Nightmares

By Jay Shifley

Well, this week I had two nightmares.  In the same night.  I am going to tell one of them to you, but it probably won’t be scary to you if you don’t have experience in developing-world airports. Please understand that it had me in a cold sweat and I was unable to go back to sleep for a couple hours because of it!

In the dream I was at an airport checking my family in for a flight.  For some reason my family was not there for the check-in but were on their way to the airport—not possible in real life but remember, this is a dream!  It was really crowded and everyone was pushing and shoving, and I felt really stressed.

Suddenly all check-in activity ceased, and all the employees left the check-in area with worried looks on their faces.  Someone came out and said that I needed to follow him to a room, and when I got there it was full of luggage.  I was told that all flights had been cancelled, and that I was to find my luggage and go home.  No explanation, no instructions except to find my luggage.

While this was going on, I was frantically trying to call my wife to tell her not to come to the airport, but she was not picking up (a common real-life occurrence).  The luggage in the room went on for miles, it seemed, and a lot of it was open and clothes were strewn about. I didn't know how I was going to find ours.  I woke up then—panicked with my heart racing!

We could discuss the symbolism of this dream applied to what is currently going on in my life, but that is not why I am telling it to you.  The thing that made this dream so scary is that it was so realistic!  Something like this really could happen in a third world airport!

So my point is this:  be prepared.  Anything can happen to you when you are traveling in the developing world.  It’s part of the adventure, and it’s part of the cost!