The original idea was that after giving her the surprise on her return from Uganda, she would go to her friend’s place and I would go back to work. Next day, we were going to fly home sitting next to each other. Me listening to all her Uganda stories.

Except, when I woke up at 5AM, FAA had grounded all flights due to the IT issue. Systems were so badly down that I could not even get thru to the airlines’ website or phone calls.

So, we made the best of the situation. Canceled our flight tickets and instead got ourselves a rental car!! And hit the road for a 12 hour journey to hear all the Uganda stories. On the way, we stopped at many rest areas to sit down and some fresh air. And, of course, more stories of a foreign land I have never seen.

From the previous post you would have gathered by now how I was lurking behind the pillar as Nikita came out of the immigration and customs area in Washington DC airport after two long flights from Uganda.

Keeping a safe distance of a few feet I kept weaving thru the crowd. And then when she reached a less crowded spot, quickly paced up, approached her from her rear right and said “Excuse me!” like I was trying to pass her.

She instinctively said sorry and withdrew to her left.

I made eye contact.

One Mississippi. Two Mississippi.

And that is when the jaw drop happened. I caught a part of her face (you can see in the top part of the picture).

Spent a few minutes with her fellow interns returning from Uganda, took a group picture and came back to my hotel to start my day. She is staying with her friend tonight. And we will go back home tomorrow.