Sunday, July 24 Departure

Farewell gift received during my last day at the RWC workshop

As I’m writing this, I’m sitting at the airport in Washington, DC, on Monday morning, waiting for my third and final flight to rejoin Anita, Evan, and Angela in North Carolina. My first two flights have been quite routine, which is just the way I like them. But the lead-in to the first flight, the one out of Chad, was rather un-routine, so that’s what I’ll write about.

Sunday morning started off with my regular morning routine, then putting my stuff into my suitcases and backpack, saying a few good-byes to SIL colleagues, and attending the first part of an English church service. I couldn’t stay until the end of the service because the person taking me to the airport was told to pick me up at 11:00, and that was in the middle of the sermon.

We got to the entrance of the airport in plenty of time for me to check in for my flight, but there were policemen stationed at the entrance to the road leading into the airport and were not allowing anyone to go into the airport property. The taxi man who took me there had another prearranged fare, so he was unable to stay there with me. I just got out of the car and, with my baggage, joined the others who were standing out in the sun at the entrance, all of us waiting for the signal that we would be able to go on in. As I suspected was the case, there was some important political figure due to fly in, so other traffic was blocked until after that person was off airport property. I’ve not lived in our nation’s capital to know if that sort of thing happens here or not, but I’ve seen it happen on numerous occasions in Burkina Faso.

I didn’t keep track of the time, so I don’t know how long I waited under the Chadian sun before we were given permission to enter the airport property, but it was a while. I’m guessing it was about 45 minutes. Fortunately, this time of year the sun is not as overbearing as in the peak of the hot season. It was probably about 85 degrees Fahrenheit, so I survived okay.

When we were finally allowed to make our way toward the airport, I had to take all of my bags about half a mile—and I’m trying hard not to exaggerate here; I think it was pretty close to that far. However, it was a paved road with no potholes, and my checked bags both have wheels, so I put my backpack on my back, slung my computer bag over my shoulder, and pulled the two checked bags.

As I got about 100 yards from the entrance to the building, there were two officers who were checking to make sure everyone going in had a good reason for being there. That means they were checking tickets and passports. That didn't take long, but it did mean that I had to stop and take my two bags off so I could retrieve my documents from the backpack. (I hadn't been expecting a checkpoint prior to reaching the entrance to the building.) 

The next stop was just outside the building entrance, where everyone's bags were searched. Then, at the door itself, there were another two officers who were only allowing ticketed passengers to enter the building, so they were looking at people's papers.

Once inside the building, I had to show my passport once again in order for it to be officially stamped to show that I had left the country. Then I was able to check in at the ticket counter and have my two bags checked all the way through to Charlotte. I also obtained boarding passes for my first two flights (to Addis Ababa and then to Washington, DC). Next stop was an immigration checkpoint, where they made sure that my passport had indeed been stamped with my date of departure and that I hadn’t somehow skipped that step in the process. Oh, and on the way to that checkpoint, a woman made sure I actually had a boarding pass for a flight that was leaving that day.

Next up was the security check, where computer, shoes, liquids and gels, and belt all needed to be put into bins to go through the x-ray machine, along with my backpack and computer bag. Then in stockinged feet and with pockets emptied of all their contents, I walked through the metal detector and was quickly given permission to reclaim all of my possessions at the far end of the conveyor belt that had taken them through the x-ray scanner. From there I was able to proceed to my gate. There my passport and boarding pass were checked one last time before I was able to find a seat and await the boarding call.

I didn’t get much sleep on the planes and none at all in between my flights, so I’ll be arriving home quite sleep-deprived. It’ll probably take me most of a week to adjust to this time zone again, but I’ll get there eventually. I always have.