2011 day 2 installment 4

2011 day 2, installment 4
So, off the plane and running with the herd to get to the Visa issuing desk. True to my nature, I chose the one line of the six that refused to advance. I’m standing there trying to figure out whether I should get my sleeping bag out, and wishing that I had taken some Swahili lessons from Jeff…..(see an earlier blog) I was just about to get my razor out for the second time when I saw that the problem was 2 muslim women dressed in their conventional garb….either that or there were 2 small tents holding up the line. Maybe it was two muslim women camping. Needless to say, I was about the 4^th to last person to get my visa…but then there were only about 350 people ahead of me. Down to the baggage claim….turns out that the visa people are faster than the baggage unloaders. After shaving again, my 2 tubs and the saw came out. The saw had traveled well and actually looked in better shape than I did…but then it didn’t sit in a 10”x10”x6” space for 22 hrs….I knew I should have taken the check thru option. The tubs…not so good. Oh they looked fine on top, but when I picked the first one up I was amazed at how a few restful hrs in the air strengthens a man…even me. The bottom wanted to stay on the carousel. Somehow, the official baggage damaging crew had made their way to my stuff and had done a bang up job…and I do mean bang up. Both tubs were just hanging on for dear life. So with alittle made up Swahili, I felt better and filed a claim. The official shrink wrap crew wrapped the tubs and I think everything is there….we’ll see. Can you imagine my excitement when I spotted the Customs guys. They, like all customs guys take their training in Afghanistan under Bin Laden’s bunch. Using my best “orphan caretaker” look, I crept up to the counter and sighed a big sigh….like ‘oh the poor kids’ type sigh. He didn’t even flinch….”Trying the ol’ orphan caretaker ploy, huh”. he says. “Worth a try” I said. “Anything to declare?” he sneers. Laying under a pile of broken tubs and one factory boxed table saw, I offered, “nothing of value.” Almost had him fooled too, but evidently his eyesight was pretty good. Looking at the brand new expensive looking saw box, he said “looks pretty well used….what do you suppose the new value would be?” Running the options thru my meager brain I rejected the $17.50 figure and told him “more than I want to tell you”. “Looks pretty well used” he winks to me, “I think it’s depreciated to about $200.00 US, what was in the tubs”? “Ah, I forget” says I, knowing that God is a forgiving God. “OK, then” says Mohammed Bin Laden Jr, “I’ll have to charge you 7000”. “Bit extreme” I whine. “Schillings, there, Mzungu” he says with one of Jeff’s ‘what a dumb***’ looks. “Oh” I mumble, handing him $90.00 as I bolted for the door….well not exactly bolted, but I didn’t want him to change his mind, as I thought I was facing a $500.00 duty. He even helped me to the door…probably happy to see me go...doesn’t speak very well of the training camps in Afghanistan, does it…..he won’t last long as Customs guy…
I had arranged for this small local hotel to pick me up and then bring me back in the morning. the guy didn’t show….and I don’t have a phone……good thing I felt right in my element…no internal stress or anything like that….what to do, what to do…..first thought, where’s Victor, or my mommy? Shortening this to just an epic novel, I found a cab and said “would you take me and my 90 kgs (190lbs) of stuff to Marble Arch Hotel?” “Yes, get in on top of your stuff and we will go…..do you know where it is?” “Aren’t you a cab driver in this city?” I say hopefully. “Yes, the very best…..do you know where it is, I will take you there.” I’m thinking, it’s 10:00 at night in a strange country, in a strange city, with a strange cabbie, I’ve been up and traveling for over 30 hrs, I, feel like Forrest Gump, “I’m tired, I think I’ll go home now.” Fighting back the urge to try to sneak back on the plane, I remembered that the hotel is by the bus depot…the big depot….”ever heard of it?” I asked….”Yes sir, I will take you to the bus depot.” “Will the bus take me to Anacortes?” I query. “Do you know where Anacortes is” Dufus Cabbie asks, “I will take you there” he finishes with exuberance. All I could think was ’where is Victor?’
Got to the hotel…my reservation was still good PTL. I went up to my room pretty well discouraged. I hit that well known wall of “What am I doing here….I want to go home”…… I know what I’m doing here, God asked me to come…I know that…He has something in mind….it will be better tomorrow.