the terminal
i have a fascination with airports, but more specifically, international airports where the immigration authority stamp your passport, as if declaring the beginning or the end of one's trip. it is a place that i find to be so tactile. in fact, it's a fascination which i think began when i was 5 years old, wiping my slacks on the wall of naia 1, thinking it was a mop and in the process, dirtying my pants (and almost ripping it apart!). seeing planes take-off or land is enough to bring any child to a dreamy place, and yet everything is real. the physicality of the place is indeed astounding. it is a place limited by concrete, metal, glass or a combination of the three and yet it encompasses a large portion of humanity, a space filled with people of different nationalities. it's as if the world fit in on area less than the size of one homogenous city. it is a building where people have not really 'landed' or 'taken off', a sort of in between.it is a gate where i find time stop (especially going to different time zones). it is where waiting becomes an accepted activity. it is sometimes where gripping moments are further hightened or at the other extreme, numbness amplified. it is where excitement is being kept carefully inside a glass jar and awaiting to be opened at the other end. it is where people tend to talk easily with others while waiting for their flights.
in fact, in my last few trips, i've met some interesting people: a canadian who was heading over to the philippines, specifically in isabela to have a few days with her in-laws family (hkg); a couple of ofw's coming back to the philippines for a vacation and how there is real hardship in being away from family (cmb and sin); and a filipino-chinese muslim who refused to fume at the security gate when he was thoroughly frisked and refrisked and asked to empty the contents of his carry-on luggage (sfo). it is a place where i would not probably not have a chance to be and talk with these kinds of people.
the airport is indeed a fascinating place brimming with stories. it is tactile, real. and i'm glad that it's part of my travels.
posted by lex @ 11:32 PM
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