"Colombia? As in drug cartels?!?"
My voice rose an octave and a half as my boss revealed himself to be an alien from the planet Moron.
"Who goes to Colombia? Do you realize that country's on the State Department's 'don't go there' list?" I continued in the same vein for a few minutes before allowing him to get a word in edgewise. He reminded me that all the major oil companies had major investments south of the border, that the advisory was for targets such as diplomats, and that regular business transactions were continuing unabated. I wasn't terribly reassured by all this. He tried to lay a guilt trip on me, pointing out that this would be a really good thing for the company to have under its belt, and that I was the only one who was available to take it, not that he was forcing me or anything. When he went on to describe the incentive compensation and how the client would arrange for a security escort, and by the way there was a $30 per hour incentive bonus, then I felt a little better. After all, my passport was current and I had no dates planned, so taking the job wouldn't really mess up my life. I told him I'd take it.
Then my boss gave me the kicker -- I'd have to leave in a week. Great. That wouldn't give me enough time to get anti-malaria shots and have them take effect. I eyed him with thoughts of mercenaries and torture flitting through my head, but the bonus money won out. Besides, there was a certain James Bond-ish thrill to the whole idea of going down there.
My roommate didn't see it that way when I got back to the apartment. "Colombia? As in drug cartels?!?" He added several pithy comments casting doubt on both my parentage and my sanity, concluding with "Guess I'll see you in the remake of Midnight Express."
Over the next week I arranged to put my email lists on vacation status, checked the Web on what to eat, drink and avoid, and crammed a week's worth of business casual into one piece of luggage. I'd have to use my laptop carrier for medicines and papers so I could get under the two-item carryon limit and not have to check any luggage. On most airlines that direction, checked luggage is another word for bye-bye.
I was all set by Friday evening, which gave me enough time to get my last McBurger for a while. And to see Angela and have my ashes hauled. I liked Angela -- she was a zaftig brunette with vibrant green eyes, something more than escort and something less than girlfriend, and she didn't mind if sometimes all I wanted to do was strip down and cuddle up to her backside for an hour. This evening I had more strenuous activities in mind, and I didn't leave her apartment until three hours later, having exercised all of the major muscle groups and some I didn't know were useful. I walked out of her apartment gingerly, trying to keep my aching empty balls from rubbing against the inside of my pants. I didn't even have the strength to get undressed when I got home, just fell onto the bed and collapsed.
My flight was Saturday afternoon. It was nothing exciting; the DC-10 was full up, the food was better than I expected and some Chris Rock movie was showing. There was a lot of turbulence -- the guy two seats to my right wound up with a rum and coke in his lap. I managed to get a couple of spotty naps anyway. When I landed at Bogota there was a minor hassle over my laptop, and I had to plug it in to prove that it worked. Also, they wanted to see the prescriptions for all of my medications. Finally, I made it through there, got my passport stamped, and looked for the uniformed company driver who was supposed to meet me.
The local company contact had been insistent about not taking any public taxis while I was in the country. I had a couple of nervous moments shaking off some shady-looking drivers who offered me a ride into town, but finally saw someone holding a sign with my name on it. Well, a reasonable approximation of my name. I waved and hauled my two bags over, and followed the guy out to the van where he put the bags in the back and I got to ride in the front. We chatted some on the twenty-minute drive, interrupted every so often as the van hit a bump or pothole and the seat slammed into my rear. It was a good thing my laptop case was padded -- this drive was worse than baggage handling would have been.
I arrived at the hotel, slightly the worse for wear but fully briefed on topics including which subjects to avoid in conversation, what the odds were on the Colombian team in the World Cup, where to get a good deal on jewelry (probably his brother-in-law, I was guessing), who to contact for security escorts and what the arrangements were to pick me up from the hotel in the morning. I checked in, got my room key, went upstairs and had just enough energy to take my hanging clothes out to unwrinkle before I took off my clothes and climbed into bed.