Thursday October 2, 2025

Hi folks!

Just a quick check in from Amsterdam airport. I arrived the night before last and made my way to my hotel in Amstelveen, a charming suburb of Amsterdam. I took a cat nap and rallied for dinner, taking a short walk to the restaurants and pubs. I chose a great little pizza place, had a wonderful dinner, chatted with my server for a bit, then walked back to the hotel for the night. My bed was so comfortable, but it didn't prevent my time zone confused brain from waking me up at 3am. 

This is where it gets interesting. I returned to the airport, had trouble checking in at the kiosk, then proceeded to the help desk to discover there was a problem with my Visa (for Uganda). It's me...I'm the problem. 🤦🏻‍♀️ Long story short, I completely messed up and did not have a valid Visa to get into Uganda. I have no idea why this was not caught when I left Seattle, but here I was stuck in Amsterdam. I cannot begin to express my gratitude for my friend Allan in Uganda! I spent 7 hours at the airport, in the help desk lounge, while Allan helped me expedite a new Visa. I wasn't able to make any changes on my flight until I had the Visa in hand, but thanks to Allan's connections and a lot of additional expenses, I was able to get a new Visa and rebook my flight for today. My previous hotel was booked, so I found something closer to the airport, and here I am getting ready to board my flight. My lesson for the day is that stupidity is expensive! 😂 

So I'll get into Entebbe at 11:00 p.m. tonight, battle it out with security as I always do, spend the night in town, And arrive at The landing strip early tomorrow morning for my flight up to Gulu. I'm grateful that my epic mess will not affect anyone else on this trip, which would have made me feel so much worse. Whew. Never a dull moment! 

I'll have to load up on my data for my router when I arrive in Gulu, as well as pick up a bunch of groceries and supplies,  arriving at the birth center early evening on Friday as originally planned. I'll try to check in with everyone on Saturday or Sunday and then I start my training on Monday morning. 

My flight is now boarding! 

Much love,

Jo/MB