God Bless America! -or- Coming Home!

Waiting for our flight at Entebbe Int'l Airport

Hello all from Detroit, MI! 

I haven't got much time -- plane for Columbia is about to board. Just wanted to drop everyone a note and let you know that I made it back to the USA safe and sound. I even managed to get through customs and immigration without *much* problem (okay, so I was scanned more than a barcode and patted down at just about every juncture...but I managed to twice avoid the full body scanners!). 

Some interesting things I wanted to report on as I wrap up the trip (one final blog coming later to tie up loose ends):

-As we left for Entebbe, our private hire driver (Lawrence Jr.) had a full conversation with us about how America is wonderful but our seasons are just so temperamental. "Here, we have two seasons: rainy and dry." he reminded me. I had to agree, two seasons seems more consistent than four. He also insisted that Africa was in the process of making history. "A black man is the president of America, the World Cup is being held in South Africa, and Ghana is going to take the cup this year!" he predicted. Unfortunately, only two of those ended up being true as Ghana was narrowly defeated last night (after an awesome showing) by Uruguay. 

-In the airport there was a Mzungu woman who had just adopted a Ugandan baby. She looked scared to death that they were going to not allow her to leave the country with the child, or maybe she was just scared to death to finally be taking him home. Foreign adoptions are extra-long, extra-complicated affairs (as if adoption wasn't a long and hard enough process!). 

-In Amsterdam, Apio and I went into one of the duty-free shops to look around. We saw the following boxes of cigarettes. 

Cigarettes in Schiphol Airport

We just thought they were interesting. Denise thinks that every box of cigarettes should come with such labeling. Personally, I think that's kind of nanny-state-ish and think that people who smoke are well aware that it kills you (I've never known a smoker who didn't consistently tell me that they needed to quit) and grown adults should make decisions like grown adults. All the same...the packaging was definitely blog-worthy.

-On the flight from Amsterdam to Detroit I sat next to a very nice professor from Kansas who had a really interesting conversation with me about India, Uganda, and various differences between these two countries and America. He had to laugh when I said that I was stoked to see Detroit. "Why?" he asked. He was coming from a one week conference in Austria. There are much worse people to spend 7.5 hours of your life sitting next to. 

-Upon exiting the flight in Detroit I wound up going through customs. I laughed here too as the guy was like, "What kind of ranch were you on?" (I'd checked "soil" on the "foreign products" box on my inbound paperwork.) "Well...it wasn't really a ranch." I said. "Well, what kind of animals were you around?" he asked, "Goats, pigs, chickens, ducks...the usuals." I said. "So you were on a farm?" he said. "No." I responded, "I was in Northern Uganda. They have chickens and goats at the hotel." He was still confused, but let me pass. It was a hilarious exchange for someone working on 4 hours sleep and on a 27 hour journey. 

-Finally: Once I'd made it through immigration, customs, etc, and had made my way to my gate to sit down (after changing clothes) I began to take note of where I was (no longer in a rush to get from one place to another). I couldn't help it...I began to cry. Don't get me wrong. I've loved Uganda and cried when I left. I cannot wait to get back and I am definitely glad that I went. But I am an American and I have missed my country. Being away has made me appreciate it for all of its good and its bad points. I love this place. Best of all, I'm home the day before Independence Day (4th of July). Peter and I are going to drive down to Charleston tomorrow to watch the fireworks, walk the beaches, and celebrate the place that I am happy to call home. I can't think of a more fitting way to end this incredible journey. 

Happy Independence Day everyone!!