Friday, July 03, 2009

secret 3 - i've been deported

the time: early fall in the late 90s.

the place: belgrade airport

the characters: girl with large blue backpack, flying in from a future secret frankfurt. bitter and nasty passport control guy. gorgeous modelesque friend waiting outside.

backpack girl approaches the desk with her green (yes, it was green, ben franklin commemorative or some such thing) passport, which did not contain a pre-obtained visa to enter serbia. it did, however, contain two visas from visits to serbia in the preceding months and about a dozen for macedonia (those each took a whole page!). she thought those would show her trustworthiness--since what she said was that she was visiting a friend in belgrade and then taking the train back down to skopje.

but she was up against nasty bitter passport control bureaucrat. he was a little testy because the americans hadn't really been that nice to serbia what with threats of bombing belgrade (i don't think that that point that it had actually been bombed) and sanctions and such. and although backpack girl wasn't responsible for those actions and didn't even agree with them, she was the one who was standing right there, wanting special treatment. because she really should have gotten the visa before she came.

so what does nasty passport control guy do? he sends her right back onto the lufthansa plane she came on. and she didn't even get to tell willowly, statuesque friend who she could SEE outside the windows waiting for her what was going on. but lufthansa did let her sit in business class since the flight was pretty full and so she got her first experience of business class travel on a flight from belgrade to frankfurt.

and that's the story of how i got deported from serbia.

and there didn't really seem to be any pictures in my photo library that went with this post, so that's why it's uncharacteristically photo-free.

15 comments:

spudballoo said...

ooooh that's a cool secret. That's the kind of thing that makes me cry, but then stuff like that never happens to me as I never ever 'wing it'. I'm so freakin' square.

I 'thought' I was going to be turned away from Turkey, passport photo v short hair, actual hair v v long at that point. Passport man not happy.

Anonymous said...

very cool! my dad was imprisoned in the USSR (this was in the early '60s) because they thought that his passport was a fake one from a fake country - they wouldnt beleive that a country called maldives existed - after all, it wasnt even on the map!!!

Anonymous said...

Two flights, Deportation, business class, free champagne and a future story for your blog. A pretty cool day

A Cuban In London said...

I sympathise for you. Sometimes I feel the same even entering my own country. Many thanks for sharing this secret.

Greetings from London.

Jelica said...

Getting a visa sux but forgetting one... at least it was a business class with Lufthansa (imagine if they sent you back with JAT).

julochka said...

jelica - i didn't forget, i intentionally didn't get it, thinking that i'd be able to get it at the border, like i did the OTHER TWO TIMES that summer!!!

Anonymous said...

I have been reading your blogs for few weeks and finally have the courage to leave a comment LOL

I love your blog!

Dave King said...

Brilliantly told. And you've reminded me of a similar tale I have to tell from Bucharest. I may even get around to posting it now, so a double thank you!

Cyndy said...

Oh, these secrets are juicy! I would have been terrified in this situation, and happy that they let me leave instead of detaining me.

Which reminds that I need to look into passports, etc. so that I can be ready to jump on a plane and visit you! It is not looking good for September because of a special project we are working on, but I am hoping that BC2.0 will encourage more. If I get stuck at customs, will you break through and save me?

Liz Fulcher, The Fragrant Muse said...

Whatever became of willowly, statuesque friend? I remember those ugly green passports.

rxBambi said...

Did you cry?? I would have cried! Were you able to tell statuesque friend or was she just left there wondering what happend to you? Very scary I think, now I need a drink or something...

wv: butedesc
You were so butedesc out of serbia that day!

Char said...

that is the kind of cool secret I envy. after the fact and all that - I'm sure it wasn't fun while it was happening.

Mary Ellen said...

It's a lot of fun bringing us along as you relive some of your more rambunctious experiences. Especially as you have this world-wide setting for your adventures!

Rosemildo Sales Furtado said...

Hello! Congratulations to you, because you have a beautiful blog. If you put a translator, will be much easier for everyone to understand and comment on texts.

Abraços,

Furtado.

Polly said...

That's a very cool secret. I'm sure whoever reads it sees you as a rugged individual with a well travelled backpack...

It must have been so frustrating to actually see your friend and not be able to tell her what's going on!