Thursday evening (1/30/14) I was sitting on the passenger side of the car making my way to the Charlotte airport. I took it in: the conversation with Albert (learn who he is in the previous entry), the humming of the music on the radio, the slowing down of the car as I attempted to take pictures of Charlotte's beautiful skyline. We pulled up at the airport, Albert helped get my luggage out of the trunk in exchange for a hug.
Alone, I made my way into the airport with luggage trailing behind me. I had to be a sight to see: a barely 5"2 twenty-two year old young woman who looks barely a day over 18, the carry-on in my hand felt as if it weighed hundreds of pounds, my suitcase packed for 6months in the other hand. I put on "the face," the one that my family refers to as my "intimidating" one. Yeah, that one. I kept reminding myself not to look like a young woman who wasn't sure where she was going as I ventured to check in my bags in the First Class section. That's the benefit of so many delayed & cancelled flights - they reschedule you for First Class, where, interestingly, people had a tendency to question if I were Israeli.
I waited in line at security, looking at the floor mostly, but occasionally looking up at the people behind & in front of me. I tried taking it in: all of the different faces, the different ethnicities, the different languages. It was refreshing, so refreshing. It was so different from back in Mercer County, Ohio.
I almost made it smoothly through security. My purse was held back. I wondered what on earth I could have in there that was causing such havoc? I wondered if something was snuck into my purse? Then I wondered if I would ever get to India at all? That's when I heard one of the workers say, "Lighten up, it's only a water bottle. There are bigger things to worry about..." He handed me back my purse as I apologized for my inconvenient addiction to water. He sympathized. ;)
That trouble-some carry on bag, my purse & I made our way around for the next few hours in the airport. I made a few calls to people back home, as I hung up I realized just how alone I was & how far away the voices on the other end had seemed. I dug in my carry on bag to look through the snacks a sweet friend had given me for my trip. I wasn't even hungry, it just felt comforting knowing where they came from...
I sat & watched as people ran from one side of the airport to the other. Sometimes it was strictly entertaining & other times it was like rooting for the underdog to make it in time! I watched as people began to sit in the area of those who were boarding the same flight as I was. I wondered what each of their stories entailed. I like people-watching, for a girl like me this was heaven on earth...
A man who seemed to be middle-aged sat across from me & fell asleep while waiting to board our flight. I wondered what must have caused him to be so tired? I noted that he was traveling light & figured he must not be going far. A man who acted more like a boy sat across from me a few seats down, inappropriately talking on the phone with someone about the strip club he had just been to. To much of our dismay, he did not fail to leave out any of the indecent detail.
Just as I was about to move & sit somewhere else I realized that the man sitting next to me had been staring at the word written on my hand. He noticed that I had seen him staring & said, "You're not from the Middle East are you?" The tone of his words sounded heavy & demeaning; before I could inform him that the word, was indeed, of an African language, he had already turned his back. That's when I noticed that at some point a girl had sat next to me who was on the phone, speaking in a language unknown to me, that would be the only conversation she would have.
I turned back towards the man who had turned his back to me, only to see an Arab man making his way down the aisle to get a seat. I realized that nearly every eye was on him. He seemed nervous, I offered a genuine smile as he sat across from me a few seats down. No one sat beside him, I wanted to get up and sit next to him as the man beside me (yes the one who asked me about being Middle-Eastern) moved one seat away from me & did not take his eyes off of the Arab man.
I sat there, across from him, wondering what he must be thinking, what he must be feeling. I watched as way too many eyes watched him. I felt an urge to cry, an urge to sit next to him, I got up to do so - just as we told to prepare for our flight.
I walked away from my seat to get in line to board our flight. I stood there feeling like my carry-on was slightly heavier than before, I felt the emotional sting & disgust from what I had just encountered & experienced just 10 feet away. Now, unfortunately, that reminded me of home: the intolerant attitude towards anything or anyone different than you.
I stood there in line, next to a short, dark-haired, woman. I introduced myself & she did as well, telling me that her name was Sivani. She went on to ask me if I was traveling from the Middle East, I told her no, but that for some reason people have been thinking that lately! ;) I asked her if she was from India (she was) and informed her that I was traveling to India. As we boarded the flight we made promise that we'd wait for each other after the flight to finish our conversation that we had started about our homes, college, India and so on.
If you know me at all - you know that I try to be a person of my word, so I stood there waiting as she got off of the plane. We continued our conversation as we practically ran across the Atlanta airport laughing after every one of our mishaps. After minutes & minutes of running & searching we were finally told that we had to take a train to the baggage claim... A train the airport? Yeah, that was a definitely reminder that Coldwater, Ohio is insanely tiny! Not that I was in need of such a reminder!
Sivani & I exchanged phone numbers & hugs before going separate ways. At that moment I saw a blonde-haired, young looking woman (from the organization I am going to India through.) I greeted her with a hug as she took my luggage & informed me that I wasn't using the correct handle for pulling my luggage. I laughed from either literally thinking it was funny, or realizing just how easier my ventures through the airports would have been knowing that simple fact. Thanks to Susan I now know how to make my ventures in Paris & India a bit smoother. ;)
More soon!
Teresa
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