The flight from Rome wasn’t too bad, in no small part because
I had an entire three-seat row to myself so I could stretch out and nap. I am afraid
I was shameless about hogging it—as soon as the boarding door closed I threw
myself into the middle seat and arranged my knitting around me so as to make it
clear I was not going to share. I felt badly about it, but not badly enough
that I would pass up the chance to get a little space and even a little shut-eye.
I made a note yesterday about how I was just speaking English
to everyone in Rome and how they were all speaking English right back. I should
be clear that I am extremely cognizant of what a privilege this is, and it is
an enormous privilege. Nothing
brings that in focus more than the international arrivals area of JFK. The line
for passport control was estimated at 30 minutes for US passports and 60 for
non-US passports. There was some kind of leak so one of the first sights
everyone had was of what I believe were security screening bins lined with
garbage bags and it didn’t really get better from there.
The passport scanning area was complete chaos and there was
no clear line for anything so we were all just shuffling around while a lady occasionally
yelled, “Follow the person in front of you.” There was a woman clutching a piece
of paper that said in all caps “PLEASE HELP ME I DON’T SPEAK ANY ENGLISH I ONLY
SPEAK PORTUGESE THANKS YOU” and later there was an extremely impatient woman
who was ostensibly managing one of the lines but mostly just yelling at people
and she cordoned off a handful of people, shouting that they needed a Russian interpreter,
then she grabbed another guy by the arm and shouted, “This guy only speaks
Hebrew,” which occasioned a bunch of the line-managing people to start yelling “Does
anyone speak Hebrew?” which wasn’t a bad bet given the circumstances but didn’t
feel like the most appropriate way to get this guy guidance for dealing with
immigration. The people who needed interpreters were also being yelled at in
English, and while they were just being told stand here/go there/wait here I
can only imagine it was baffling at best, especially after a long international
flight.
I have whatever is the opposite of a gift for languages, despite
wishing fervently I could speak way more than one. I took Spanish while I was teaching
at VCU since faculty could take a class or two each semester for free and while
I was super optimistic about my chances I ended up being very grateful that one
of my students was in my class so I could copy her homework. The experience was
traumatic enough that while I have forgotten dozens of former students, I can
still picture Jessie today, frowning at me in disappointment as we sat on the
floor in the hallway outside of our classroom while I compared my workbook to
hers and realized, yet again, that I had no idea what I was doing.
After an hour in line to have an immigration lady look at me
and wave me through without a word, I made my way to the Air Train and lo and
behold there was a couple there who were confused as to where to go. I heard
the man say, “Oh, there’s someone to ask,” and then watched him realize no, there
is no one to ask, and given that they were speaking in English I figured I
might have a shot at helping out so I did. They needed to go to Penn Station so
I got them on the right Air Train (Jamaica, not Howard Beach) with me and then
suggested they might take the LIRR instead of the subway and they were so tired
they were glad to spend an extra few bucks to shorten their trip. I made the
mistake of saying that the LIRR would also be nicer than the subway, which is true
but also calls into stark relief how not-nice the subway can be since the LIRR
isn’t exactly glamourous. Still, I felt better for putting them on the LIRR
when I boarded the E and landed in a car with someone who appeared to live
there. Then I came home to find a host of lovely gifts from my cousins who had
stayed the weekend in my apartment, as well as a beautiful poinsettia from my cleaning
lady, and if you think I am going to bed immediately you are correct, but I will
be doing so with tremendous gratitude for all that me and mine have.
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