Today we drove out to the PAP airport again to await the arrival of anther Denton flight. Last week’s flight had all of Meer’s cargo but none of mine (see July 23 post). Since the original load had been split, my cargo was supposed to be on this flight. Meer and I left C’ville in the Kia with Gesnier, a weekend driver for C’ville. An hour later as we turned onto the airport road, Meer pointed out the driver’s side window. The C-17 was in the air! It looked like it had just taken off. I quickly got on the phone with Ruben. Had we gotten the arrival time wrong. No, he assured me. The plane was just making a second approach. I was relieved but we were still stuck on the airport road for another 30 minutes before we finally broke through the lines of cars going to the terminal and the parking lot and we headed for gate #7. We pulled into the parking area alongside several of Kathy’s trucks and waited. I called Ruben to let him know we had made it. We waited. About 20 minutes later, the escort vehicle came and took us out alongside the runway to the unloading area. I remarked to Meer how security had changed since we came to the airport for the first Denton flight in March (see March 29 post). Back then our driver had to surrender his driver’s license for a vehicle pass. Before we could drive onto the tarmac, we stopped at a second checkpoint where our vehicle was inspected and we were wanded with a metal detector. Today, no vehicle pass, no second checkpoint; we just followed the escort vehicle onto the tarmac right up to the U.S. Air Force C-17 from Charleston, SC.
Meer and I got out of the Kia and started looking around. Most of the cargo had already been off-loaded. There did not seem to be much food this time but a lot of furniture and boxes of clothes, a washing machine, blankets, chairs and desks. But no GeneXpert and no test cartridges. We walked around several times. My cargo was not on this flight. We talked with Kathy. She did not know why my stuff had not made it on this flight. She does have stuff on two more Denton flights coming in later this week. By then I will be back in the U.S. I was hoping that I would be here when my equipment arrived. Now, after two flights in one week, I still don’t have my equipment. I was very disappointed.
We could not leave with an empty truck. Kathy asked us if we needed any desks or filing cabinets. Meer showed her a couple of nice four drawer filing cabinets we could use so we slide them into the Kia. Then someone found an incubator on one of the pallets. It did not belong to us. Kathy thought it might have arrived at her warehouse after she left for Haiti and they just shipped it without telling her. She asked Meer if he wanted it. Sure, he replied. So the old microbiological incubator went into the Kia. Maybe it works, maybe not. If it works, we’ll use it. If not, we’ll find someone to fix it.
Soon the C-17 was revving its engines to taxi away from the unloading area. The plane was facing us and the noise was deafening. The pilot made a tight pivot and pulled away. The heat from the engines was indistinguishable from the late afternoon Haitian summer heat. It was time for us to go also. We will stay in touch with Kathy and Ruben. When the next flight arrives, they will let us know and Meer will work out a way to pick up my cargo. We thanked Kathy and Ruben, climbed into the Kia, and left the unloading area and followed the escort vehicle back to gate #7. We headed back to the airport terminal where one of Meer’s friends was waiting to pick him up. Meer will celebrate the end of Ramadan with his friends in PauP. I walked to the arrivals area and waited for Danette and two students from Texas A&M who came in on the American Airlines flight which arrived while our C-17 was unloading. I found them and brought them to the Kia. We loaded their bags and headed back to C’ville.
I was hot, tired, sweaty, and dusty. I had spent the afternoon breathing diesel fumes while stuck in the PauP traffic (remember, the Kia is not air-conditioned so the windows were open) and aviation fuel fumes while waiting under the unrelenting sun in the parking area. I was disappointed that my cargo was not on this flight. Very disappointed. I hope my cargo will come on the flight next Saturday. If it does, we have another plan to pick it up. If not… I don’t want to think about that right now. Stay tuned.
Did it ever come?
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