Do I Really Look Like a Threat to Society?

After my seven hour flight back to London I was excited to get through security
and get back to my team, but little did I know that I would be pretty much
interrogated for the next three hours. It all started with the customs immigration card and its demand for an
address of where I would be staying. I
didn’t think not having one would be such a big deal, but I guess Napoleon and
I were not on the same page. It seems
that you need to have an address for where you will be staying if you aren’t
wearing a fancy business suit or a very expensive Burberry dress coat with high
heels and a Coach purse.   I, on the
other hand, was not all that impressive with my hair pulled back, black
athletic pants, and fake Uggs. I did not
have an address, I did not have a phone number of any of my contacts in London, and I had a long
list of questionable visas in my passport that started the next long list of
questions. 

Napoleon, having looked through my passport and visas,
started questioning me on where I’ve been and where I’m going. So, I started to explain that I was actually
part of an eleven month program and we were traveling to eleven different
countries and volunteering with different ministries. He wasn’t too impressed… in fact, he was
really annoyed by my answer. “Well, what
were you doing in these countries?” I
started to explain that we worked at orphanages, with different ministries, and
were raising awareness about different social issues. “Well, what do you mean you worked at
orphanages? That’s really not
descriptive.” Seriously? It took
everything in me to not get sarcastic with him. Um, we worked in an AIDS orphanage in Cambodia and played with the kids,
taught them Bible stories, fed them, bathed them, tucked them into bed. Is
that descriptive enough?  

“Well, what were you doing in Thailand?” That was a question I wasn’t sure I wanted to
answer, but I tried my best to explain that we were working with prostitutes,
and raising awareness on human trafficking issues. He also did not like this answer and started
raising his voice at me, telling me that his country has to deal with all the Human
Trafficking issues and kind of accused me of being a part of the problem. There was nothing I could say to please this
man. He obviously had something against
me, and my chances of getting into the country were looking worse and worse.  

Finally, he asked me why I was in London and what we were doing here. I tried to explain that we were partnering
with local churches, participating in outreaches and teaching Sunday
school. I guess this made me a criminal
in his eyes and now he really didn’t want to let me into the country. He proceeded to tell me that I was there
illegally and that I wouldn’t be allowed to re-enter the country. I had no idea what to do. They made me sit down and wait while they tried
to figure out the next step.

When Napoleon came back, he asked who was meeting me at the
airport. Of course, I didn’t really know
the answer to this question either.  I had to tell him that there were 31 different
options of who might be meeting me at the airport but I could guarantee him
that there was some one waiting for me. Again, he wasn’t amused.  He rolled his eyes and had me sit down and
wait again while they proceeded to do background checks, look into the ministry
I was with, and tried to find out who was there to meet me by showing my
passport to anyone they could. 

Finally, he stumbled across Lisa and Krystle who identified
me by my picture. They knew that I was probably being questioned because of my
Afghan and Pakistani
visas but they didn’t think it would be too serious. Luckily they were in high spirits and refused
to take the man seriously. He asked them
to come through security with them so that they could ask them a few
questions. Lisa clarified that I had
worked with an NGO in Afghanistan
a few years back and that it had nothing to do with the trip we are on now, and
then Krystle was able to give them the address of where we were staying. Finally, the were able to call Stephanie (our
fearless squad leader) and get all the information of when I would be leaving
the country. 

After being reassured that I would leave the county on
January 6^th, they agreed to let me through. They reiterated that I was not really here
legally and that if I choose to return to England in the future, I would have
difficulties getting in. Basically, I’m
not welcome back to England
in the future. Silly me, I thought we
were friends! 

Lisa and Krystle were eagerly awaiting my release and had
prepared an interpretative dance and song, but I ruined it when I walked through
the doors and starting bawling. I
couldn’t hold it in anymore. All said
and done, it was an entertaining experience that I will never completely
understand but it kept us laughing on the way home. I wasn’t sure if I should
blog this, but I’m kind of proud that someone though I was a threat to national
security. I don’t get that often.