no seats on that flight.)
I haven't contacted Korean Airways yet (the Seoul to Busan leg) hoping to find an alternate date of travel.  I'd like at least one refund....please.
I am totally, totally devestated right now. My eyes are red with tears and my nose sniffly. I'm trudging about my apartment in a daydream. I just don't understand how this could happen.  I don't know how to deal with the the possibility of Zakaria not being here for another month. (The total cost of the tickets, which I'm not recouping, is around 65% of my monthly income. Zakaria is without a credit card, so he can not purchase the tickets himself though he does have money in the bank.)  In searching for new tickets....they are even more expensive, because it is now summer here.

And this is when I ask...What did I do to deserve this?!?!!!!!  What did Zakaria do?
You all know that I'm a knowledgable traveler and if the information about the neccessity of round trip tickets was available anywhere I would have found it.  
I try to be a good person...I really do. And Zakaria is a much better person than me. Somehow it just doesn't seem fair that the universe has made things so difficult for us.

And...I put a little hint in my last post about being able to do something good for someone.  I'm still not ready to put the details out there but...I won a valuable prize recently. A prize worth about $1000.  I am pretty much unable to use it, though it wouldn't be impossible.  I had wanted to give it to someone....just give it away to someone who would appreciate it most.  Give it away and make someone happy.  Do someone good.
Now, with this current crisis, I am thinking I may have to sell the prize in order to fund Zakaria's next Korea attempt. (I WILL be insuring the trip next time!)  I hope there is some way to figure this out and give the prize away because it's actually very sentimental to me, which you'll understand when I give out details.

Ahhhhhh...bleak, bleak Tuesday. I, honestly, feel very hollow and defeated. I'm not sure anyone will understand what I am going on about right now.  Zakaria and I have been apart since February 20th.  That's 4 months...17 weeks....119 days.  It is so disheartening to have to spend more time apart. It's so hard to get so excited and be crushed.  One might say this is mellow drama but I would counter with, "Then you certainly don't know how I feel."

So... This isn't my standard protocol, but I am asking for thoughts and prayers and any and all sorts of good fuzzys you can send my way across the globe.  I feel that I am in desperate need.......

 

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