We Are Here

I arrived Friday morning. My flight from London was a night flight, and overall went very well. The kids both watched a movie and then slept the rest of the way until about 1 hour before the flight landed! I didn’t sleep but maybe about 30 minutes, there’s something about being the only parent on a flight, I just couldn't’t let myself nod off.

We arrived at about 7:30am. The Ugandan staff was wonderful. They helped me off the plane, took me to the front of the line going through passport control, and then had me sit while they searched for all my bags. Of course that meant I was the last one to leave the baggage area, but there was no way I could’ve done it by myself. Once we finally got out of customs, I saw Jesse! Wow it was great to see him! I wanted to give him a great big smooch right there, but in the back of my mind I’m thinking “you can’t do that, that would be very offensive to the Ugandan culture." I probably would’ve done it anyway, but there were 3 people from Jesse’s work who were also there, so I decided instead to just live with a long hug.

It was pouring outside-first rain they’ve had in weeks I guess. We waited till they tried to pull up the vehicles so we could load them up. And yes we needed all 3 vehicles! I had 7 suitcases/Tupperware bins, 3 car seats, 1 pack ‘n play, 1 stroller, diaper bag, laptop bag, backpack, rachel’s carry on, and of course the 3 kiddos : ) We fit everything in, and then divided up and took off for where we were staying. The kids of course wanted to ride with their dad, so I rode with Ida (the office administrator).

I was so tired so i don’t remember much of the trip, but Ida was very nice pointing everything out, and giving me tips on where I should buy fruits/clothing/furniture. It took us about 1 hour or so to get to where we were staying.

My first impressions of Kampala were very different then i thought they would be. Yes, everything is very green, and it is very hilly. But things seem much more spread out then I was thinking. The city is in one area, and then the rest is much more residential. Very different from Sri Lanka. Although this is nice, it’s also hard for me now, b/c I feel much more trapped where we are staying. I’ll write more later about where we are staying, but wanted to let you know that we are here, and so far so good!