It's all starting to feel real

A week an a half ago I went to the Travel Well Clinic. The nurse I spoke with was very knowledgable and friendly. It kinda made me want her job--pretty exciting stuff. It turned out that I needed a polio booster and another round of oral typhoid in addition to the Yellow Fever vaccine. I will also need to visit my normal doctor this coming week to get a new meningitis and tetanus shot. The consultation lasted about 45 minutes. We talked about everything from what kind of bug spray to take to travel insurance to purchasing a kit with sterile syringes and IV bags in it (just in case!). The shots themselves hurt! As I've gotten older I've become a wimp about shots and needles. Every year when I get the flu shot at school I totally psych myself out. Usually though, because I've made such a big deal about it in my head, the shot is over before I know it and doesn't hurt at all. Another nurse at Travel Well prepped me and said that neither of the shots I was getting would be given in a muscle so they shouldn't hurt as much. Well that was a lie. They hurt more! I left with a hole burned in my wallet and a little circular bandage on either arm. On my way home I dropped off my prescription for an antibiotic (just in case!) and malaria pills.

This whole summer my trip has seemed so far off, not real even. But this past week I had a lot of time to think as I paddled 95 miles on the Flint River. It finally hit me that I leave in two weeks! I can't describe what I feel. It's part excitement, part nervousness, but all kind of blunted and I think that's because it's still two weeks away and because I just have no basis for what to expect at all. My mom and dad and I talked through some of the logistics on our way home from the "closing ceremonies" of Paddle Georgia in Oglethorpe. My dad brought up some good points that I hadn't thought about (and frankly, that freaked me out). What if my flight doesn't leave out of Entebbe at 10 pm like it's supposed to on my way home? Where will I stay? I need a back up plan. I was freaked out because I always assume everything will be peachy and go well and I try to be laid back about traveling but in that moment I realized that this isn't a trip to be flighty about--I need to cover all my bases. I realized there are probably several things I haven't thought of yet that I might need a back up plan for. Even the thought of figuring out how to make an international call from Uganda is a little unnerving because making a phone call is one of the easiest things to do, something we take for granted, and to not know how to do that there will make me feel so helpless. Think about it! It's like not knowing how to tie your shoe or something. Dialing all those international numbers and figuring out phone calls has always been a hassle for me and I'm just going to want to be able to call home easily to say I'm safe.

I got an email back from Amani. I will be staying with a missionary family in Entebbe the night I arrive since it's another 2-3 hour drive to Jinja. The husband will pick me up right from the airport too (which was a major relief). The only part of my trip I'm really nervous about is my flight from Amsterdam to Entebbe, arriving at the airport, hoping my bags get there, and getting to Amani safely. So knowing that someone will be there for me is so comforting! I will leave for Jinja the next morning.

So, things left on my to do list include obtaining some Ugandan shillings, finishing my vaccinations, checking on travel insurance, buying a few last minute things at REI and starting to pack! Two weeks and counting...