We Made It!

Hello yet again, here is another special treat for you, an update about me. Spencer, Dave, and I all made it back from Uganda together and all in one piece. I wasn't sure it was going to work out so well, considering I waited until the day we left to approach the Ugandan Ministry of Agriculture for an export permit for Spence, but luckily by 2:30 that afternoon with only 8 hours until our departure time, they handed it over. The red tape wasn't too bad, I only had to get a form from the National Agriculture Research Organization, take it over to the Ministry of Agriculture for a bank pay-in slip, take that to the Stanbic Bank in town to pay for the permit, then take the receipt from the bank back to NARO to be handed the permit. All in all it only took from 9am until 2:30pm, so not too shabby for the old UG. After that we headed off to the airport and got checked in ok, told by the Brussels Airlines people that all our bags and Spencer would be checked through to Chicago. Too bad American Airlines didn't agree.

We reached Brussels, worried about whether or not we had to pick up Spencer, but were once again reassured by Brussels Airlines that he would be checked through. We relaxed, and waited until someone showed up at the American Airlines counter so we could go through our security interviews and get our boarding passes for the next flight. By the time we reached the desk where we were to get the passes, it was 8:30, and our flight was boarding at 10:10, and the worker at the desk told us we now had to go through customs to the baggage claim, pick up our dog, then take him up to the outside check in desk and go through the hassle of security yet again. After much running around the baggage claim area, Spencer eventually appeared, and we made our way very quickly up to the check in desk. When we got there they told us the whole point of picking up the dog in between the flights is to walk, feed, and water him, so with about 20 minutes remaining until we had to be through security, I attached his leash and took him out into the 50 degree rainy Belgian morning. The desk workers were very helpful and allowed us the time we needed to take care of Spence while still getting onto our flights on time, and I think they knew Dave and I were a bit stressed out at that point, so I'd like to say thanks to them for helping us out and making the transition a little easier. Then we went through security again, which was about 40 times busier the second time around, but made it to our gate just in time for boarding. Let's just say the layover of 5 hours is not as long as you might think.

We made it to Chicago and that was that. Mom and Dan were waiting for us, and Chicago even has a little fenced in area where dogs can have long and short calls, so Spence got to relieve himself before the five hour drive back to good old Prairie du Chien. So now we're back, and living the American Dream. Well, I guess we'll see about that, I'm only a day in, so I'm still a little confused about where I'm at and what hour of the day I'm supposed to be sleeping, but that should get better, I hope. Anyway, that's about it, and I hope everyone is well, and if anyone in Uganda is reading this, I miss you all already and I hope you'll dedicate a few dances to me at the next PC get together.

peace out for now