I have arrived!

Traveling was different being alone, but I think I managed just fine. The only think I like about coming home from Uganda is that my carry-on is much smaller and lighter. On the way over I pack EVERY heavy thing I can in my backpack and computer case. I look like one of those inexperienced travelers that doesn't know when to stop packing. I had a printer, refills of paper, children's books, reading flashcards, all my electronics, and every other random heavy thing I could fit in my bags. Its was a delicate puzzle trying to get my computer out of its case and then back in again during the short time in security every time......and going through security is a requirement on EVERY flight, even the connections! In Chicago I'm pretty sure the International terminal was in a different city that domestic. We had to leave through security, walk through the entire terminal, take a shuttle, and then go through security again. I just love carrying all my crap on my back. I have probalby said it before, but I feel pretty much like a turtle with my whole life on my back! Oh yeah, and on top of that, I had to put my otoscope and opthalmascope into my really full, perfectly packed backpack and wouldn't you know that all three times through security, they couldn't tell what it was in the scanner! Even when I took it out of my bag in Amsterdam they had to rescan it. At least it gave me extra time to repack my computer each time without too much of a scene!

I was just a little more stressed during these flights because I knew I had a lot of online MPH homework to do while I was traveling. This computer has a battery life of 2 hours if I'm lucky so doing work on the plane isn't really all that productive. It makes me miss my mac! I got to Amsterdam and I had two things on my mind.....take a two hour online biostats test and check my board scores.....both are unappealing and made me sick to my stomach! When I got off of the flight from Chicago and printed my boarding pass from the KLM kiosk, I was baffled to see my ticket didn't give me a seat number and the "attendant" told me I was flying standby! Really? You have to be kidding me! And when I asked her how I could fix it since I was sure I already had a seat assigned, she said I couldn't do anything until I was at the gate and that the gate didn't open until right before security and boarding started....awesome work KLM!

By the time I found a place to connect to the internet, got my stuff set up, and got an internet connection started, I realized I only had 2 hours and 10 minutes before boarding started. I quickly checked my reservation and saw that I was in 16G. I hoped that simply knowing that would fix any problem that might arise. I probably rushed through the test and really all I could do was think about checking my score for boards so I won't be surprised if my biostats test score is less than stellar! When I finished with only 10 minutes left til boarding, I logged in to the email with board scores and started clicking through the website. I know it's not medically possible, but I'm pretty sure my heart was beating so hard that it could have just popped right through my ribs! Waiting for the pdf to open was an eternity! The first thing I saw when I opened it was the best 4 letter word I've ever seen....PASS. I didn't really care much about the details because I had to get to the gate, and honestly I'm still a little worried that I didn't read it right, but right now the webpage is down so I'll just have to assume that I was right! This made the last flight a whole lot more bearable!

Once I got to the ticket counter, I tried to get the attention of any of the 5 people at the desk but they all seemed to not even care that I, or any of the other passengers were there. I just wanted a seat on that plane! Finally a guy behind me pushed his way to the counter and told the desk person that he needed a boarding pass and informed her that I did too. Thankfully I was given a boarding pass immediately. It the awesome location of 22F. Awesome. Not an aisle seat like I was expecting, but it would do just fine. Oh yeah I forgot to mention that we had a stop in Kigali, Rwanda. It's really great when you book a flight through an airline and it shows all of your destinations but fails to mention you will be stopping to drop of passengers and pick up some more. Just another hour or two of sitting on a plane and not even going anywhere. It's not the first time it's happened. There was the stop in Sudan last year and a side trip to Tanzania a few years ago. I'm just going to assume from now on that we won't have a direct flight anywhere when KLM is taking us somewhere in Africa.

Luckily along the way I met some nice people. In line in Amsterdam, two women from South Carolina started talking to me about their trip to Kigali. One of them is a pastor's wife and the other is her friend. They were on their way to Kigali to help start a church with a local man who has been traveling around giving sermons but doesn't have a base to hold a service in. It was encouraging to hear what they are doing and the excitement they had. Before they got off the plan in Kigali, we exchanged information and offered to be praying for one another. It's really great when you can make a connection with somebody had feel like you are invested in the work they are doing even in just a very brief meeting! I was smashed between two people who happened to be a little bigger than their seats, so I tried my best to stay upright with my hands folded so I didn't take up more than my seat. I didn't really mind though. After an hour or two of sleeping, the first meal came around and it sparked a conversation with the man next to me. It turns out he's been living in Uganda for 3 years and his wife and children still live in Michigan. He travels home when he can, but it's only a few times a year. I can't imagine what it would be like to live her and have your family so far away! He made the time pass quickly as we shared stories of the city, past travels, and we ended up having a connection because his son also just took his boards! Ali gave me his contact information, offered I ride to Kampala if Angella didn't show up at the airport, and assured me that if I were in a pinch for any reason, I could stop by and he'd help me out. I'm always a little cautious of people offering to take me places, but he genuinely just wanted to offer a hand if I needed it. I hopefully won't need his help with anything major, but it's nice to know there is a connection if you need it!

At the airport, I waited in line to purchase a VISA. A man directed us to different ticket counters. I had the misfortune of getting to a window behind a woman and her three boys. By the time they were finished, half the people in the line behind me had made it through other counters. I just have to say, TIA. Stuff happens when it happens and waiting is pretty much a way of life. I found my bags pretty quickly and then waited in another line to put my bags through a security check and walk through a metal detector. I didn't quite understand it. Some people just pushed their bags through and walked around it. I never saw a single person stopped and I went through the metal detector with my backpack and laptop. Clearly they were not actually looking at anything!

When I got outside, there was the usual crowd of taxi drivers. I had no idea where Angella and Pat would be so I just slowly looked around. Then two taxi drivers came up to me and asked if I wanted a ride. Right after I told them know, I saw Angella pop out and say "boo"! You can't imagine how excited and relieved I was to see her! Between her and Pat the excitement was at an amazingly high level. We laughed and joked the whole way to Entebbe. We counted at least a dozen polic trucks on the ride, which is honestly a bit of a comfort. They can often stop people for no reason and ask for money, but I think that things have changed so that they are out to be more of a presence and intervene if anything happens at night, especially since there is always a flight coming in at 10:15 pm with people traveling on to Kampala.

Angella's new apartment is great. It's on the second floor so there is a lot less dust and the bathroom actually has a separate room for the toilet and the shower! The water heater works and the refrigerator holds a lot of stuff! Although there were still craters in the road and noisy dogs and roosters making noise all night, it feels more like a home than any other place I've stayed! I didn't sleep much because I was worried about an assignment that I knew was going to be late because the internet wasn't working and I was suffering from the usually jet lag and time change. I'm pretty sure I only really slept for a few hours, but at least I was in bed pretending to sleep form about 2 am until 7. We started to day with a breakfast made by Angella....amazing eggs, toast with nutella and pineapple! It was much more than I am used to, but it was delicious!

Now that I've written a novel about the boring travel stuff (btw it's like 5 am here and I am not sleeping because I wanted to finish an assignment that is due at midnight Minnesota time which is 8 am here. I had finished it before bed, but the internet was not working all night, so I kept waking myself up to check until finally it worked at 4 am! Haha.....luckily I'm still kind of on Minnesota time and had a hard time going right back to bed so I decided to take advantage while it's still working! It's actually Saturday here, and we did a lot of random things on Friday, but I'll have to save that for my next post! For now I think I'll try to get a few more hours of sleep!