Saturday morning I woke up around 9am to our phone ringing.
It was the front desk telling Krissy that someone was in the lobby for me. I
went down and Justine, my church friend was there to say goodbye! She had brought
me a beautiful purse and bracelets as a gift! I still can’t believe this woman.
I feel so loved! I can’t wait to stay in touch with her and hopefully help her
come visit Utah or New York and the church sites there. I think she would just
LOVE it!
We had our last breakfast of the usual scrambled eggs,
toast, fresh fruit and passion juice before heading up to our room to pack.
Even though we had about 4 hours to pack we actually ended up needing every
minute of it. Krissy and I kept starting then stopping to relax and talk about
our experience. It was as if we were avoiding the task of packing because we
didn’t really want to leave. Brian showed up with a horn trumpet for me to
bring back for Mabingo and a bag for my drum. We were all bouncing between each
other’s rooms lying on each other’s bed, looking at photos all morning not
wanting to leave. The time came though
and it was finally time to go. We packed up the bus and said goodbye to the
Fang Fang.
We headed up toward Entebbe and stopped at the Zoo for a few
hours. Our flight out of Entebbe wasn’t until 1am so we had all afternoon to
burn. The zoo was unlike any zoo I’ve been to in America. What little fences
were there did not look very stable. Also some of the animals weren’t even
behind a fence at all! There was an adorable baby elephant walking around with
a zookeeper, also a camel was just chillin on a hill with no one around. It was
insane! Also, the zoo is right next to Lake Victoria so the scenery and
temperature was gorgeous. We stopped and grabbed a snack at the restaurant on
the way out and had a full view of the lake, which spanned all the way to the
horizon.
We then headed to dinner at the Lake Victoria hotel. It was
another beautiful hotel with a beautiful restaurant out by the pool. We all had
our last meal and spent some time wandering around the lobby relaxing in the
fresh cool air off the lake before we had to head out to the airport. Kim, who
is amazing at the piano started playing the one in the lobby and before you
knew it we were all singing and dancing along revisiting some of the dances we
had learned. I was getting pretty tired
and ready to head to the airport by the time we left. Luckily the airport
wasn’t far, but then it hit me again that we had to say bye and this time our
final goodbye. Grace, Brian, Denis, Moses, and Herbert were with us to say bye
at the airport. It was so sad to say bye to them and give them hugs and watch
them walk away as we waited to enter the airport. I’ll really miss all of them.
The airport was an experience. Well first they make us exit
the bus and walk on the road about 30 feet while Moses drives it through the
gate with no one in it. Then we got back on and drove the rest of the way to
the parking lot. Not sure why, but bizarre. Once we got out of the bus and took
our luggage to the entrance the guard with the riffle had us line up our bags
in a single file line with all of us standing 3 feet behind our bags also
single file. Then he pulled out a scary German Sheppard from a dog kennel and
walked back and forth sniffing our luggage. The dog really liked the smell of
our fresh cow hide drums haha. Once that was finished we were then allowed to
enter the airport and go through more security. None of it really made any
sense. They had big signs saying that our bags couldn’t be more than 32K, mine
ended up being 30, yet they still made me pay extra even though it was below
the weight they had posted. At this point I was just ready to do whatever the
guys with the guns and the power to let me through security told me to do. Hopefully
my luggage arrives in NYC. We all got through with little hassle and were soon
on our way to London.
The first flight was supposed to be the longest. I fell
asleep shortly after take off and woke up when they started to serve breakfast,
about 40 minutes before landing! It was the best flight I’ve had in a while,
despite the screaming babies a few rows behind me. The earplugs and eye covers
really come in handy, thanks again British Airways!
We arrived in London early and while traveling to my next
gate was able to see the sun rise. I left about an hour before the group, since
I booked an earlier flight home. I saw there was an earlier option when I was
booking my flight and jumped all over that. I am so thankful I did since I am
so ready to be home and don’t need to spend an extra two hours at Heathrow
airport. I am now on the plane from London to NYC and according to my little TV
have 5 hours and 8 minutes left. I think this will be the longest flight since
I know my favorite city in the world and favorite person is waiting for me when
I land.
What an incredible journey this has been. I have loved
Uganda despite loosing my phone, some money, and getting a small cut on my
foot. All of those things can be replaced and heal but the memories will never
go away. I am so happy I have had this unique and incredible experience. I have
learned so much about teaching, dance, and myself among a million other things.
This trip has also made me travel hungry and I can’t wait to start thinking and
planning another place to go to learn and work with people.
As they say in Lugandan: Obulanu Bulungi
Translation: Life is Good
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