Navigator: I Love Airports!

It’s 6:47 a.m. on Friday as I write this, and I am more than four hours early for my international flight. (I mixed up the departure time with the arrival time!)

Light from the brightening sky has been pooling into the previously dark waiting area of Dulles International Airport, where I have been sitting, waiting to check in. An Indian family across from me is trying to entertain a fussy toddler. Behind me, an airport employee speaks to someone (a friend? a sister?) on the speakerphone in a mix of West African French and English. From time to time, her walkie-talkie bleeps and stern voices crackle through. In the background, Blondie’s “Heart of Glass” is playing, but because I’m so sleepy, it takes me a few minutes to identify the song.