March 27, 2011 11am
We are waiting for the shuttle to take us to the Washington DC hotel. It’s cold. Supposed to snow. I’m dressed for 75 degree weather. Always an adventure….
A little later
We met a guy on our shuttle to the hotel and then again at breakfast that was quite interesting. He worked for Middle East Concern. A group that deals with human and religious rights and Christians in north Africa. He was at a conference at our hotel with other similar groups from all over the world. Wow! What a job. His specialty was in research.
Baggage
We rearranged our bags this morning to get the weight shifted right. Our big bag full of orphanage donations was overweight OKC to DC but they didn’t charge us. They said we’d better fix it or Ethiopian Airlines would charge ALOT. Ok. Will do.
On our adoption agency website there is a page that has the orphanage list of current needs. We took items like diapers, wipes, vitamins, toothbrushes, toothpaste, tylenol, school notebooks among other things.
I got two baby dolls for Sally
I actually got the light brown one and when both my daughters saw it, separately, the first thing they said was “She isn’t dark brown!” Oh. I didn’t think about that. So…. I went out again and found a dark brown baby. She will get both. Precious little thing.
Yes, I packed toilet paper. They told us too. Apparently you never know what kinds of bathrooms (or holes in the ground) you will find!
8am
Headed back to the airport this morning. They told us to be there a minimum of 3 hours before take-off. Really? Ok, no problem. Especially since the last 2 flights we’ve been on (OKC to Chicago and OKC to DC we were running not to miss our plane.) I don’t want to do that anymore. It is not fun. Matt is not fun. Nothing is fun rushing to a plane.
X-RAY
This is the 3rd time I have flown since the airports put in the massive security checks. It’s either the mother of all “X-ray your body” checks or the “Pat-down” check. They randomly choose you to go through the X-ray machine or the old type and so far I’d never been picked for it. But today, I was the lucky one. So….being the health nut that I am, I chose the “pat down.” Always wanting to experience something new, I suppose. I remembered how I’d read that Gloria Allred said “it was the most she’d been touched in years and she quite loved it.” Well, I cant say that, but I know I don’t want to find out in 10 years that “Oh yeah, by the way, those X-ray machines we had 10 years ago, did, indeed cause this disease and that disease.” Go ahead. Pat away.
The People
Already we have spoken to so many nice people. We have met a number of Ethiopian people and they have been quite beautiful with a sense of serenity that seems just slightly out of reach. What is in the soul of these people? What roots are deep within them from multiple generations past? I wonder? Of course they are like us the way all humans are, but I don’t think I can really relate at all to their specific history. It’s almost as if we are traveling to another planet. (I think that way sometimes because I’m such a Star Trekkie.)
Clothes
I’m ready to go. I’m happy with my traveling garb.
It’s definitely something that has to be thought out and many times I have not done it well. Stretchy, comfy pants that just slip on, a white cotton shirt (that, “he he,” could be mistaken for a maternity shirt), slip on tennies (easy to take off at security), the vest that has tons of pockets (there are so many times when you have to take out your boarding pass, passport, money, phone, etc.) and I can’t deal with a full-on jacket. Those darn hot flashes.
This is a nice plane!
This plane is brand new and very modern. Each seat has it’s own tv, usb port and interactive map system.
You can watch one of 30 movies any time you want. Every day I’m amazed at technology.
AND we got socks, an eye mask, toothbrush and toothpaste. Very nice! I feel pampered.
The couple sitting behind us is going on a safari in Kenya. They home schooled their 2 sons all the way through and now they have graduated from college and are doing very well. That’s good to hear.
Think I’ll watch a movie now. More later. Man, we are blessed.
5:30pm Washington time. In the air.
Well, we’ve been in the air 5 hours now. 8 more to go. I’ve watched 2 movies (Unstoppable – Chris Pine is, um, I’m gonna say the new Tom Cruise; and The Day The Earth Stood Still with Keanu Reeves – not sure how I missed that one being a sci-fi fan.) And had some interesting conversations standing in the back of the plane with other people looking for something to do.
Another retired couple here for the Kenyan Safari. A guy here to drill water wells in poor villages with an American company. He is actually a construction worker and will work with this group for 3 weeks. No Pay. Work was slow in Indiana so he thought he would do this til it picked up. And talked to a Sudanese man who is starting his medical residency somewhere in the US soon. He will be an internist and then develop a specialty. He said he was sure we could come to Sudan and very quickly adopt many children. Hmm.
Nighttime
Now for a glass of red wine and a sandwich and a little Rutavala essential oil and hopefully I will fall asleep. Rutavala has valerian in it. An herb that helps induce sleep. We arrive in Addis at 8am which will be 1am our time and we are definitely supposed to not sleep until that night so we can get on their schedule. Going to Russia it was the same situation. We made it, barely, til about 4pm and then just had to sleep. We will see what happens.
Love,
Allison
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