i travelled to karachi on the night of the fifth…we got there before time *just like the ticket told us* 
…the flight ended up being around 2 hours late…not as bad a wait as most flight delays are…bad weather was the *credible* cause cited…
anyway..got on the plane..haseeb sadi was on our flight *reading that haseeb* so nabeel sat with him…ohh it was a such a pathetic flight..not as bad as typical syrian air flights are…but pretty bad!!
the thing is that saudi arabian airlines had diverted all its karachi flights for the hajj season….and had sold all its reserved seats to syrian air…which means we pay for a great airline..and end up flying back and forth on a REALLY crappy one..one the way to dammam nabeel and i felt more like we were travelling on a stinky bus…it was overcrowded, filled with laborers who didnt abide by the no smoking rules…we had to sit right at the end of the plane…in the tail!..if anything at all, it had a great view…saw the sun come up over the clouds 
…
airplane food is bad…but this food is bad *font 72*…smells funny
on the way to saudi they gave us a tray which nabeel and i estimated cost the airline no more than 30 rupees…consisted of a stale slice of cake…an overripe banana…and a sandwich that seemed to have been made a week ago…oh and they also serve fake coke/fanta/sprite
anyway…i’ve gone off course! we had to verify that the baggage to be put on the plane was ours or not…hehe…before we got on the plane..we were made to walk out on the frigid tarmac and point at our luggage so that it could be put into the plane..i dont think ANYONE has ever had to do that…pathetic airline!
before that we had trouble finding the gate…the guy at the counter who checked us in told us one gate, the airport information board said another, and then there was a third one being announced on the public address system….now dammam airport is huuugee..rumored to be the biggest in the middle east..to walk from one gate to the other takes a good 10-15 minutes..in spite of the electronic walkways…so walking all over was quite annoying…liked the art on the walls on the way though..and also discovered the Royal VIP lounge..hehe…looked royal enough!!
by the time i got on the *almost empty* plane..i was realllly tired and sleepy…nabeel as with haseeb in the back and i saw this as a good opportunity to get some sleep..there isnt anything else u can do on the plane…except the girl next to me was very talkative…if i had met her some place else, we wdve become the best of friends…but in that stinky cramped plane where i was already cranky..her talk was just plain annoooyyyiiinnngg
anyhow…got off the plane and braced myself for the long passport/immigration line…the first 2 hajj flights had landed the very same time as us…so we found ourselves in lines with VERY pushy hajis..they seemed to have that attitude about them *get out of the way u worms…we’re hajis…we’re superior now*…not in my queue lady!!
got out of immigration…*sometimes i wonder how it would be to an immigration officer..looking at boring passports every day…and having to deal with rowdy crowds…i guess that goes for airplane stewards and stewardesses too…but the ones on syrian are actual vile..have a serious B.O. problem..and dont understanda word of english..its a friggin INTERNATIONAL flight…is the IAAA reading out there?!
got out of baggage claim and finally got outdoors…*”my favorite bit,” says haseeb, “i feel like a celebrity!”*…and indeed there were SWARMS of people outside…most of them there to greet the returning pilgrims *haseeb:”look all the girls with the flowers and garlands!! they’re all there for me!!”*…and for once due to the excessive rose garlands, entering into karachi smelt good…the terminal was so crowded they had personnel in place to let the luggage trolleys pass through…got out into the karachi morning air, and took a cab home..stayed there for half and hour..and the got on the point to university…
it felt good to see all my fwwends…also nice to see the returning BBA8/MBA batch, who were away for a six month internship..but since i was delayed by a couple of days i wanted to check out my courses and teachers…cant really complain much..the IBA Admin seems to be showing some genuine concern for our batch and finally giving us good teachers…though my seniors assure me that theyre all crap, i seem to think otherwise…we have 4 courses with the word management in them…and our teachers have started calling us professionals…for once we have a financial management teacher *Zia ul Haque* who knows his stuff…a managerial accounting teacher *Aman U Saiyed* with a southern accent and loads of anecdotes to match his accounting knowledge…a methods of business research instructor who cracks the silliest quirks in class and has taught us before *S.M.Saeed* who i like inspite of his BS *so far we have been told that “the best way to motivate your researchers is to give them a sweet danda”…! pretty outrageous*…a philosophy of Islam teacher who talks all airy and loves to rant *”language and words are mere breath!!” he says*…good old TJ *tic tac toe! third semester in a row*, who’s teaching us Management of Pakistan’s Economy and is so far giving out the same handouts to both us and the BBA 4s doing Analysis of Pakistani Industries…:D…we also have a Mr. Kamran *youngish* teaching us Productions and Operations Management…unfortunately he has to share the course with Mirza Sardar *who’s the head of the Management Dept at the IBA, and cant teach cause he recently had bypass surgery* who sits at the back of the classroom and acts all busy shuffling papers and gets up from time to time *”if Mr. Kamran would allow me to encroach on five minutes of his time, i just wnated to addd….” to which Mr. Kamran looks on helplessly to Mirza sahab and the clock for the next 10 minutes*
hehe..since ive pledged to attain nerd status, and subsequently get a presentable GPA this semester, im studying and paying attention in class..so far..!…its only my third day at uni so i cant see my promise going far…but lets be optimistic shall we
also practicing math questions like mad for the upcoming P&G test…i think id be ready to give the GMAT once im thru with the practice…my math instructor is ammar habib khan..and just happens to be a math genius…speeding thru questions while im still lost sumwhere in the last question…but i was very happy today when i did questions today and didnt get a single one wrong ..ammar, on the contrary, got a couple wrong..much to my glee, and to which ferial told ammar “doob maro ammar!!”…hehe…guess im soaking up his math knowledge..muahaha
u know this has turned ou to be a pretty long blog…but i had fun typing it up..dont care if u guys dont read it all..hehe
u know what i was going to start typing about meetings…but i guess i’ll put that in another blog! not meeting details…but mebbe minutes!
