Going to Rwanda

Two of my very best friends came in town to visit 2 days before I left for Africa. Thankfully i had spent a entire day cleaning and organizing my room, doing laundry, and starting some preliminary packing efforts. I wanted to spend as much time as possible with Adam and Antonio for the short time that they were here. I almost startd to cry when they showed up at my work, I was so happy to see them again. I miss them in the city so very much. Aside from when I needed to work we ran some errands together, and we got to have a lovely picnic with friends in Central Park. I am so glad that my flight to Rwanda didn't leave til 730 pm! Adam and Anto caught their flight very early in the morning. I slept for a few more hours and then had all day to pack and get ready to go. I have been having strange dreams lately. Mostly about forgetting to pack important things and traveling. I have traveled internationally a bit, I am not scared of planes or going alone. I am overall calm and very excited for this adventure, this as many people claim and predict,"life changing experience!" I am suit will be and I can hardly wait. Consciously I am happy and excited... I think that my dreams are a manifestation of my subconscious freaking out a bit. Maybe warning me. I have been making lists of things to get and bring and at this point my floor is covered In piles...pile of clothing, pile of medicine, pile of important documents, pile of snacks and food to bring, pile of don't bring this stuff, pile of put this away, pile of what the hell do I do with this? And so on. Covering my bed and my floor, you would never guess that my room had been clean 2 days earlier. I called and talked to my mom... When doing things like cleaning, laundry, packing I like to have company around. It makes the tasks at hand much more pleasant. When I can't have immediate company, talking on the phone suites me just fine. I left myself plenty of time to get to the airport, something that I have pushed too close for comfort A few times in the past. For a long time I prided myself that I had never missed a flight, but this past year I did... And I am determined to not make that mistake again. Especially today, fliying internationally with connecting flights leaves no room for that kind of error. I arrived at the airport and stood inline to check in. A woman told me to go to the self check out instead. Leading me over to the kiosk. It wasn't scanning my passport and said it wouldn't work. The woman then tried it but no dice. So she took my passport and lead me back to the line where I was in the first place, but now had lost my spot, and more people had come, Thank you airport lady worker for adding 20 minutes onto my wait time. After waiting for some time in the check in line, letting someone use my phone to call her husband, and getting through security with overall ease I had an hour to wait til my flight. It wasn't until than that I looked outside for the first time in a while and noticed that it was pouring outside. Good.. I hope that it cools the city off a bit for the sake of my fellow New Yorkers! The past few days the heat and humidity has been unplesant and I am grateful for the AC unit that I have in the window of my room, which is what made both sleeping and packing bearable for the past few days. Upon exiting my room it was like walking into a wall of heat, that encompassed the rest of my apartment. My flight out of JFK left an hour late. I was a little worried about making my connecting flight, but figured that we should be able to make it in enough time. The flight from NY to Belgium was pleasant. I switched to the back row because there were 2 open seats, so I could stretch out a bit. Every once in a while there was a stench that drifted from the bathroom, but it wasn't so overwhelming that it was unbearable and I could mask my face with my blanket as the smell would dissipate. The flight was a little bumpy at times. That is the only thing that truly worries me about flying... I remember as a child going to California with my family And we had a really rough landing and I felt sick the rest of the day. That sick like you have been in a car for too long, and the motion has upset your stomach. I felt a little bit of that. But was fine. It was a bit of a trek to the terminal to make my connecting flight. I made it just in time. 7hrs 15min flight. I am almost to Kigali Rwanda now. This flight has been on the more miserable side. The slight car sickness has turned into an on and off wrenching in my stomach? Imagine what a rag feels like then you are wringing water out of it... Yep exactly how stomach felt off and on the entire flight from Belgium to Kigali. The man on the flight next to me ordered some wine and the smell doesn't help the condition of my stomach. Certain smells would just make me feel even worse. The man... His name is Scott and this is his 5th time in Rwanda in 3 years. He is here to work at an orphanage. He told me that I am in for a life changing experience. We landed made it through customs and down to baggage claim. I arrived with 3 others of my cohorts. Everyone's bags came, except for mine. After waiting for a good 45 minutes I was told that there was a list. The list said: "missing bags" sure enough there was my name. I waited for another 20 minutes in line to make a claim. The process was slow and the computers were old, but my bag should be here in a few days. I anticipated this so I packed my carry on well enough to make it a few days with out my checked bag. So I am good. We are staying in a beautiful hotel in Kigali. I had a lovely dinner of talapia with coconut sauce and rice for dinner. Chatted with my professor Helen and some of my cohorts and then headed to bed. I am here! In Africa! I am excited to experience all that Rwanda is. The people on the hotel staff are overly generous and kind and I feel right at home.