Our First Few Days in Uganda

God is always so faithful!  We have had quite a journey getting to Uganda but we finally made it!! We had a very long day of flying. After being stuck in Toronto for two days we had to fly to Montreal then to Rwanda (wait for an hour) and finally to Entebbe Uganda.

Before we left our hotel in Toronto, we gathered together to pray that everything would go smoothly and God answered our prayers!!  The manager ended up giving Mike and Lori an upgrade to first class and he assigned someone to look after Maggie (our dog) and make sure she arrived safely. He also gave us free passes to the first class lounge to eat and relax before our flight.

When we arrived in Uganda we had to drive two hours the Field of Dreams, where we are staying and didn’t get home until 1 am that morning.

That morning we slept in and started unpacking our bags and got our rooms all organized.  I have a very nice “suite” with my own bathroom, sitting area and a fridge. J  It is finally all starting to sink in now that I am here and unpacking everything.    I am getting so excited about being here and all that we will be doing!

The other night on our way home from dinner we stopped to get some diesel and the attendant started filling up with Petro (regular gas) and we luckily realized it and stopped him.  They ended up having to call a mechanic to come to syphon out the Petro and then refill it with diesel.  This was not a simple task…having to wait for the mechanic, then they didn’t have the right tools, then syphon the gas out, then they measured exactly how much diesel we already had in our car so they would give us only that much and nothing more.  

It is so funny to see how the Ugandans handle situations here in Uganda. Everything is very simple and laid back and takes much longer to get anything done. I am however, enjoying the simplicity of life. Knowing that I am here for a longer period of time, I am to starting see this country with a different perspective.

It has been fun being around these precious people and enjoying their culture. There isn’t ever a dull moment here in Uganda. So many sights, sounds and smells! Haha

We have been taking it easy these past few days just adjusting and getting settled. Soon I will have exciting stories to share!

The Journey to Africa

The BIG day is here!!

We have been counting down the days for our new adventure to Africa for a few months now and it has FINALLY come!!  I am so excited and anticipating all that God has in store for us this next year!

The Journey Begins…

We wake up at 3 am to drive to the airport for our early morning flight.  We arrive at the airport to check in since we have a total of 12 bags plus all our carryon luggage.  We wait in line forever for security and then board our first flight to Toronto, Canada.

When we arrive in Canada we only have 1 hour until our next flight departs for Brussles. As we got off the airplane, one of the attendants instructed us where to go and assured us we would have plenty of time to get to our gate.

So we quickly start walking towards our gate and go through customs and I realize they didn’t give me a boarding pass…but they let me go through. Then we start RUNNING to our gate, carrying all our luggage and I am running behind helping the girls to make sure we stay together.  It was stressful and hilarious as we kept dropping everything as we were trying to run.

We finally get to our gate and realize they sent us to the wrong gate and through the wrong customs!!!  So they led us through a back door only to find out that it was back where we started when we first got off the plane!!

We then ran as fast as we could back through the airport and had to go through customs again and they sent us down to grab all of our 12 bags plus the Salley’s dog, Maggie!! By that time, we were all so sweaty from running and we knew we probably missed our flight.

We tried to take it as far as we could... So we grabbed some carts and started loading up all of our bags and headed to customs again. (I am sure we looked like crazy people running all throughout the airport sweaty with all of us and all our bags! We were definitely a sight to see! )

After all that, we indeed missed our plane! We then waited in line for an hour and a half at the ticket agency, then spent another two and a half hours waiting for the attendant to try to find us all a ticket to Uganda. Finally, he was able to get us a ticket but we had to spend two days here in Canada.  We fly out tomorrow and will arrive in Uganda on Thursday.

Chasing the Pizza guy....

So after such an eventful day,  we go back to our hotel to rest and order some pizza.  When I called the pizza place I told them that I am going to need some change since I have a $50 American bill and they said that is not a problem.

So the guy comes to our room and I handed him my money and asked him for change and he told me he didn’t have any. I was shocked since I requested it ahead of time.  He then told me he needed to go downstairs to get some and said he would be right back.
 
I felt a little weird leaving him with my money, so I waited a bit then ran downstairs to make sure he was coming back. As I get out of the elevator, I see him in his truck driving away!! So I ran after him and asked him what he was doing and grabbed my money back. He said he was going to go get change but how was I supposed to know he would come back.  So I went to my room and called the pizza place and told them what happened. Long story short we got a free pizza!! Haha

Our trip has definitely started out exciting.  We fly out tomorrow and I hope it’s a little less eventful then our last experience.