Above is the goodbye party. We gave the ladies a certificate of completion for attending the classes and they baked a cake. Sweets are a rare treat for them.
And then it was off to the airport and home. Although, there were times I wondered if I might spend the rest of my life somewhere besides Boise, Idaho. We headed to the airport in Kigali in the late afternoon for a night flight. Before we ever reached the airport, there was a check point in which we had to unload all of our stuff, have it sniffed by dogs while we went through a check point inside. Once inside, we repeat the process again. Then check in. They stared at my passport, then asked if I had another ID. Fortunately, I had brought my driver's license. They looked some more and finally checked my bag. I hauled the other bag up to the counter. "Oh, no. You are only allowed one bag." I came with two! And now I can only have one? Oh, I can have two, I just have to pay $110 for it. Okay, then. Not a lot of choice. Used the credit card that I had been told NOT to use but brought it anyway. Finally loaded onto the plane, we headed for Entebbe, Uganda. We did not get off the plane...thank God.
And then are on to Amsterdam, some eight hours down the road. No sleeping, even though it was the middle of the night. To wound up. Set down in Amsterdam and a wonderful man with a cart picked us up and guided us through the system to get onto the next flight to Seattle. By this time I was a walking zombie so did sleep part of that 9 plus hour leg. Hit the ground at Seattle with a sizable layover, thank God again. Had to go through customs, all new to me. Stood in line for a long time when Susan pulled me out because I hadn't picked up my luggage. So, we are standing there looking at this line that was miles long, when an angel in a uniform pulled us aside and said he could check us in. Now we're in, but still have to be searched. I always get pulled over....must look like a drug totting grandma. They found bug spray in the midst of my dirty underwear. And my backpack with my laptop had to be run through again. It came out and I grabbed it. Trying to put my shoes on with only a wobbly partition to lean on was a show in itself. Poor Leslie was trying to hold me up so I could keep my balance, nothing to sit on....it had to have been a Kodak moment. Got to our waiting area and for whatever reason, I looked in my backpack. NO COMPUTER! So, we raced back to customs. They had removed it and put it in a different tray---which I didn't know---so I had left it. Thank God it was there, and I got it back. Now we wait at the gate. Finally, Susan checked at the desk and our departure gate had been changed from A concourse to D. We hiked to the basement, I swear. And it didn't look promising as there was no airplane only a bus. We loaded onto the bus, toured the tarmac of SeaTac and finally got to a small jet heading home. I wanted to kiss the ground in Idaho!
I am still processing the whole trip. It was profound, often painful, insightful, and interesting. Being plopped down in a foreign culture is a jolt to the system. Everything you take for granted is gone. Everything familiar now makes no sense. It's as if you are attached to a spinning top and wonder when you will be flung off and where you will land.
I will think about this for some time before I come to any conclusions. But I will share them when I do. In the meantime, I may share photos of things I found interesting and didn't have time to post before. I am glad to be home, even facing broken irrigation lines.