Uganda 2017 Day 1

This morning Cassie, mom, and I arrived at the airport about 5:30am and the airport counter was not even open yet. We were the first of our group to arrive. About 15 minutes later Joanne, Denise, and Alex P arrived. When it was time to get our boarding tickets, we were first to go up. Both Cassie and I were super excited to leave for Uganda via Dubai. The check in area finally opened and we were first in line. We could not wait to get our tickets and attempt to get seats next to each other. I went first. We loaded my two checked bags on the scale and then weighed my carry on. I was getting ready to weigh my personal bag (aka backpack) when the guy said a back pack does not count as a personal item. Cassie and I both had talked to Denise and Joanne about this to make sure it was fine. This was not good! Both my checked bags and my carry on were at max weight. That means I had no where to put anything from my backpack. I was so frustrated and stressed. Could not go without some of the items in my carry on and backpack. Cassie got Joanne for me and she talked to the guy. He said the backpack will only be aloud if there was a computer in it and it was a “computer bag.” He wanted proof that there was a computer in the bag and I did not have one. Thankfully we have an amazing leader in Joanne and Alex p had a duffle bag I could put stuff in. I had three photo albums between my carry on and backpack that I was not willing to leave behind because my grandparents and I made them for our sponsor kid. Alex P was checking his duffle bag, but it still had extra room and weight, so he let me put stuff in it. I don’t even remember everything I put in it. I know I put the albums in and had a drawstring bag that I put snacks, my pajamas, and other things into as well. I was so flustered and upset, but just at the situation. I went to a scale on the side and reweighed my carry on. I was shocked that it was the correct weight! So, I went back to the guy and he helped me again when he finished with the other person he was helping. While I had been throwing stuff in Alex p’s duffle bag, Cassie fixed her stuff too. She ended up sending all the snacks for the trip home with my mom. We are both so great full that she was with us and could take all of our stuff home with her. When the guy started helping me his computer froze and we had to wait for it to completely restart. At this point it was still frustrating, but also kinda comical. By the time I got my ticket most of the team and everyone else in line had gone through. Then we waited for Cassie. We told the guy we would like to try and sit next to each other and he said he would look to see if he could get us together. I was not to positive at this point that we would be because everyone had already gone through the line. When he was just doing the finishing stuff with Cassie’s tickets our team said they were going to head to security if we did not mind. I told them it was fine and we were almost done. Thankfully I double checked about him getting us seats together because he did not. That took a couple extra minutes to fix. He put one on the aisle and one at the window and “blocked out” the middle seat. This was exciting news for us! Finally! Mom walked us to the security line and we said our goodbyes. I could not see any team members in our line and assumed they went through already or it could have just been that the people left in line were the ones I did not know yet. About half way through the line we saw Alex and his son, Andrew. This was encouraging! Thankfully, we made it through security with no issues.
Then we went to Starbucks for breakfast. After we ordered I pulled out my phone to let Denise or Joanne know where we were and I had two missed calls from Denise. I called her back, but while I was waiting for her to answer, I turned around and saw her and Jodie. I got my drink, Cassie got her drink and food, and the rest of the group that ordered after us got their drinks. I was still waiting on my food though. I walked up to the counter and told the lady that I was waiting for a sandwich. She checked and it was not even in the pile of things to be warmed, but she made it right away. Again the rest of the team went to our gate. The lady made my sandwich fast and we headed to our gate. Thankfully, that was the last of our issues at the airport. We were able to hang out with the rest of our team until we left. The crazy thing was that the plane was only about half full. The last two trips I was on to Uganda the plane was packed.