Part 4, Please read Parts 1, 2 and 3 before reading this entry.
Inside the airport, the scene was subdued, the walls were grey, and the florescent lights made most things appear dull and drab. The temperature was very hot and the mass of people in the enclosed area raised the humidity making everything feel damp. The airport terminal was old and everything was worn or broken. Yet the walls also delineated the space and created a certain sense of security. Here, the airport staff was able to more or less control the crowd. There were long lines, but sometimes they moved, and some people were able to check in, get boarding passes, and then pass through to the boarding area. There was some progress and there was limited hope. No one wished to return to the outside.
We left this semidarkness and security to break out into the bright sunlight, deep blue sky, and the brisk fresh Libyan air and to the area outside the terminal. As far as we could see, people were crowding to the airport: men wearing tunics carrying great big boxes and huge blankets, ladies all in black with only their eyes peering through slits, other ladies with heads covered and tiny babies. It was as if the whole world were gathering here for some big announcement. The crowd easily tripled since we had gone in at about noon. Inside the airport, although seemingly chaotic and claustrophobic, there was sense of finite space and boundaries. Outside, the mass of humanity was immense. It was like entering another dimension. I felt like those people in TV show Stargate, who step through a barrier into another planet in another universe. The outside was incredible; So many people spreading out as far as we could see!
Everywhere we looked, there were individuals holding up flags of different countries. People were flocking to the flags. Laughing and hugging as they discovered friends and fellow countrymen. Katyann was amazing. Even at the age of six, she could easily identify more flags than I could. She knew the Egyptian flag, the Dutch flag, the Italian flag and many others. It was fun to see what countries we could identify. We searched for the American flag, it was no where to be seen. Our friend asked us about the American evacuation plan. I knew very little of their plans. Only a couple of days earlier at a special staff meeting, they had insisted that everything was fine.
We found one of my students with her parents. They were waiting outside to hear if they were going to get a flight. The company that had brought them to Tripoli was trying to evacuate them. They were hoping to hear soon that they would be leaving. It was great to see another familiar face. We laughed and shared our experiences. We had brought chocolates that were shared and enjoyed. I told my student she should expect twice the homework now that we were going to miss a few days. Being with friends in the bright sunshine was very pleasant. Surrounded by thousands, we were together in our own world. Things just felt better.
Our friend from the UN would not leave the airport until he knew his wife’s plane had taken off. We left Lenore and Katyann with our friends from the school to put our bags in his car. I returned to my family but our benefactor wished to check and see if his wife’s plane had departed. He returned to say that he had seen a group from the United States. I left with him hurriedly to meet up with my fellow country members. I assumed that the embassy staff was here like so many other nations, trying to help their citizens evacuate the country. Hopefully, they had arranged for a plane and soon my family and I would be joining the other teachers from the school on our way out of Libya to safety.
We saw two white vans. As we approached, several of my students let out a yell. It was great to see them all sitting in the van. My friend from the UN quickly asked who is in charge. An American I had never seen before said “I am”. We rushed up to him and I said “I am from the school”. He looked at me confused and said “What school?”. I told him that I was from the American School of Tripoli and that I had been staying there with the other teachers. He appeared not to know about the American School or the teachers. When I saw the two vans I had hoped that they were there to rescue my family. I had mistakenly believed that the vans and the embassy staff had been at the airport to provide assistance like the flag waving representatives of the other countries. In reality they were in the same situation as my family and the thousands of others trying to get out of Libya. They were probably just as lost and confused as I was. I suppose they had arrived at the airport expecting a plane that probably couldn’t land or was canceled just like mine. Feeling a little befuddled and embarrassed, I started to retreat.
The parent of one of my students came out of the van and greeted me. She explained that they had hoped to leave but that it did not look like they were going to be able to. She said that they were working on a plan. She said that they might get a ferryboat and that they were working on it as we spoke. I told her good luck and not to forget the teachers still at the American school. After this brief conversation, I said I needed to get back to my family and started away.
I left preoccupied for several reasons. First, I was concerned that the US Embassy did not seem to be any better informed than I was about the situation at the airport or even in the rest of the country of Libya. I was concerned that if the embassy staff had gotten their flight, what would have been the level of the US embassy concern for the teachers still stuck in the school? To some extent we teachers believed that the US embassy was looking out for us. At least that is what they had told us at a staff meeting. We had been informed a few days earlier that although we were not their official priority, the US embassy and the school had a special relationship and we would be part of their plans. Also, I thought, if they were just now, at this point, looking into arranging a ferry to evacuate, it could easily be several days before that could transpire. All the teachers, and most importantly my family could be in real danger.
Walking away, almost instantly, I began to feel guilty. I realized that I was so preoccupied with my own situation and that of my family, I had not spoken to my students. In this huge mass of humanity, I had come across my students, brushed past them, interrogated the Embassy officer, talked briefly to a parent and left without interacting with the students. Surely, they were probably concerned and interested in my situation. I should have stopped and found out how they were doing. In all the other occasions it had been so gratifying even to talk with someone who spoke my own language. Of all the people I had come in contact with that day, my interactions with the embassy staff and students were the most fleeting, the most dissatisfying, and most surreal. We had met briefly, the interactions incomplete, leaving me with a deepening sense of insecurity.
Returning, I was glad to see my wife. I was glad to see my baby girl. We hugged. And even though I had real trepidations about our future, it was great to be with my family. The student and her family that we had bonded with earlier were like old friends. We chatted and joked. It was as if my encounter with the embassy had never happened. I was looking forward to getting back to the school and being with the rest of the staff at the school. I felt I needed to warn them that flights were going to be very difficult and that there were no guarantees, even if they had a purchased ticket. Also, I needed to tell them that we needed to stick together. The airport was too dangerous if you were by yourself. The US embassy ferryboat evacuation seemed a little sketchy and not too sure at that point.
Stay tuned for Part 5 for the exciting conclusion to this story.
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