It has been a very interesting trip so far -- but we made it. A delay with our passport in Kansas City almost made us miss our flight. They could not read our french VISA - so we got held up for quite awhile as the lady tried to find someone who spoke french. She could only read the issue date and thought that it was expired. We kept telling her that was when it was issued not when it expired. She said, I believe you, but I can't let you on until I have confirmed this and began a frantic search to find someone who spoke french. Finally confirmed we booked it to our gate and then Craig got searched & patted down and my camera lens in my carry-on confused a lady into thinking I was carrying something lethal so it had to be searched. Seriously!? So as they are searching my carry-on they are calling Fuller… Fuller….. Craig waved at them through the glass divider and she nodded that she saw us. We both heaved sighs of relief and it was off to Chicago.
The flight to Chicago was short and sweet and we celebrated our layover time with a treat from Starbucks. It was snowing lightly when we flew into the windy city. It was really neat seeing the city all lit up as we flew over, and I could help but think of deep dish pizza. It was nice to regroup a bit in Chicago during our layover time and not have to rush. Coolest thing at the Chicago airport -- they have plastic liners on the toilet and before you sit down it rotates placing a sanitary place to place your bum. Impressed, yes - but as I thought about the toilets in Africa I wondered if it was really necessary at all. From Chicago we flew to Brussels, Belgium.
I thought it was quite unfair that they made us walk through 1st class seating. I all but drooled at the comfty looking seating and amenities. This flight was through the night and I was able to sleep through most of it. But then towards the end of it I started not feeling well, especially on the descent. I am not sure if it was nerves/motion sickness or what…. but by the time we arrived I was not well and spent awhile in the bathroom. TMI?(THANK YOU ALICIA for telling me to go to the bathroom before going through security) Well, I told myself to "Man up" as I did not want to waste anymore time to find our flight. At the Brussels airport we had to walk quite a ways to the transfer area where we took a bus to another terminal in the airport. From there we flew out for Kinshasha. In this line (very long) we met a very nice man from Manchester, England. We had a pleasant conversation about traveling abroad.
Unfortunately my sickness remained with me and I was not excited to hear the pilot announce a delay due to a landing gear pressure problem. Our flight ended up being delayed by about 45 minutes. I took some medicine and hoped for the best, not just for me but also hoped the mechanics did a good job on that landing gear.
I won't go into details but you just don't want to get sick on an airplane. The flight from Brussels to Kinshasha was sooooo long and then being sick made it even longer. We had to stop in Doula, Cameroon to refuel and by this time I was finally feeling better, but was so ready to get off that plane. I finally was able to eat a snack of ice-cream after skipping lunch and later a cheese sandwich with some weird red sauce on it. (I tore that part of the bread off) Finally the pilot announced that we would be landing in Kinshasha. I was excited but nervous. So on the plane they were handing out immigration cards but when we said we were going to Kinshasha they said we would have to fill one out at the airport. Well, we never did. Don't know what happened with that or what I was supposed to do. We got into the expat line and I reviewed all mental notes from previous conversations with Julia and Alicia. It was finally my turn. They asked what my profession was and then where I was staying. The other lady standing in the middle of the movie type booths checked my card and I went through. The only thing they asked Craig when he went through is "Are you with her?" Protocol (AKA Codis for CBC Family) was waiting for us with a sign when we came through. He got us a cart and we gave him our luggage tags. (Thanks to travel memo for highlighting do not misplace these) He got one of our bags and then due to it being so crowded had Craig got the rest. All of our luggage made it. It did not take long for us to get our luggage, probably only about 15 minutes. Codis stopped before going out and handed our tags to an officer who then checked our bags to see if they matched. Once outside I was very glad to have Codis there. We were approached by multiple people to help with our bags. We met John and the driver he had hired and they loaded our bags and we were off to the hotel. Yes, John is awesome. We were at ease as soon as he said "Bonjour!"
Our room at St. Anne's was very nice. Much nicer then expected. We have a small veranda and I was pleasantly surprised to have our own bathroom as I had read we may have to share one. Air conditioning works very well and if you keep it turned up too much you may get cold at night as there is no blanket on the bed, just a sheet. I'm glad I brought some yoga type pants to wear to bed. We unpacked a little bit and finally got our phone charged enough to text to say we were here and then we crashed…. I only woke up once to what sounded like dogs fighting some where in the hallway. Tonight I think I will wear ear plugs but so far it has been quiet.. more later about our first day here and meeting our precious Moise.
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