The travel was a different matter. 16 hours to Pestel from PAP, instead of 8. And 13 hours from Pestel to PAP due to a crazy 'detour' traffic jam. I have a bit of video that I'll send. Unreal.
And to top it off, my airline woes continued. FIrst, I had one of the stranger experiences at the airport that I've yet encountered. A big guy took my bags as I stepped in line outside. Usually I don't let them them do this, but he really grabbed them and trucked off, yelling out "Fast lane! Express lane...follow me!" A mass of people stood in front of me to get inside. I called out to him to bring the luggage back, but then several of the workers also encouraged me to follow him, grabbing my hand and pulling me after him. He then had me climb up and then hoisted me (literally) into the front-end of the tight group, all packed in like sardines wriggling to get through the door.
Arguing erupted as some of the Haitians (rightfully, in my opinion) didn't want to let this worker through with my luggage (but he was a big guy, and the airport police stepped up over the wall to try to wrestle him, the luggage, and me through.
The way I got through the door was something like being birthed. I mean, it was very strange. I was pushed from behind while airport police grabbed my arms from the front, and I somehow landed inside into a cleared out space with my luggage, and the mass behind me.
I ended up paying ($$) dearly for that one, and it did me no good whatsoever.
I used a different airline than the one I typically take. The flight was to leave at 2pm and I had prudently arrived 2 hours in advance. After waiting in line for a solid hour, and realizing I had only passed through stage 1 of 5...I began to wonder if I was going to miss the flight. Well, it turned out that the computers weren't working well and they were having a difficult time printing out tickets (When I did finally make it to the front I was met with, "Sir, there is a problem with your ticket..."). Anyway, the flight was delayed anyway by 2 hours, so it didn't end up mattering too much. Except it was hot. And I did get my ticket.
Finally we were ready to board and they let us go up to the walkway that led to the airplane. But the plane had not fully unboarded yet, so we stood in this long, thin, poorly air conditioned glass hallway. After about 30 minutes we were finally allowed on board, but it was too late for a poor 80 year old lady who fainted and vomited. Yours truly responded to "Is there a doctor on the flight?" I won't relay the account, but it was less than satisfactory from my perspective. I couldn't get anyone to translate for me initially, and when someone did, they received quite contradictory commands from some other guy who essentially kept telling them to do all the wrong things. Ugh.
So what's the point? I don't know! I guess I just needed to get that off my chest.
:)
Sometimes this stuff just ain't easy. And there's usually a bit of drama thrown in there somewhere.
Thanks for all the kind and gracious words, by the way!! You really made my day!
Ben
No comments:
Post a Comment