The Maya Maya Airport (Again)

Here we are again – it is Tuesday. We have to drag our luggage to the Lebanese restaurant for breakfast – where Jessica also intends to pick up sandwiches for the river trip. Then on to taxis back for another lovely Maya Maya Airport experience (I wore the exact same clothes for that "Ground Hog Day" experience). Spyros says he will make a go no go decision at the airport. And Sharon asks to use my phone as she intends to go home Wednesday if Air France can fly her. Calling does not work – but rather then eating breakfast I find an unprotected wireless network and check the Air France website. Does not allow me to book a ticket for Wednesday. Later Akos finds there are no seats available – so Sharon decides to go which makes me happy. Mark will not waver – but Spyros decides to stay behind. We get back to Maya Maya – at 7 AM. Compared to Monday the Airport is an oasis of tranquility. Make our way trough passport control (why? We are not leaving the country!) with yesterday’s boarding passes. Past bag check (a bit more thorough this time). All the seats are taken (pretty sure some of these people live here ....) but “The Bar” is empty so we commandeer a table. Get told we have to order something – so Andy and Mark do. Jean-Pierre makes it in and says we have to get by the door as boarding will be a mad dash.

We see people positioning themselves by the door – like runners preparing for a race. We do the same thing with Akos in the lead. Miraculously our flight gets called first – and then we see what Jen-Pierre means. You get out by pushing. I wait for someone to push me out (we are packed tight) but somehow the locals won’t push us (no matter what everyone is extremely nice and courteous to us). Claire blocks the door and pushes me (and others) out. Jessica wishes she could video this (I do as well – I am sure if I make it out of here alive I will think this is a dream). We get to the line – not too far back. Akos is near the front and gets most of our group to join him. At this point “The Man in the Pink Suit” arrives. A car with “VIPs” pulls to the side of the plane. This gigantic man – wearing a bright pink suit and matching tie gets out – with a companion in a bright blue suit (and another guy whose attire I cannot recall being mesmerized by the pink suit – exactly the color of my pink brief case – which I wish I could give to the “Man in the Pink Suit”). They take out a gigantic suit case which two people load on (Claire thinks it is filled with gold – like sometimes we think Spyros’ yellow bag must be as he never lets it out of his sight J). The VIPs get on the plane. Then they start letting us peons in. The flight attendant tries to check my carry on – which is about a fourth the size of “The Man on the Pink Suit”’s suitcase. She insists it is too heavy. I refuse to give it up – its contents are my connection to some sort of normalcy. Eventually an Air Congo representative says to let me take it on. The bag fits perfectly fine in the overhead – again another example of someone trying to exert authority just to be cruel. We all get on (to anyone else today’s experience is chaotic – but after yesterday it seems perfectly civilized and efficient). Mark is looking out the window and notices that several people with boarding passes are denied boarding (even though there are plenty of seats). The stairs are pulled away and off we go. Amazing how having a boarding pass is meaningless … anyone anytime can just show up and take your seat if they are important enough or can pay a higher bribe. The corruption is sickening – makes our good Senator Ted Stevens from Alaska look like a Knight in Shining Armor – a model citizen :-).