Now, I don’t mean that in the sense that we have gotten everything figured out, which we most certainly haven’t.  But we have arrived safely in Kampala, Uganda after a fairly uneventful trip.

I really think God was watching out for us on this trip (He must have known I was pretty nervous about it), because right off the bat things seemed destined to run smoothly.  When we got to the airport, we had one of the nicest airline employees I think I have ever met checking us in.  He was very patient with all of our tubs and zip ties (which were to keep the tubs securely closed).  He seemed a little surprised when after 4 tubs, we put a couple of suitcases on the scale.  He was also very kind in providing gate passes for Robert’s parents and my mother.  The Austin airport only has one restaurant on the non-secure side of the airport which is more like a cafe/bar.  Since it was quickly approaching lunch time by the time we got checked in, we were really glad that we were able to spend a little more time together before our departure.

The flight from Austin to Atlanta was uneventful, and the layover was so quick that we hardly had time to even think about what was coming next.  While the flight from Atlanta to Amsterdam was probably the most eventful of the three legs, it still wasn’t too bad.  Caleb got sick to his stomach early in the flight, but soon recovered and won over the sympathies of one of the flight attendants who brought him ice cream from Business Class.  Now, some of you may know how hard it is to sleep on a plane, you should try it with a 5 year old.  We put Caleb in the middle with Robert and I on either side.  Caleb used Robert as a pillow and me as a foot rest.  Caleb was quite comfortable, and I managed to get some sleep in between kicks, but poor Robert wasn’t able to get any sleep as he couldn’t get comfortable underneath Caleb’s head.

Needless to say, we were all quite grouchy on our layover in Amsterdam due to lack of sleep, but we were able to get some breakfast and take care of a seating mix-up on our flight to Entebbe.  We even tried to take advantage of the airports wireless access, but alas it wasn’t meant to be.  The flight from Amsterdam to Entebbe was long.  It may not have been physically the longest (the flight from Atlanta to Amsterdam was longer by 45 minutes), but it sure felt like it.  Caleb slept through most of it, and this time I got to be his pillow so Robert could try to get some sleep.

We finally made to Entebbe after 22 hours of travel (with almost 19 of it spent on one plane or another), only to discover that one of our tubs hadn’t made it.  Actually, we figured it was pretty good odds considering that some folks were missing 50% or more of their luggage.  Unfortunately, it was the one with all of Caleb’s toys, so we are doing the best we can entertaining him with what was in his carry on and what few items got stuck in other tubs.

Our long journey wasn’t over yet, though.  It was still another hour to an hour and half car ride to Kampala.  We finally made it to our new home.  And I really do think that we will be able to make it a home, too.  It’s not very big by American standards.  Just a little 800 square foot, 2 bed, 1 bath house, but it is huge by Ugandan standards.  But it is a house with it’s own yard and wall, which is a good thing in Kampala.  And it comes with a wonderful neighbor, Grandma Maggie, who has already done a wonderful job of taking care of us and seeing that our transition to a new life in a new country is as smooth as possible.

Now comes the part of figuring everything out, at least as it relates to our new life here in Uganda.  I don’t know that we will ever have everything totally figured out.  And I don’t think God really wants it that way because if we did, we wouldn’t need Him anymore.  But I’m here to tell you that I do need Him, and I’m going to need him a lot as I try to figure out how to run a household in a new world.

We may have arrived in Uganda, but I hope we never “arrive.”