Shopping for my trip (and some unexpected expenses)

Now I'm going to write some disturbing news. Prepare yourself for something quite dreadful. On Friday I went to the Ann Taylor Loft (yes, they know my name there and yes, it's embarrassing for all involved) and I tried things on and liked some of it and I didn't buy anything...nothing! Don't panic. The end is not nigh, dogs and cats will not start living together. I just was a smart shopper. Dry clean only and spaghetti strap sun dresses aren't exactly appropriate for Uganda. So off I went to the most obvious choice for all African trips - Express.

For those of you not laughing, Express is an interesting store. I used to shop there in college, when the percent of clothes with sequins or gold lamé was practically zero. Now it's stuff looks like a Las Vegas showgirls' store. So why would I pick that place? Because I have a favorite pair of pants from them and I was hoping to do well again. The first pair was difficult to describe. Picture a poodle skirt made out of denim. Next picture someone sewing this skirt into a pair of pants without changing the volume - or the length. Can you picture it? Now make them hip-huggers. Yes, that was horrible.

Another pair was more normal, but had gold and hot pink stitching on the back pockets. "Careful, a rhino might attack you..." Julie quipped. I didn't pick those. I did find several cargo khakis that will work quite nicely and were on sale.

Are you ready for more unexpected news? Well, this one was my first fear to come true. I received an email from the missionary board saying that I had chosen the wrong return date for my flight. Because it takes so long to drive to the airport, they tried to time my arrival and departure with the arrival or departure of other large groups so they would not have to make the trip just for me. The large group is leaving Entebbe on the 20th of August and I had a ticket for the 22nd. This would mean spending two nights in a hotel in Entebbe; one of them alone. This was a scary prospect. Not just because I would be afraid to leave my hotel, but also because I would have to tell my mother.

I called travelocity to make the change in my flight. They were trying very hard to be helpful, but after about an hour, they discovered that the flight was full. I was sweaty palmed and sick to my stomach. It is so hard for me to talk to strangers on the phone and arrange details. I've just been able to order pizza (something my family would make me do to help me get over this irrational fear). I think that I'm afraid that I'm going to make a mistake and heaven forbid that I not be perfect. Or I'm afraid that they'll ask me a question that I won't know the answer to. Or maybe I'll make an unwise choice and not have time to think about it. It's a bizarre fear, I know, but I was just defeated by the travelocity team. I put myself out there so I could get my flight changed and it came to nothing.

My roommate was very helpful and told me I should call the airline. I felt defeated and I was willing to accept the fact that I would stay two nights in Entebbe. I was near tears, but I was convinced to try the option of calling Northwestern. I called the airline directly and in about 5 minutes (and an extra $215) I was able to change the flight to the 20th. She even got me window seats. I was very prim and proper as she asked me my initial questions: spelling my name slowly, saying 'zero' instead of 'oh' for all numbers containing 0, calling my condo suite D instead of #D, etc. But when she said that she was able to make all the changes, I nearly cried and said, "Thank you so much. You have no idea how much you've helped me today!" She was so friendly.

I called my mom and told her the whole story from start to finish because I had been afraid to give her any details until the problem was solved (or deemed unsolvable). We bought all of the food for tomorrow's fund raiser and discussed how my small error, even though it cost me money, was fixed and so it doesn't matter much. I've decided that a lesson can be learned from every mistake, so here's what I've learned from this one:

1) I need to be diligent in asking for what I want or need. Customer service is there to help the customer - me.

2) Next time I go to Uganda, I will double check the dates before I buy tickets.

3) This mistake is no where near as embarrassing nor as expensive as one that Julie's sister made involving Lakers tickets and Florida.

4) I'm not perfect. And that's ok.

Next step is getting my visa...I hope I fill out the paperwork correctly...