CoVid vaccine

My host in the US wanted me to get a CoVid booster and called a pharmacist who is a relative to learn what my options are.  He said I would probably need to get a booster of a different (from AstraZeneca) vaccine and then, four months later get the current booster.  This was based on the information the US CDC (Center for Disease Control) has released for pharmacists.  He also mentioned that it may be possible to get just the new booster since it includes the previous booster.  That was the choice of the doctor where I received the booster, eliminating the need to come back in four months.  I just have two CoVid cards now because they would not add the booster to the card I received in Uganda.

Wi-Fi

I had hoped to connect my phone to the airport wi-fi so I could communicate while traveling.  I discovered that the airport wi-fi has changed since my last trip to the USA.  Now it has limited service, no internet connectivity.  Therefore, I was not able to hotspot my phone and send email (or receive email).  Another passenger on my third flight bought internet service and offered to connect me.  I was able to send an email telling family I had made the flight and receive a couple of WhatsApp messages.  What is the point of wi-fi that does not give internet access?

Baggage

In yesterday’s post, I mentioned that my trip to the USA involved four flights.  I made all four flights, praise God.  My luggage did not.

The tags they put on luggage so the ground crew knows how to route the luggage only has room for three airports, not four.  The agent that checked me in put two tags on my bag, the first one had the first three stops, the forth was on the second tag.  When my luggage did not turn up at my destination, the agent tracked the claim ticket and said it was scanned in at my previous connection (the last airport on the first airline luggage tag).  When they delivered it the next day I found the original tag wrapped tight around the handle and pushed under the second tag.  Amazing, they cannot read two tags and figure it out?  In this day of dynamic computer programs, we should be able to print an airline luggage tag with the exact number of airports, weather it is one, or four, or more.  Another process that needs improvement.

Connections

As I mentioned in yesterday’s post, my connections for the trip to the USA were short.  At least all the connections were over an hour.  With four flights, three connections there was still a lot that could go wrong.  A missionary that I met in Entebbe before going to the airport assured me the airlines keep track of people with tight connections and watch for them.

I do not know if the airline was watching for me; however, God was.  I made every connection.  The closest (to missing a connection) was the flight after customs.  I arrived in B terminal.  Customs was in B terminal.  The connecting flight was at the far end of C terminal.  When I arrived the last couple in the gate area was presenting their boarding passes.  I did not have to run (which I do not think is allowed in an airport) but there was no time to breathe despite the good customs experience mentioned yesterday.

Customs

I was worried about going through customs.  Not because of the questions a customs inspector might ask.  Not because of anything I was bringing with me.  It was because my connection in Newark airport was just 1 hour 40 minutes and I needed to get from the airplane, to and through customs and then to a domestic flight.  The airline said they close the boarding process 20 minutes before departure so the crew can complete their safety processes for an on-time departure.  Therefore I really had 1 hour 20 minutes.

As I feared, the arriving flight came into one terminal and the departing flight was at the far end of another terminal.  However, I was blessed.  I was off the plane quickly and the lines at customs were short, very short.  Also, there was no need to fill out a customs card.  It seems this is a recent change, because the websites still offer pdf copies of the card and the airline crew told me the cards were replaced with kiosks, but no kiosk.  Everything was handled, quickly, by the customs agent.  My best customs experience in the post 9-11 era.

Airline ‘Travel Ready’ Process

I have been trying to prepare for my trip to the USA.  The airline has a ‘travel ready’ page.  If I was to give it a rating it would be useful, but not helpful.

Allow me to explain.  It was useful because it mentioned the obvious and the not obvious documents I would need to have with me.  (Obvious documents like a passport for international travel and for real-id identification.  Not so obvious documents like CoVid-19 vaccination documentation required, but Yellow Fever vaccination documentation will not be required until the return flight.)  It was not helpful because it asked me to submit digital copies of the documentation.  It recognized the passport and changed the note for that one to show that the requirement was met (if I carried it with me).  It asked for a digital copy of the CoVid vaccination but would allow it to be uploaded until 72 hours before the flight – too late to do anything if it was not acceptable.  Once I was within 72 hours I could not submit documentation!  The process needs improvement.

4 Points Restaurant

My host in Entebbe is also a missionary.  He is connected with Cavalry Chapel.  A pastor’s son from Portland, Oregon, USA is visiting with a few people.  We went to meet them at a local restaurant called 4 Points.  It is near the airport and on the main highway, next to the 7 Seasons hotel where they were staying.  The menu caters to the tourist.  It has Indian, Chinese, and other ethnic entrees.  Among them were several entrees that I recognized, but I was not going to use this opportunity to have pizza.  I tried and enjoyed a pork dish.  Unfortunately Bill has malaria and is still recovering.  He did not feel like eating and did not stay long.  We had a great visit with the rest of the group.

Crafts

When I came to Uganda three years ago, I thought craft items and local items could be purchased for gift giving in the rural areas.  I thought this is where the local culture would be strongest and therefore the best place to find such items.  Partially true.  The local culture is very strong in the rural areas; however, it has more to do with how they handle the events of life (marriage, sickness, death) and local songs, not crafts.  I was taken to a tourist camp in Arua; however, the craft dealer that used to have a store near-by had closed their business, not enough tourists.

I have not visited the main tourist sites, the safaris.  However, a high percentage of the tourist enter and leave via the urban region of Kampala and Entebbe.  Here I have found local crafts for sale and it was worth the search.

A ministry that partners with my ministry, except they are based in urban Entebbe (not rural Koboko), has trained some women that needed a way to support themselves that did not involve the streets.  They taught them how to sew with machines and how to make some of these local crafts.  They make them and some are sold to help support the ministry, the rest are sold to support the women that made them.  They offer a wide and beautiful variety.  I support them when I buy crafts.

TV

I am down country.  (Kampala and Entebbe are the focus of the country because Kampala is the capitol and Entebbe has the international airport for Uganda.  Technically it is up country because they are next to each other on the northern shore of Lake Victoria.  The Nile starts at Lake Victoria and flows north “down” through the country and beyond.)

Here in the urban region of the country the national power grid is well established.  Many of the conveniences I knew in the USA can be found here.  Very few have TV in the rural areas because the power requirements are beyond the solar system they have installed and national power has not reached them yet.  Here TV is common and the number of channels is great, partly due to the number of local languages being accommodated.  I was surprised to learn that US programming is also available.  It became apparent to me when my host talked about watching the Superbowl.  His wife tells me she has a firestick and most of the children’s programming that she lets her 7 year-old watch comes from the USA.

Overloaded

The KKTraveler bus to Kampala has 66 seats.  When I buy a bus ticket, it includes a seat number.  Another bus company, serving the same route, does not specify the seat.  They pack as many people in the bus as it will hold.  That company is slightly cheaper; but it is not worth being a sardine.

This is the first week of the first term of the new school year.  (The school year is February through November in Uganda.)  Many students do not return to school until it has been teaching for several days, even a week.)  Many students were standing at the side of the road looking for bus service to their boarding schools down country.  (There are schools upcountry, it is where the family choose to register them.)  KKTraveler usually picks up passengers only at their various offices along the route.  Today we were light on passengers and the driver was picking up everyone he saw.  Soon we were packed, and people were standing.  The heat (it is the hottest time of the year in Uganda), and the lack of air flow (too many people) were causing some to vomit.  I need to find a bus company that will not do this.  Time to start checking the options again.