Travel Time

My friend Debbie, picked us up at 5 in the morning on a Sat to take us to PDX. Now that is a great friend! We had 3 suitcases, 1 big container filled with donations for Toukoul, 2 carry ons and video camera. We were ready to go. I did not sleep much Friday night in anticipation of our trip. I kept waking up and looking at the clock, trying to figure out how many hours until we land in Addis, how many hours until we meet our babies.

We started the long trek, flew to DC and hopped on the commuter train to go to the international terminal and there was Anne Marie and Eli. So we had lunch and hung out before we headed to Air Ethiopia's counter.

We were in the back of the plane, very back of the plane. But it was ok, we met this incrediable lady, Rosemaire, from Boeing. She was going to Addis for 3 weeks to volunteer at an orphanage. She said that Air Ethiopia has ordered new planes from Boeing and when they are delivered, one is going to be full of donations for the orphanages. I'm going to pass her info on to the people I know in Ethiopia Orphan Relief. Shipping of supplies is so expensive, this will be huge!

I was so tired, but couldn't sleep. Naing slept fine. So we just sat, got up and walked around a little, watched a movie and sat some more. I had never been on a plane where so much visiting goes on. The Ethiopians get up and greet and chat w/each other during the flight. I was also amused by them wrapping the blanket around their head to block out light and sleep.

We we late leaving DC so we were late landing in Rome. When we were done refueling in Rome there were 17 planes ahead of us on the tarmack. I finally fell a sleep while we were waiting for our turn to take off.

We finally land in Addis and are over 2 hours late. I was worried the driver sent to pick us up, wouldn't know how late our flight would be...but we couldn't control that and I had phone numbers if needed. We got in line for our visas at the airport in Addis. That was a long drawn out hot process. We were in line for over an hour. Finally we got through the line and my husband the engineer is making suggestions to stream line the process. I keep telling him, Africa not America get used to it.

Our lawyer Sinti ( I can't spell his full name) was there to pick us and the Garcias up. What a relief. We got out to the car and 5-6 men appear to help load the bags into the car and expect a tip in return. Naing started to pay the men and Sinti took part of it back and told him it was too much. The men were all closing in around the van and he told them to go. I was glad he was there.

We would be staying at the hotel the man who runs Toukoul bought. That means we have our own bathroom:) big plus! We are exhausted, the cook Wendi, makes us some delicious soup and we head off to bed. We didn't care the bed was uncomfortable, because we were so tired and excited, the next morning we would go meet our children.

Here are some pictures of the hotel and the view from our room.