Webb arrives in Kenya; Survives British Airways saga

NAIROBI, KENYA - Ok, so somehow, I'm in Africa right now.

Yea, I know. Despite the best efforts of British Airways, Valerie Robinette and I actually managed to get all the way to Kenya without having to join the 70,000 people waiting to get to their final destinations.

It all started out on Wednesday, when Valerie and I bid farewell to our families at KCI and boarded a little plane bound for Chicago. It was only a little 1.5 hour flight, so no big deal. In Chicago, I managed to take us on a small detour to an incorrect departure gate before we got on the plane for London.

Now, anyone who has ever heard me complain about the 2.5 hour drive from Union to my house being excruciatingly long could imagine how much I enjoy long flights. In May, when I went to Europe, I wrote a blog entry about how uncomfortable I was in the plane for that long. So, knowing how bad it was going to be, I stayed up very late my last two nights in the states so I'd be tired enough to sleep. Throw on a couple of sleeping pills (and the effects of watching The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy), and that 7 hour trip to London didn't last long at all. I slept about half the flight, so we were on and off in just a few moments.

In London, we had about 3 hours to burn before our final flight, but we spent the first 30 minutes escaping the plane and customs. At one of the final British Airways desks before the main concourse, we found out that the caterer went on strike, so we'd be given a £5 note to buy food for ourselves. (Question(s) of the Day: What the crap is a £? How does £ symbolize the word "pound"? Come to think of it, why does $ symbolize "dollar"? This is what I think about before I doze off...)

Little did we know, while we were experiencing this relatively irritating situation, bigger things were going on in the (evil) world of business. Apparently, British Airways officials met with their employees and asked them the quickest way to ruin the lives of 70,000 people simultaneously. The answer, of course, was for the company to cancel all flights go into and coming out of London Heathrow Airport. The move was put to vote and overwhelmingly accepted. Memos were written, copied, collated, and passed out, and the strike began.

Luckily, just minutes before it was all official, Valerie and I had hopped aboard the plane, buckled our seatbelts, and watched the safety video, and the 747 pulled up from the runway, much to the dismay of the "haters" at BA. Again, I fell victim to the Sandman, and after another "quick" 8 hour flight, we took our first steps on Kenyan soil. After an exhilerating wait in the customs line, and a just thrilling experience at the luggage carousel, we met Maxwell Principal John Thomas, who was waiting to bring us to our new home.

A 45 minute drive later, and I pulled my luggage into my little apartment. After a solid day of traveling, it was nice to finally be settled somewhere. It's so exciting to be here. I'd seen pictures (like the one to the right) of the campus, and it looked really nice and everything. But to actually see it, with my own eyes, is almost surreal. I found out that I have an internet connection in my room, but it needs to be set up and all that. For now, though, I can still write from the computer lab, so I hope to keep people at home update on my adventures. I miss you all, and I ask you keep me in your prayers as you are in mine. Later!

-Chris