By the time we were done with our week of meetings, etc. in the capital, we were ready to hop on the plane to come back to M-ville.
Bright and early at 5 am the car came to get us and we drove through the still sleeping streets of the capital city. It was an unofficial holiday for a large gathering of leaders from around the country and because of that, not many shops were open and people were at home. We quickly got to the airport and began the security dance. More kisses for Little t, more pat-downs, and more in and out of the car.
Somehow we always end up with an extra bag coming back from Kbl and were having trouble managing them all. Thankfully our teammates were with us and helped us juggle them.
We got to the first ‘ticket checkpoint’ and as we were waiting in line, our team leader asked if we had our printed tickets. A and I just looked at each other. We had totally spaced it. Thinking that because we were all booked together, we would all be on one, we hadn’t even thought of printing it out. We frantically tried to figure out how to get through that checkpoint. Our teammates (oddly, the other three were on one print-out and we weren’t) went through first and motioned that we were with them. We hoped it would work but just in case...had an old print-out for a flight to Dubai and decided that we would try to use that and hope for the best. Thankfully the guard glanced at the paper and all of us together and waved us through. HUGE sigh of relief.
After some arguing that we wanted to walk to the terminal, we consented and got on a bus, only to be very thankful we had gotten on the bus as we realized that we passed right by the checkpoint where they really closely look at your ticket. We probably would have been stuck.
We got in and through security with minimal problems. A questioned the guard on why he had let a man keep his cigarette lighter, but was told that the man worked there and he needed to relax…even though he was carrying a bag and went to the terminal…shady. Our teammate got in trouble by the security guard for taking a photo of the sunrise. He chuckled as they insisted he delete it and said, “every time I take a photo here they get really upset.” Huh. Like I said, minimal problems.
Upon arriving at the hanger for our flight, I changed Little t’s clothes and diaper and gave him some breakfast. He was in a good mood and ooed and awed at all of the planes. I got to talking to a local woman waiting for the flight and she was delighted to discover that her firstborn son and Little t shared the same name. She was very sweet and later,as she got out one stop before us, held my hand as she looked down at Little t sleeping in my arms and said, “I will never forget you or your precious boy.” Wow.
Time ticked away and when Little t got antsy we pulled out the computer to watch a movie. When the failed a friend of our who works for the flight company gave him a ride on the lawn tractor. When that (and a second round of the movie) failed, we went exploring. The hanger for this company is at the end of the airport and behind is a small field with some old trucks, etc. Right up Little t’s alley.
Being Little t, he seems to find people wherever he goes. He walked up to a little old man who was fixing a cart. The man picked Little t up after he greeted him, gave him a big kiss. Little t smiled away and chatted with him. As he put him down, the man stuck a 20 afg bill in Little t’s coat pocket and kissed him again. That right there was probably his lunch money…and though I insisted Little t didn’t need the money, the little man just smiled.
Little t marched a little farther to a large fuel truck and the door opened to reveal another old grandpa type man sitting in the seat drinking tea. He motioned for Little t to come up and join him. He put Little t in the driver’s seat and he went to town pretending like he was driving…the biggest smile on his face. After he got out of there, the first old grandpa led him to an old stair truck and let him drive that. The man grinned just as big as Little t did as he watched. I on the other hand wasn’t grinning as much as I was very nervously eyeing the keys that were left in the ignition. I told Little t to not even think about it but the little old man shushed me, saying, “go ahead and let him start it, let’s see what he can do.” Ha! He had no idea what he was talking about. I mean, we are talking about Little t here and I fully knew what he was capable of. Mentally I was preparing myself for him starting that baby and driving it right into the side of the giant plane sitting in front of us.
Our plane decided to leave at just the right time (an hour and a half late because of bad weather in M-ville…as always) and rescued me from finding out what my son was fully capable of in the stair truck. We walked away, waving goodbye to our new friends and Little t blew them very dramatic kisses...the smiles on their faces were painfully wide.
We boarded the plane and after a few minutes of convincing that he couldn’t fly the plane, we settled into our seat and Little t fell asleep. We landed in a wet and muddy M-ville 2 stops, 2 short naps and a few hours later. We were glad to be home.
No comments:
Post a Comment