Entebbe Airport

I believe the first few days of any trip is usually the days that you can remember for the rest of your life. Even though I had prepared my self for this exceptional journey, the night before my flight to Kampala, i must admit that I had some sort of panic-attack. There i was being a few hours away from leaving for a place that was very far from what i was familiar with. My lack of knowledge about the culture and the people generated a different form of fear in me. When I stepped into the plane, i was carefully observing the people who were travelling to Kampala with me. It was very interesting how almost 50% of the passengers looked pretty young and seemed to have been travelling with a group of people from a foreign countryfor a specific purpose. This observation calmed me down a bit becasue i realized that i was not alone. When we landed in Entebbe, which is a small town right outside of Kampala where the international airport was located in, and saw how green it was i was a bit relived. Not that i was expecting to go to a desert, but at that time i was able to identify with the nature and that was very suiting. Waiting for my suitcase was very nerve racking. I found my self being veeery nervous and out casted. I thought that everyone was looking at me and noticing the fact that i was new in town. After a few minutes i began to look around myself and realized that no one was paying attention to me which was a surprise and relief for me.

My host family was suppose to send a taxi driver to pick me up and i was nervous that i wasn't able to find the driver. When i walked into the waiting area and saw my name on a board being held by a very friendly looking man, i was ready to give him a hug for not keeping me waiting for him. When i introduced my self to him and shook his hand, i realized that he was not so comfortable to speak English to me. Oh well...i guess i was able to keep my questions for the host family and not bombard him with my curiosity.

I guess the scariest thing for someone in a new city is to get lost. However, not if you are so jet lagged that you can hardly keep your eyes open. After a good hour or soon my way to my new
"home", i had realized that the driver had lost where he was going and since i really couldn't do anything about it, i decided to sleep instead. By the time i got home my host family was loosing her mind by being so worried. It was then that i had realized how dangerous it was for me to get lost with the cab driver in a new city. Oh well, it was pointless for me to worry about it since i was already in my room at that moment.

It is interesting how many people travelling to a developing countries from the West tend to expect the worst possible situation from that particular country and by the time they arrive they realize that it isn't so bad. With me it was the opposite. Before my trip i was aware of the misunderstanding that many people have about a developing country, so i tried to avoid it as much as i could. I thought of my fear as something that is exaggerated therefore i was preparing to face something better than what i had expected. However, it seemed like i had fooled my self a bit too much. I must admit that i defiantly felt the impact of the poverty and the poor infrastructure that exists here in Kampala and was rather disturbed when i saw the wondering kids on the streets beginning for food.
I guess at the end of the day, you cannot fully prepare your self for what is awaiting you in a new country. Even though i thought that i knew where i was headed, i was faced with many surprises. So far its been 3 days and I'm starting to enjoy the differences and take advantage of opportunities.