It’s 2:43am Thursday, I have been up since 5am Wednesday and I haven’t even boarded my first flight home yet.
My day started off as normal, Facetime with Kelsie at work by 7am. Got back home about 630pm and had to pack and clean the house a little. I have 3 suitcases to take back home, but they are all stuffed inside each other. I have a few souvenirs and my clothes for the week in the States.
At 11pm, my ride to the airport rang my doorbell. What? 11PM??? He wasn’t supposed to be here for another hour, I still needed to shower…. That didn’t happen. I got changed and loaded my stuff into his car and off to the airport we went.
Everyone is instructed to arrive at the airport 4 hours early to allow enough time to get checked in, get through exit immigration, and then get through security. But they don’t open the checkin counters until 3 hours before the flight, so I found a place to sit and wait.
I love people watching. I sat down at a table and a few other guys joined me. I am pretty sure they were Philipino, but I am not sure. I wish I had the gift of interpretation of tongues. (that’s a joke for all you charismatic/pentecostals)
Eventually the cue was formed to get checked in and I joined everyone else waiting around. My “empty” suitcases weighed 20.2 kilos.
Next, exit immigration aka passport control. They have to make sure you have permission to leave the country. That is an exit visa. Yes, you need permission to leave the country. The line was short, but the agent grumpy. I smiled and said “good morning” but all I got was a groan. At least I got my passport back and they let me through.
Finally, security. Belt off, backpack on the conveyor belt, and me through the metal detector. It went off. Twice. I got a pat down. At least the security guard was nicer than the customs agent.
Time to wait to board my plane.
wherever you go 