NYC - Kennedy Airport

Northwest uses Terminal 4 at JFK, specifically the 'A' gates. This is the main international terminal. This has made things really easy for me as my KLM flight is right next to where we came in.

Of course, the ramp service folks at Detroit couldn't get their act together and move a stray luggage cart for 15 minutes, so our arrival at the gate in Detroit was delayed about 15 minutes. That left me with about 45 minutes before we departed for NYC and unfortunately, I didn't have enough time to grab a bite to eat. I did get out into the airport for a few minutes though to use the restroom and generally check it out since I've never seen the new airport. Since I usually fly United, my Detroit experience has been limited to the old crappy terminal.

We couldn't depart Detroit on time either. We boarded the plane on time, but there was still a lot of luggage to load. I was pretty annoyed because I was really hungry and now here I am in NYC spending $25 for a burger, some chicken fingers, and a soda. We arrived at the gate in New York at 3:40, ten minutes late. If I leave the 'A' gates, I'll have to go through security again (and since I have a lot of electronics packed, they had to do some extra screening in Chicago).

I'm looking forward to the trip at any rate, but I'm still feeling bouts of nervousness. I just met some people at the airport bar who are headed to Ireland and so that has helped buoy my spirits. I guess the lack of food in Detroit probably added some to my previous pissy mood.

I'm planning to sleep for the JFK to Amsterdam flight as that will somewhat closely match nighttime in Tanzania. I want to stay awake for as much of Amsterdam-Kilimanjaro as possible as well so that I can minimize the effects of jet lag. Getting some sleep will surely help me feel better too as I didn't get much sleep last night.

I don't know what life holds in store for the next three and a half weeks. After Phil picks me up from the airport on Wednesday evening, the next thing set in my itinerary is the trip to Rwanda, but that isn't until the first weekend of June, and I honestly don't know too many details yet. Clearly, I don't fully know what to expect. You might say that the fact that I'm stepping into the unknown is admirable. The fact is, I'm not very good with such ambiguous circumstances and I'm way outside my comfort zone--It's hard not to think of all of the potential bad things that could happen. I've set myself up to expect almost nothing for modern conveniences. With Phil and Alison already on the ground and surviving, I'm comforted that I won't be stepping into the unknown alone.

So since I doubt that I'll be able to post for a few days at least, I'll leave the blog for now with this note of thanks: thank you to everyone who has contributed time, materials, or money to help me fulfill my mission at Amani Children's Home. I am very thankful to have so many generous friends and colleagues. Together, we can all help make the world a better place, one step at a time. Even though I'm flying halfway around the world into one of the poorest areas in the world, we can all find people near our homes that need help just as badly.

In the airport

I'm currently in the Chicago airport about to catch my flight to Tanzania. The itinerary is pretty crazy--Northwest for Chicago to a stoppover in Detroit, then on to New York City (JFK), transfer to KLM and fly to Amsterdam, then catch the flight to Kilimanjaro. My flight leaves in about a half hour, and I will arrive in Tanzania at 8:30 pm Wednesday there, which is about 12:30 PM here in Chicago, also Wednesday.

I'm a little nervous about the trip. I hope I got everything packed.

One of the amazing things about technology-- Phil just sent me an IM. "See you in 26 hours!" he says.