46 Hours of Travel

Those of you who followed my Instagram stories over the past weekend, you know how many flights I suffered and the culture shock I suffered being back in America for a day.  In order to get from Cusco, Peru to Kabale, Uganda (for the cheapest possible fares), I took 6 different flights with 3 different airlines.  I began my journey through three different continents last Thursday and arrived in Africa on Saturday night.

 

Because of the limited amount of tourism in Peru, I had an entire seat of space between myself and another tourist on my first flight from Cusco to Lima.  Even though the flight was short, I fell immediately asleep because of my leftover soreness and tiredness from hiking Machu Picchu.  When I woke in Lima, I found out that Spirit Airlines flights from Peru aren’t until night so I sat in the departures area for 3 hours waiting for the baggage counters to open. 

 

Once I finally boarded the Spirit flight, I was shocked to hear English on the overhead speakers of the plane.  I had been in South America for so long that I forgot what formal English sounded like.  I also had my first experience with how horrible Spirit Airlines is.  From the thinly padded seats to the lack of drink or snack service (on an overnight flight), I realized why everyone complains about Spirit and never takes it after their first flight. 

 

My second flight landed me in Fort Lauderdale, Florida where my first meal back in America was a Burger King breakfast sandwich.  I began to realize that being in America was a bigger culture shock to me than when I first arrived in South America.  I didn’t really miss the American lifestyle and I just wanted to get out of the states again.  Following Fort Lauderdale, my third flight landed me in New York where I ate a bag of Hot Cheetos at 9 AM.  My fifth flight landed me in Chicago O’hare where I drink Starbucks, which was one of the only things that I missed out of the whole country (although the coffee in Peru is some of the best).

 

My fifth flight took me out of the country again to Brussels, Belgium where I underestimated how cold Europe was in the winter.  I had been in the warm summer climate of Costa Rica, Peru, and Panama for so long that I forgot how cold the northern hemisphere of the world could be.  As I walked out of the plane with my teeth chattering, I immediately regretted having a layover in Europe.  It got even worse when I had to go outside in my very thin clothing and onto an airport shuttle which took us across the airport tarmac to a different terminal.  All of the people boarding the plane were also on their way to Uganda and Rwanda like myself.  But before the plane took off, we were delayed 3 hours on the tarmac due to engine sensor issues.  Once we made it into the air, a 9-hour flight brought us to the international airport in Kigali, Rwanda where we found out that two other international flights to Rwanda were also delayed.

 

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At about 12 AM, I finally made it to my hostel in Rwanda where I was able to take a shower and sleep horizontally in bed.  The next day, I met my group mates that I would be spending the next two weeks with in Uganda.  Our group coordinator brought us to the Rwanda Genocide Memorial where we spent hours reading about the 1994 genocide and the social, cultural, and economic repercussions of the countries infamous genocide between the Hutu and Tutsi people.  We also got to learn a bit about the history of Rwanda before its independent government was established.  It was colonized first by the German army in the early 1900’s and then once the Germans left the country, Rwandans were controlled by the Belgian government, which is likely why Belgium Airlines frequently operates in Rwanda.

 

By Sunday afternoon, out group had made it across the Rwanda/Uganda border with our East African tourist visas.  We safely arrived at our apartments in Kabale, Uganda, graciously hosted by Kigali Health Foundation which is the local Ugandan Health Clinic group that we will be partnering with for two weeks.  The four of us were greeted with open arms and given an amazing meal before sleeping before our first day of work on Monday.

 

If you keep up with my next few blogs, I will talk more about the CFHI Maternal health, Child health, and HIV/AIDs education program that I am working with in Kabale, Uganda.  To learn more about my program and how you can get involved, please visit www.kihefo.org and/or https://www.cfhi.org/maternal-child-health-hiv-and-realities-of-health-access-2-week-intensive .