Familiar but New at the Same Time

Currently, I am at the Gainesville Regional Airport (Gainesville, FL) waiting to board the first of four flights till I arrive in Hanoi.  I learned a long time ago that one does not take 4 flights without there being one “misadventure” and hopefully, I have already experienced it.  As a reminder, (it appears I need to write a prequel.), I am first flying to Hanoi, Vietnam as a US Fulbright Specialist where I will spend 5 weeks collaborating with the nursing faculty at Vin University.  Then I fly to Phnom Penh, Cambodia where I will spend 6 weeks on a WHO project thanks to a grant from the University of Florida, where I teach.  This journey seems familiar as I've worked in Cambodia on nursing education projects since 2007; however, working in Vietnam is new to me.  Hence, the familiar but new theme. 

Backing up a bit.  It is ironic that I picked today to leave for Hanoi as it was 7 years ago today that I last left for SE Asia! Totally unintentional, and I did not even remember this.  It was my daughter, Christy, who shared that memory with me. Also, tomorrow when I land in Hanoi, it will be International Nurses Day. What a joy it is to know that I will be working with international nursing colleagues to support their nursing education system.

 
Now for the adventure part…. Back in 2013 when I lived in Kampot, Cambodia for a year as a US Fulbright Scholar, I organized the library at the nursing school.  I made a promise to them that I would bring updated textbooks whenever I returned... with the understanding that we would pull the older editions off the shelf, so that they are always using current materials.

So, in addition to my two checked bags and a box of NCLEX Exam prep materials for Vin University, I have two boxes of books for Kampot Regional Training Centre for Nurses and Midwives in Cambodia.  The problem? Delta Airlines does not have an agreement with Eva Air, who I ALWAYS use to fly to SE Asia.  That means once I land at LAX, I will have to pick up my 2 checked bags and the 3 boxes, haul them to the international terminal that Eva Air flies out of and PAY FOR THE LUGGAGE AGAIN.  I just paid Delta Airlines a whopping $620 for my 5 checked bags.  Eva Air charges by the kg, after the 2 checked bags, so Lord only knows what those 3 boxes are going to cost.  Leaving them abandoned at the airport is not an option!!  At the end of the day, those textbooks are worth more than the cost of the baggage fee, both commercially as well as in terms of the potential impact on Cambodian healthcare. It’s been 7 years since I was there, so some things worth doing just come at a higher cost.  Now, I am praying that is the ONLY “misadventure” for this trip.  We shall see. 
More to come…………… Karen