The Voyage

Well the trip getting home to Africa was full of events.  To start it off...

1.  Nicole said she would drive me to JFK from New Hampshire which was so nice of her, except that as we pulled out of the driveway we realized the AC was broken.  That would not have been so much of a problem except for the fact that it was the hottest day of New England, I think the temperature reached 101.  Therefore, as Nicole put it, she was just trying to get me ready for life in Africa.  We started off the trip by getting subs at Joe's Meat Market, (my last of deli meats for yet another year) then headed to NYC.  About half way there we made a stop to switch drivers and realized we had not only sweat through to the back of our shirts, but the back of our pants and Nicole was wearing white pants. (Love you Nicole) 

2.  Then we finally arrived at JFK after hitting traffic at 3:30pm, Nicole went in with me and I had my last Starbucks ice coffee, then headed through security to catch my flight.  Of course the flight was delayed an hour and a half, which meant my connecting flight in Paris was going to be a little tight.  What I didn't know was tight turned out to be 15 minuted to change terminals; ride the damn bus, run up and down the stairs, head through security again, then run to the gate.  I arrived sweating and out of breath, made the flight but had a feeling my luggage was not coming with me.

3.  I enjoyed the food on the flight, savoring meat, cheese, yogurt and drinks with ice, but halfway through my flight they said over the intercom that we would be landing in Mauritania.  It was the neatest thing!  As we began the descent, all I could see was dessert, then finally out of nowhere, all these sand built houses appeared, some where painted vibrant colors, but there would be packed neighborhoods, then no little houses for a while, only about 3 paved roads that stretched tough the capital city.  It was very interesting to see and the man I was sitting next to was Canadian, was an engineer and worked there said the culture was interesting and the people incredibly friendly. 

4.  About an hour later we took off and headed for home.  I arrived at the airport and saw the lines to get through customs were all over the place, people yelling at each other, blaming always someone else, made it through customs and waited for my bag.  NO SHOW!  yep, I made it but my bag didn't.  I filed a claim and they said it should arrive in 2 days with the next flight heading my way.  We shall see.  I am not angry about the bag being lost, but the contents included mainly gifts for my village, host family and friends here in country, so please everyone cross your fingers for it to arrive.  Also the first thing I heard when I left the airport was a man who worked at the airport say, "Stephanie" I said that I was she, he said there was a car waiting for me, but then said, "Did you bring me a gift?"  And then I knew I was home!!!