But immigration hadn’t really been the part I was nervous about. Next, was security.I rounded the corner with my suitcase case and saw the x-ray machine.
My courage failed me. Previously, I had secretly hoped that I might get stopped at the border. How cool would that be? It would certainly make for a much better story. I realized now how foolish I had been.
While security at the border crossing is not quite as intense as security at an international airport, it is more than I would expect simply going from one city within this country to another.
Unlike the orderly lines at the immigration desks, thing can be little chaotic at the security check point. It’s kind of an open corridor with the big x-ray machine to one side and several security guards milling about.
During my debriefing period, my host had told me that at this point each courier would have to make his or her own decision. It is possible that in the melee of people, I could stroll right through with my case in hand. The obvious advantage to this would be that –if successful- I would be able to skip the x-ray machine, which -considering what I was carrying- seemed like a pretty good idea. The downside of trying to roll past the x-ray machine, was that if I was stopped, I would be drawing unwanted attention to myself.
To be honest, I wasn’t sure what I was going to do until I approached the x-ray machine. The crowd of people moving through was fairly dense. I made the split second decision to try to roll on by. I’ve used the I’m-just-the-ignorant-white-dude-who-doesn’t-know-how-things-work-around-here routine before, and I figured I could fall back on that. It’s surprising how far a shoulder shrug, a dopey look, and some mumbling can get you. I put my head down and kept walking. Just about when I was even with the x-ray machine, I heard a commanding voice bark something in a language I didn’t understand.
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