The Beginning of the Journey

Julius’s trip was not an easy one. He flew about 14 hours from Houston to Dubai. His connecting flight was literally 12 hours later, so he stayed in a hotel room there. At 8:00am Dubai time, Julius boarded another flight to Kampala, Uganda. Another 12 hours later, he arrived. From there, he spent about 2 days acclimating and planning his next step. He purchased a bus ticket to Moyo, Uganda. The bus ride was 12 more hours. When he arrived in Moyo, he would meet his sisters and they would walk the remaining 5 hours home.

Julius wrote on his facebook wall on May 24
"Spent the night in Dubai,UAE. Now about to Board plane for Kampala, Uganda. I'm getting Closer to see my MOM & DAD....here I Come...."

And on May 26,
"I'm in Kampala, Uganda.. Leaving on a 11+ hours bus ride, from there I will be about 5 hours from my parents.. There will be no electricity in Moyo. Thanks to all my friends at SHSU& Texas& around the world for making this trip possible.. Thanks a Bunch!!!!"

I got a call on May 30. He told me he had just arrived home and that it was great. He said his sisters were treating him like royalty and it was good to see his parents. His mom had remembered all of his favorite foods from when he was a child and was going down the list preparing them for him. He said that the news had spread of his arrival and that lots of extended family members and neighbors were coming to see him; they were going to have a big party for him. He even told me he’d been able to reconnect a childhood friend, who was sitting by him at the time of the conversation because he let me talk to him. He let me know that he was ok and he recapped his traveling.

The next time I heard from him was June 7. He told me that while he was happy to finally see his mother, she was driving him crazy being overprotective! He then tells me that she told his father not to drive too fast on the motorcycle when Julius rode with him, she makes him eat all the time, she even gives him curfews. To hear him tell me this tickled me to no end! I told him that his mother was only catching up on 13 year of mothering. He also let me know that the party would be soon and that they were busy preparing for it. He said he had his own garden and was trying to decide what to plant. We spend most of our conversation talking about my preparations for New York in the coming days.