Running on Fumes

Mexico City was a complete blur. After checking in and then out of the Hotel Camino Real Aeropuerto Mexico in less than an hour we headed off to a press/delegation luncheon at the Four Seasons. I was hoping that since we were in Mexico that the lunch would be an assortment of local food since I love Mexican food. I was disappointed when service staff in neatly starched outfits brought out trays of chicken caeser wraps (which they tried to make sound Mexican by calling it a burrito), French fries and turkey sandwiches. The only thing that was remotely close to Mexican fare was guacamole and homemade chips, which was fantastic.

A few new faces popped up in the delegation crowd, most notably Eric Schmidt, CEO of Google. I guess he must have felt bad about the Google plane dying in Ethiopia.

The lunch was quick but felt good to sit outside on the patio. We were soon gathered up and moved to the motorcade. We were headed to my last stop of the trip, the World AIDS conference. Bill would be giving the keynote address.

The convention hall was enormous, so big that it looked empty. The media mob was insane. There had to have been at least 30 photographers jammed up against the stage in front of the podium. Before Bill came out, the security people made all the photographers move from that spot into the aisles. This was great, because I have no idea how anyone was going to get a picture that way. It also opened things up a little bit for Barb and I to move around.

Midway through the speech I moved up to the stage. A security guard came up to me and said that I had to move back to the riser. I showed him my Clinton staff credential and he quickly and politely smiled, said thank you and walked away. No less than 4 minutes later he returned. It was a repeat performance of our last encounter. This happened two more times.

Filing was easy for once. I could actually use the Sprint card instead of the BGAN or painfully slow and erratic hotel wi-fi. My pictures were filed and I was done.

The airport was a breeze to get through. The departures board showed that my Mexicana flight to San Francisco was on time. Thank god. The first on time flight in a week. I had plenty of time to visit the duty free and stock up on my beloved tequila. I was dead tired, but happy to be going home.

But of course, what would this trip be without one more jab. The on time status of Mexicana 972 had now changed to delayed. Albeit a short 45 minute delay, it was still a delay. All I wanted to do was get on that plane and rest my head against the wall and go asleep. It was looking good as I approached aisle 19, one guy on the aisle and the middle seat open. It wasn’t until I reached my row that the middle seat was in fact not open, but occupied by a toddler. Someone kill me now. For the duration of the flight the kid alternated between crying, bouncing, kicking the seats all around or being punished by her short tempered father. Needless to say, I am looking forward to my bed and a few days off.

One more thing. For a brilliant account of the trials and tribulations of the Clinton Africa trip, please check out Anne Kornblut's article in today's Washington Post. You can access the article here.