From the beginning

To really appreciate the story of our exodus, I should start by explaining one of the cardinal rules of living in the third world: any type of action described first with the word "common" is not "occurring or appearing frequently" i.e. common sense and common curtesy.

With that said, our story starts with a handsome med student and his young island bride who had been living far from home for 8 whole months. Desperately homesick (she) and ready for a break from the monotony of testing (he) they we're looking forward to a short vacation where they would be reunited with family, friends, their cute puppy Sadie, airconditioning, and delicious food. Picture perfect, right? Enter Hurricane Dean.



In the weeks before the end of the semester I spent a lot of nights in the bookstore serving coffee to super stressed out students who spoke of the horrors of the Dominica airport system. Incredulous, I soon heard enough testimony of the complete chaos that a normal departure entailed, that when wind of Hurricane Dean surfaced, I expected the worst (read: totally freaked out).



note: Apparently, it is easy to get bumped from a flight, even if the tickets were purchased months in advance. American Airlines and LIAT are the only two airlines to fly in to Dominica, and have adopted an island attitude that is not always legit (take, for example, the story of the girl in line with us to leave post hurricane who had a ticket for Thursday and was waiting patiently in line when another student whose chartered flight cancelled, skipped in line and got on a flight out while she was turned down for her own flight because it was "overbooked" which required her to stay through the hurricane friday and try again with us on Saturday). Remember that cardinal rule?



So as reluctant as I was to show up to the airport for a 3:oo PM flight before noon, we planned to get there as early as possible and arranged a transport to get us there at 6:oo AM. While other students freaked out about the hurricane and chartered flights off the island, Justin studied for exams and I tried to pack up the apartment to move before we left. The expected ETA for hurricane dean was late Thursday. While a good number of people rushed the airport waiting in line for hours hoping for a flight, we spent Thursday moving our things into Andrew and Christina's apartment and cleaning out our old apartment. Ever the optimist, Justin tried comforting phrases like "don't worry" and "it will be fine" and even more ridiculous "I'll get you off the island, I promise" When the power and water went out around midnight, we waited for the hurricane, unable to check its progress online. All day Friday it rained. Seriously all day. The wind wasn't too bad, but without power, our twentyfirst century reliance on the internet left us with no news, sweating, inside the apartment, in the dark.

"don't worry"

By friday evening, we scrambled to confirm our ride to the airport the next morning, and barbequed the rest of our chicken with Rachel and Brian. At 4:15 we pulled our bags outside and loaded up and headed out to the airport. Of course no one had heard the news that the airport was closed.

"i'll get you off the island"

We made it to the airport a few minutes before 6 and got out at the gates. We were told the airport was not opening until 11. We sat on suitcases and played uno. We were told the airport was not opening until 1 or 2. Justin took a nap on the road. Others were arriving at a steady flow, none having showered for lack of water, and all waiting outside the gates hoping to go home. The security guards explained the delay was a result of no one showing up for work. A phone number to the US Embassy in Barbados was passed out among the students and everyone was encourage to call and ask for help. Students took pictures of everyone waiting outside the gates in the sun (yes, have I mentioned that? the post hurricane weather was beautifully perfect, just like the runway beside us) and sent them from their phone to the Embassy. We waited.

A little before 11, a professor, who also wanted to leave the island, came out from behind the gates and told us the Ross and the Embassy were trying to get everyone who worked at the airport to show up and open the gates.

"it will be okay"

At that point he said the only flight that was confirmed to leave was the 3:00 AA flight. Justin and I moved to the front of the line and when the gates opened, we walked the three hundred yards to the check-in area. Of course, remembering the cardinal rule, you must imagine the scene as it really happened: common sense and common curtesy thrown to the wind, other, desperate students rushed around and in front of us in a huge rat race to the counter. By the time we got there, the line was filled to just inside the doors. Remember now, no one had showered in over 24 hours, and most had been sitting outside the airport for at least 5, sweating. Remember also, the airport is not airconditioned. We waited in line for another hour, while the people behind the desk set up and figured out the flight situation. An announcement was made that no flights were confirmed. 15 minutes later another announcement was made that the 3:00 flight may still arrive.

"don't worry"

A girl behind us tried to complain that since it was only noon, she was not late for her flight at 1:20. The Airline rep tried to explain that that flight would have already needed to depart from San Juan to arrive and it had been canceled. Another girl tried to ooch her way past us claiming her friend was saving her spot in line. We said that was too bad. Robert did a good job of nonconfrontationally not moving and avoided eye contact at all cost. We managed to keep her from getting any closer to the front, but it was a constant struggle that included an invasion of personal space. In the LIAT line, no flights were confirmed and the reps behind the counter were scrambling to arrange a flight to come to the island. They found a flight that was going to St. Lucia and there was a rush to the counter for people who wanted to get off the island so badly, they would go and take it from there. Eventually our flight was confirmed and we just happened to be standing at exactly the spot in line that was opened for people to form another line adjacent. Perfect.

"i told you not to worry"

We were ticketed, our bags checked, and we moved to the security line, but in much better spirits. The "I'll get you off the island, don't worry" comments that I had been hearing so frequently from Justin finally stopped grating on my nerves, but I was still hesitant to celebrate our good fortune. I had my doubts until the plane landed at 2:30 and not until I boarded the plane and we took off did I really let myself believe I was going home. For real.

The rest of our airport experience that day passed without a hitch. Customs was organized and speedy in San Juan and we had time to get a quick snack before continuing on to Miami. That is where, after being up almost 20 hours and not having showered in almost 48, we realized our bags had been checked through to Houston and there was no way to get to them. We spent 7 hours in the wonderful Embassy Suites where we enjoyed hot showers without the threat of sweating and the most comfortable bed I'd slept on in over 220 nights. Of course the next morning we had to put on the same gross clothes from the day before, but we were too excited about coming home to really care.