Sunday, June 1, 2014

We Have Arrived!


Arriving in Entebbe was a welcome relief.  It was close to midnight when we arrived, but we made it safe and sound!  We paid for our visas and went to the baggage claim area.  Surprisingly, all our luggage made it, including Ken's and John's guitars.  




We made our way to the exit, and right outside was our Rotary family.  It was so exctiting to meet everyone!  A week or so before our departure, we had been given the names of who would be hosting each of us.  This was one facet of our trip that i was very excited about, staying in the home of someone local.   





Once we were outside, something happened that I did not anticipate. I smelled something and i couldn't identify the smell.  It bothered me for several days before i realized that it wasn't a smell i was trying to identify, so much as it was that nothing smelled familiar, this new environment did not smell like home.  After the 4th or 5th day I was used to most of the smells, but not some.  Soaps and detergents never smelled "right" to me the whole time i was there.


My hostess was a lovely lady named Enid.  We had emailed each other a few times, getting to know each other and each other's families a little.  She has four sons and runs a nursery school. I knew we would get along fine! As soon as she introduced herself to me I exclaimed, "My Enid!"  We hugged and kissed and I felt at home straight away.  
More introductions were made as we proceeded to the parking lot.  Everyone's bags were put in the correct vehicles, and even though it was 12:00am, we were taken out to eat, which made total sense since my team members and i were still on American time. It was only 5:30pm back home, close to dinner time for most of us. I know I was hungry enough!

I asked Enid to order for me, and i had tilapia, chips, and a Tusker Light beer.  Everything was delicious.  We all talked and joked, we took lots of pictures around the table.  After leaning together for an "us-ie" (taking a picture of yourself with one or more people vs a "selfie"), Enid looked at the picture of us on my phone and commented that she was "sun burnt", but i was "snow burnt"!  TRUTH!!!!  


It was agreed that we would be picked up at a later time than scheduled the next morning, 10am instead of 7am.  By the time Enid and I arrived home it was almost 2am. I was exhausted and thankfully managed to sleep okay.  The next morning we hit the ground running.  Looking back at the schedule we were given, it did not leave us much time to adjust from jetlag.  I was tired most of time we were in Uganda.

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