doc w/ Pen

Some 28 hours after I left my Manhattan apartment, I arrived at the Naggalama Hospital guesthouse in rural Uganda. Having just spent some 17 hours speeding through the sky in two different airplanes, and then 3 hours loping along in a pick-up truck, and having just forced my circadian rhythm ahead by 7 hours, I felt a bit … disoriented. To say the least.

At the same time, I’d felt a rush of familiarity when our Emirates flight touched down in Entebbe, Uganda and I caught a glimpse of the brick-red Ugandan soil zooming by. And my heart immediately warmed when I saw the “Welcome to Entebbe International Airport” sign.

“It was a grueling trip to get here,” I thought to myself. “But I’m so glad to be back.”

“You are welcome.” (above)
This was a phrase I learned to love my first time visiting here, two years ago. I felt the same sense of welcome as I peered through my rain-splattered airplane window and saw this sign when we landed yesterday at Entebbe. I felt similarly when I caught sight of the brick-red soil you find everywhere here, also seen through my airplane window.

Before and after. (above)
Selfies from my cab ride to JFK airport in New York City, and more than 20 hours later on my flight from Dubai to Entebbe. Notice that initially, I’m wearing makeup. My hair is in lovely, tight ringlets. I’m wearing contact lenses. In the second photo, we’re about an hour away from touching down in Entebbe. And here, I’m wearing glasses. The makeup is long gone, and my hair quite ruffled by my attempts to sleep (every single one of them foiled). I am, however, still smiling in this second picture — mostly because even though I feel uncharacteristically exhausted and unkempt, I have in my hand a cup of fresh, French press coffee. I learned on my first trip here that I could survive without my morning coffee ritual, but that I’d be much happier with it. So I brought with me a travel French press and my own coarse-ground coffee. Highly recommended for fellow coffee connoisseurs who travel internationally.