DAY 91: The Deportation Saga Continued

We arrived at our hostel at about 2:30 AM and we immediately set to work. We had briefly Skyped our parents at the Edinburgh Airport to let them know what was going on. Lizzy's mother, god bless her, was unable to sleep and spent the next few hours looking up immigration law in the U.K and Ireland. From what she had found out, WWOOFing was considered working in the U.K. and therefore needed a work Visa. But this was not the case in Ireland.

Okay. Ireland it is! Now we just needed a place to WWOOF. We contacted the lovely woman in Scotland who we were supposed to meet the next day to let her know we would not be coming. She was so kind and tried her best to help, but once refused admittance, there was no going back.

So we posted an S.O.S. on the WWOOF Ireland page hoping that some kind soul would take pity on us and let us work on their farm.

We went to bed after having a very interesting conversation with a drunk Australian in the hallway at 4:00 AM. We pulled ourselves out of bed at 7:00 AM hoping that we had a response from someone.

Sure enough, we had multiple offers to stay on different farms around Ireland. We responded to three and decided that the first person to write us back was the farm we would go to. Minutes later, we had a response from Oliver who owned a Bed and Breakfast in Navan, Ireland just an hour north of Dublin.

Just to make sure, I called Immigration at Dublin Airport. "WWOOFers? Yes of course we accept WWOOFers. Just have a letter from the people you are staying with and you will be all set." THANK YOU IRELAND!

Oliver sent us the letter within the hour and we were all set. Now we just needed plane tickets to Dublin.

With a new spring in our step, we refused to leave Scotland without seeing any of it. So we got dressed and set out to explore. We got a delicious breakfast and walked around the city. We saw Edinburgh Castle and the Cathedral before we had to hop back on the bus for the Edinburgh Airport.

Once back at the Airport, we had to have an Immigration Officer escort us around to check our bags, print our tickets, and give us back our passports. We tried to get them to let us buy plane tickets to Ireland, but they refused. "We have to send you back from where you came from." UGH FINE!

So we got on our plane at 4:00 PM bound for Brussels. We we landed we were greeted with an announcement over the loudspeaker.

"Passengers Deanna Rodolfy and Elizabeth Appleby please see security after exiting the aircraft."

Oooooh Boyyy.

When we got off, there were not one, not two, but THREE security officers waiting there for us.

"Please come with me," said the leader. We followed him as his two buddies walked behind us. They escorted us down a back staircase and outside onto the runway where they planes were. When they opened the door, there was a hallway made of chain link fence leading us directly into an armored van. The fence clearly said, "Don't even think about making a run for it..."

So we got in the van, only to find there were no seats in the middle. There were two seats facing the rear of the van located directly behind the drivers seat. Eight feet away were two other seats facing the front- with literally nothing in between. The Leader sat in the seat behind the drivers seats while his two henchman took the front two seats. So Lizzy and I took the seats in the back. The van clearly said, "No sudden movements please..."

I think this was the first time in the history of ever that Lizzy actually had enough leg room in a car.

We drove for about 5 minutes until we pulled up to another entrance to the airport. We were then escorted from the van inside. Picture this: a large room with two benches, a broken vending machine, two mattresses in the corner with crumpled up blankets, some toys scattered on the floor, and an obviously cold black man bundled up so that we could only see his nose and eyes. We took our seat on the other bench next to him and looked out the windows to see an entire army of Immigration officers watching us with their guns at their belts drinking coffee.

Finally one of the officers came in. He walked over to the black man and shook him awake. "No sleeping," he told him. YIKES.

A few minutes later, we were called into the office. We walked past a few officers into another office where a young woman was sitting at a huge desk. I swear, this desk felt like the one in the Oval Office to me- it was so formidable I almost peed my pants. The woman glared at us over the desk like Professor Umbridge while her eight security officers were standing behind here.

She looked at us and said in a pleasant voice, "So, what happened in Scotland?"

We immediately began our tale, telling her about our refused entry and how we know we shouldn't be back in the Schengen Area because our three months are up, but we plan on WWOOFing in Ireland if they will let us go and that we already spoke to their Immigration and please please PLEASE let us go!

"Do you have the funds to buy tickets to Ireland?"

"Yes..."

"Okay. You're free to go."

"That's it??"

"Yes. You can stay in a hostel in the city if you like. Good luck girls, enjoy your trip."

WHAT THE....

They then sent us through a door that led straight into the baggage area where our packs were waiting for us. We were free.

Lizzy and I were so dumbfounded we could barely move. Finally, reality kicked in, and we realized we needed to buy the next tickets to Dublin, STAT. We spent the next few hours trying to steal WiFi from the airport and book the cheapest flights to Ireland as possible.

10:00 AM was the next available flight and we bought the last two tickets. Suddenly becoming money conscious, we didn't want to take a bus into the city and pay for a hostel. So we bought dinner and piled our luggage onto a cart and found a few benches to sleep on for the night.

Unfortunately, we were not allowed to check in until 7:00am the next day. Which meant that we were outside security and therefore couldn't sleep in a terminal, but in the main entrance to the airport. Where it was cold. And we had a visitor.

On the bench over 30 feet away, a homeless man had taken refuge on another bench. And he and his stench became our overnight companions. I awoke to find him cleaning his feet. Fun times...