I used
to have a very severe fear of flying. I
pretty much got over it the year we went to China to bring Grace home. Twenty-one hours straight on a plane will do
that for you. So I don’t exactly fear falling
out of the sky anymore, but the whole process does make me very anxious. It’s not the fear of heights or the unlikely
risk of becoming fodder for a disaster film, it’s the little stuff. From checking in, to worrying about whether
my luggage will arrive. From missing
connecting flights, to concern about whether a nun or a mass murderer will end
up sitting next to me. But my biggest
stressor is a pretty severe case of anxious claustrophobia. Fear of getting stuck in the middle seat. Fear of being trapped on the wrong side of
the food trolley when I really need to go to the bathroom. Fear of having to poop in that horribly tiny
hot noisy little bathroom when a line of grumpy looking business men all want
to do the same. And most especially fear
of boredom. The idea of being trapped on
a plane for 8 hours with not enough to keep my very busy brain occupied is
terrifying, made worse by the fact that I CANNOT sleep sitting up. So for this entire plane ride I will be awake
and TRAPPED.
So far
our trip has gone like this:
Before
we ever got to the airport I was in a state of crisis. We found out at the last minute that we were
going to be delivering another family’s adoption binders. Not something we minded doing at all, after
all our binders were delivered by one of the families in the last batch of
travelers. But when we got the paperwork
it completely filled one of our carry-ons.
And we didn’t get the binders until about 20 minutes before we were
leaving for the airport, so I stood in my driveway sweating like a maniac and
trying to decide what was not coming on the trip with us since all of our other
bags were at maximum weight capacity, too.
All this
put us getting to the airport about 30 minutes later than we planned which
probably wouldn’t have been that big a deal but apparently there was some sort
of humongous convention in town this week.
Like so big that every hotel room in town was booked. And apparently all the people that went to
the convention were leaving town the same time that we were. So there was a line a mile long to check in
with the airline and the same line to get through security checks. Well, Brian and I got through security, but
one of my carry-on bags did not. They
ran it through x-ray twice and then decided to open it up and inspect my large
can of baby formula. The first thing
that popped out like a jack in the box was my bra! They didn’t open up the can, but they did do
some sort of swab test of it and the inside of my suitcase. I guess I passed. The security officer shoved everything back
inside, complimented me on being such a neat packer and sent me on my way.
By now
we have just a minute or two before they start boarding our flight. I run to use a full size bathroom one more
time before being trapped in mini potty world and when I get back Brian is
already in line to get on board.
Our
first flight takes us to Newark, New Jersey.
It’s a 4 hour flight. Brian gets
a window seat. I am next to him (stuck
in the middle) and next to me is a flight attendant on her way to her next
assignment. She was very pleasant. Chatted but didn’t talk too much and she didn’t
make irritated noises when I had to climb over her to get to the restroom. Three things that have changed since my last
flight: you don’t get a meal on this flight (if you want food you have to buy
it), nobody gives you peanuts anymore (just pretzels which are not nearly as
filling), and you have to pay to watch the TV.
What is this world coming to???
Our
layover in Newark is long enough to grab a slice of pizza, charge our Kinshasa
phone for about 10 minutes, and hop on the next flight. This time we are headed to Brussels, Belgium,
which has to be the most boring airport in Europe. Our flight will be 7 hours long. AHHHHHH!
On international flights they do feed and give you access to free movies
and games. Each seat back has a touch
screen in it. I settled in for several
hours of Bedazzled and Brian got started on a game of trivia. He was having a bit of a problem with his
touch screen. It took quite a lot of
pressure to get the game to register his answers. After a few minutes the woman sitting in the
seat in front of him turned around and said “Are you going to be tapping on the
back of my head for the next 7 hours?”
Ugly Americans? How about Snarky Europeans.
On this
leg of the flight Brian got the window seat, I was in the middle again, and the
seat next to me was a Hispanic boy in his early 20’s who clearly did not wish
to be engaged in conversation. His only
carry-on item was a pair of headphones and his phone. Wish I could travel that light. Our meal was a choice between pasta or
chicken. I chose the chicken. It was slathered in barbeque sauce and served
with rice. Who serves rice with barbeque? Clearly their chef is not from Texas. I watched the movie Chronicle. Had no idea what that uplifting little flick
was about. I watched about half of
Sherlock Holmes before my eyes wouldn’t stay focused anymore. Then I shifted around in my seat for another
2 hours. Remember, I CANNOT sleep
sitting up.
We
arrived in Belgium to very overcast skies.
You couldn’t see the ground until we were about 10 feet above it. Brian got his Belgian chocolate fix. Then we headed to a little sandwich stand to
grab some drinks. Two Cokes and two
waters were $22.00. Seriously!!! One more potty break. Discovered something that made me giggle
while on the loo (or whatever they call them Belgium). The trash can in the stall had a brand name
on it—Rentakil. What we would think of
as murder for hire is a trashcan in Belgium.
Next we headed out to “the terminal at the end of the earth”! This is where you go if you are taking
flights to India or Africa. You have to
go down to ground level, get on a bus and ride it for 10 minutes to another
building with nothing in it but gates.
No restaurants, no shops. Just
chairs.
Here we
wait another 45 minutes or so and drink our $6.00 bottles of coke as we wait to
board our final flight from Brussels to Kinshasa, DRCongo. This time I scored an aisle seat (yippee) and
there are lots of empty seats so Brian is not all squeezed in on his side. We start to taxi out to the runway, but it
feels like it is taking forever and we might actually be going in circles. As it turns out we were. There was something wrong with the plane
(don’t you love to get that news as you sit impatiently on the tarmac) and we
had to go back to the terminal to get it checked out by the mechanics. An hour later after they have changed the
battery on the plane (nope, not making that one up) and refuel, we finally are
on our way. This flight will be 8 hours
long.
I had
kind of hoped that there might be a small chance we would get the girls
tonight, but now that we are running at least an hour behind schedule I’m
pretty sure that’s not going to happen.
The flight to Kinshasa has a very different feel to it than other
flights. Everyone is very relaxed. They don’t check to see if your carry-on is
stowed under the seat. People are
walking around chatting with each other.
It’s much noisier with conversation than any flight you’ll probably ever
take. At the end of our row is a
Congolese woman who now lives in Switzerland.
She is coming home to visit family.
But she doesn’t speak any English and our French is disastrous. It has been has been over 25 years since I
took French in high school with Ms. Beppler.
I am very, very rusty! But Brian
has managed to communicate to her that we have 6 kids.
For
lunch we are served beef or fish. I pick
beef. It is called beef tagine. Sort of an Indian-ish dish. Not amazing, but they do serve it with a
wonderful roll and a little personal size Camembert cheese. Yummy!
For desert they bring around ice cream bars, like Eskimo Pies, but
covered in Belgian chocolate. Double
yummy! So now I am full and sleepy and
oh so uncomfortable. Every time I change
position one of my body parts falls asleep.
Just not my BRAIN!!!
So we
are now checked into the guest house where we are staying. The rest of the flight was fine, but we
waited for over an hour to get our luggage off of the slowest conveyor belt in
the world. Our poor guides had to wait
for us at least 3 hours. The Kinshasa airport looks like it was started in the
1960’s, never completely finished and never renovated. For anyone passing through, do not plan on
using the ladies room. It’s a scary
little room with no lights and no toilet paper.
A pitch black smelly closet.
Worse than the ones on the plane J
So tomorrow
is the big day. My girls will arrive
just after breakfast. I don’t know if I
will be able to sleep tonight. I haven’t
slept in 2 days, but right now all I can think about is morning. Good evening from Kinshasa!
