Gambia Story

This is a short story about something that would never happen in the United States. About a month ago Peru hosted the 17 and Under World Championship. Several of the soccer games were held in my city of Piura. Of the many countries that were represented in the championship, Gambia didn´t win the world cup, however they did win the ¨Most Spirited Country¨ Award in my book. You see, the President of Gambia apparently wanted to make sure his country would be represented in full force. So, the President rented a plane and filled it up with Gambian fans. The plane flew into Peruvian airspace near Piura without permission. The Piuran Airport requested that the jet land in Lima to be processed through customs. Knowing that they would have to go back to Gambia, the Gambian pilot told the air traffic control that they didn´t have any fuel and that it was an emergency. There were many emergency vehicles waiting in Piura for this ¨emergency landing¨ but of course when the plane landed there was no actual emergency as the pilot claimed. Somehow, the authorities at the airport let all of the illegal Gambian fans out of the plane. None of the Gambians had papers or documents. Not only did the Gambian fans bring their enthusiasm for succesfully arriving illegally in another country half way around the world, they brought all of thier musical instruments. The Gambians were the loudest, most animated group of fans in the stadium. For weeks after the world championship this story was in all the newspapers. Most of the Gambians returned to their country except one lucky fellah that was left behind. I see him most days selling fried bananas in the market. Could you imagine something like this happening in the United States.