On the way to Amsterdam
Trip Start
Jun 22, 2008
1
36
Trip End
Jul 31, 2008
Amsterdam,
Netherlands
Sunday, June 22, 2008
mixture of excitement, confusion and adventure. It all begin on board a 747 in
LAX. I know what you must be thinking? Was his plane hi- jacked? Did the pilot
suffer food poisoning before landing the plane? Or was Kyle entwined in some
tale of espionage and secrecy that has kept even the CIA in the dark? No, none
of the above. Rather it was panic and confusion regarding a simple connection
flight in Houston.
The plane ride to Houston is simply not worth mentioning. It
included an onslaught of sporadic meals, frequent naps and a freezing IPoD (I'll
tell you about it later).
The plan upon arrival in Houston was simple. Quickly de-board
the plane and catch a connection flight to Amsterdam. However, when you factor
in the time crunch we faced, things got complicated. We de- boarded at 6:30 pm
and were expected to catch the next flight at 7:10 pm. This presented a slight
problem. Boarding for said plane began at 6:10 pm and the terminal was on the
OTHER side of the airport! Or so the sign said. We ran frantically, desperate not
to miss our flight.
Along the way we paid
tribute to the late and not so great George W. via a statue, salute and smile
(see attached picture). When we reached the terminal at 6:45 pm we both took a
deep sigh of relief. Since the line was still transferring onto the plane, I decided
to take a "short term break" (taking a leak). From the urinal (no joke) I hear
a distant voice calling my name. Who the hell knows me in Houston? As the sound
waves approached, the voice became more distinct. It was Sarah's! I ran outside the bathroom to see what was the
matter. Panting, Sarah exclaimed that we were at the WRONG terminal! The
terminal was in fact right next to where we originally got off. Yikes!
We ran again...back from where we just came! I glanced at my
watch to see it was approaching 7pm. Unfortunately I could not snap another
picture with Bush and still make the plane to Amsterdam (although I was still
considering it).
I suppose you know the rest of the story, because here I am
in Uganda three days later recalling these events. We did make the plane to
Amsterdam without a minute to spare.
I will spare you the boring details of the flight to
Amsterdam.
And since we arrived in Amsterdam the following day, it would
be wrong to include it in my "Day 1" trip. Therefore this is me signing off,
and signing on two minutes later from the comfy family room couch in Gulu.
