Mark Lauer and I journey began at the Cincinnati airport mid-afternoon on a Thursday. We flew to Detroit, then to Amsterdam and from Amsterdam to Entebbe, Uganda. Mark and I arrived at the Entebbe airport after nearly 18 hours of flying and a little less than 7 hours of varied airport layovers. It was about 10pm Uganda time Friday night. I had to purchase entry visas and we were told twice by uniformed guards to get into the wrong line so getting out of the airport took about 40 minutes longer than it could have.
Right away we knew we were going to have to be very mellow and take everything as it came during the next seven days.
After “clearing” customs–actually we just walked right past the customs agents pretending they were not even there–I had the joy of meeting Isaac, who was soon to be my adopted son, Anthony, our missionary friend, and two other mission workers at the airport reception area. Although it was not my first international experience, I was already feeling overwhelmed. I hadn’t expected Isaac to come and frankly didn’t know what to do with him.
It was so dark and a little too warm. The night was overcast so we could not see the stars and the airport parking lot had only one light. Getting luggage loaded onto (yes onto) the Toyota Land Cruiser was a dirty chore. The superfine red dust that I would soon learn to love coated everything and I was dirty from the flight and dirty from dirt. Along the road there were very, very few street lights and the hundreds of shops lining the lane were dark. It was just 45 minutes of some pretty bad roads, driving on the “wrong” side of the street and wondering if oncoming traffic would crash into us as the opposing drivers attempted to dodge potholes that make the Detroit freeway system look like polished glass.
Satelite pics of Detroit Potholes…No Kidding!
The missionaries were kind enough to give Isaac a lift back to Kampala, our destination, but Isaac and I didn’t have time to get to talk very much on the way. I felt guilty about ditching him unceremoniously off at a crossroads while I went with my American friends to get some rest. This emotional unease became the norm for the rest of the week.
Neither Mark nor I can sleep for more than 40 minutes at a time on a plane, so we were appropriately tired by the time we arrived at our lodgings for the week (now about midnight Uganda time). Lydia, our host at Emmaus House greeted us upon our arrival, got us checked in (an experience in itself) and led us to our more than adequate quarters.
We showered, shaved, got under the mosquito nets and slept deeply.
The reception desk at Emmaus house. No one ever manned this desk.
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