Foreign Correspondents

Clackety-clack. Clackety-clack. I pause as I mount the steps of the 737, frowning at the spinning engine. "Does your engine always make that noise?" I ask the flight attendant boarding an airplane from Antananarivo to the south of the country. "Seat 5B," he says. "On your right." A moment's hesitation. I sit. (Mental image: Flames shooting from the left-hand engine.) The problem with having one of the world's most interesting jobs and flying to the world's most fascinating places is getting there.