I’m happy to report that I’ve survived the final steps of the transit and I’ve made it here to Genenia, my final stopping place on this journey.
My little stop-over in Khartoum was nice, but it couldn’t last forever and I was eager to actually be in this place that I’d been anticipating for the past weeks- ready to get a glimpse of what my next 6 months were really going to be like.
In the early hours of Monday morning I lugged myself and my stuff into yet another airport to board my final flight. Despite delays, a luggage crisis, being on the standby list, and the usual challenges of living in a logic-free zone, I eventually was on a plane. I had imagined myself watching out my window, as the scenes of this new county unfolded 18,000 feet under me, however the exhaustion of waking up at 4:30 am to figh a crowded African airport won, and I slept most of the way.
As far as scenery on the journey goes, I’m told that I didn’t miss much. To get to El Genenia, you fly west from Khartoum for about 3 hours over nothing but sand. In between naps I noticed the patterns of the dry riverbeds in the sand, and in some places the migratory paths carved into the desert floor (so I was told). The plane stops in 2 other small towns en route let people off and refuel, but these towns are bigger than Genenia and even have some roads. “You will know that you are in the right place when you land on a dirt runway and see nothing but sand and donkeys and 2 crashed Aeroflot planes in the desert,” I was told. And so it was.
It took 7 days and 9 airports, but I’m glad to report that I have safely landed. A new adventure has begun.
God promises a safe landing, but not a calm passage.
-Bulgarian Proverb
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