Getting There

Christina Anderson at JFK

The Flying Dutch

When:

March 20, 2008

How:

(for me, that is - Ross Manson - CDN theatre director...)

- 26 hours door to door

- leave South Philly (where i sometimes live) for the bus station

- wait (1 hr)

- bus to NYC (2hrs)

- subway to JFK (1 hr)

- wait (3.5 hrs - 2 Guinness and a burger)

- plane to Amsterdam Schipol (6.5 hrs - sleep)

- wait (3 hrs - 2 coffees and a ham sandwich)

- plane to Entebbe (8 hrs - 3 movies)

- minivan to Kampala (1 hr)

This includes meeting four of my compadres who are, in order of appearance at JFK: 

1) Anurita Bains (CDN - advisor and expert on HIV/AIDS in Africa, coming from Toronto)

2) Christina Anderson (American - and playwright, coming from Providence)

3) Liesl Tommie (South African - and director, coming from Pitsburg)

It also includes:

1) better-than-average airplane food (KLM), 

2) Anurita bumping in to TWO people she knows at the Schipol airport (the NGO travel scene)

3) a jaw-dropping verdant smell in stepping off the plane at Entebbe

4) and the Jesus Saves Mini-Supermarket on the night drive into Kampala

And so we arrive in Africa. The evening of March 21, 2008.