The joys of traveling…. Where do I begin and where do I end, neither are possible, because every time we thought that we have come to an end, we had to get through the onset of another crazy beginning!
So, I get Dulles around 8 PM. My patience was not apparently ready for a one hour wait. In the line for hour boarding pass, I saw a little one, who made the wait amusing for everyone. He was no more than three and had a teddy bear suitcase whit a teddy bear attached to it. His parents put it on his back. And very innocently, he looked up at his parents and asked, “Where is my suitcase?” None of us couldn’t help but watch and laugh at his innocence and curiosity. An early traveler indeed!
So, I went to gate C and walked up and down the Gate C corridor as I could not sit still. I was excited for the trip to begin and to see Laura. I finally went into a book store and began to read “There is heaven, for real.” I got on the plane ready for it to depart… I passed security check point #1 and am on flight #1.
The adventures of flight #1:
I got a window seat next to a very sweet elderly lady. Unfortunately, we left 10 minutes late due to turbulent weather. Now, a 7 hour trip, how to sit still, was the thought in my mind. I ended up watching Thor in cycles during the trip. They served dinner at 12 AM (our time) and I couldn’t eat it. And, the dressing contained milk; hence deterring me from eating any meal the rest of the flight even if was at a logical eating time. (Breakfast came at 4:30/5 and I had a little apple sauce). I tried to sleep but it did not happen, whether because of excitement, lack of food, or just the discomfort of the smell of the bathroom next to us, I had an off/on cycle of 4 hours of sleep. Since the flight left late, I brushed my teeth in the smelly bathroom. Unfortunately, crazy weather hit our way again and hence another delay. This was the point where I was worried. I have not been worried about this trip until this moment because I didn’t know if Laura was at the airport or not! So, I was going through all these thoughts in my mind for a solution if I could find her:
-- Have a PA announce her name
-- Meet her in Nairobi
However, I landed at 12:30 (U.S. time). We were bussed to our terminal immediately… so much for a security check. My immediate reaction, where is Laura?!?!?!? I saw her with a look of anxiety, peeking at the stairs and within the crowd of people to search for me. I called her name and we both expressed our worry and hugged with a sight of relief. I got my boarding pass approved and went back on the same bus. Now, there was a couple there, who were going to Kenya too!!! They were me from the onset of my flight adventures and are known as the couple to Laura and I for most of the flight. Unlike Laura, the lady, moved from Denver to Arlington, and Laura vice versa. We had fun discussing our upcoming adventures.
The best part of the flight, the elderly lady next to me says “thanks for being my neighbor, I respond, “likewise.” Such a pleasant person.
The adventures of flight #2:
Frankfurt to Ethiopia. Another 7.5 hours, How will I survive, thank goodness for movies! I watched Kung Fu Panda 2, so awesome and African Tigers, and Rio. We tried to watch Bollywood together-they were boring. The couple was yet again behind us, we insisted that they stop stalking ;) Laura and I amused each other with attempting Hard Sudoku Puzzles. She taught me basic Swedish. I studied the whole Kiswahili book from Peace Corps! We got through well in this flight, when your with your friends, it makes time run faster.
Landing in Ethiopia, drum roll please!:
Can I just say, 14.5 hours of me sitting still is amazing, a total trip amounting to 21 hours, I don’t know how, but where there is a will there is a way.
Landing in Ethiopia, we are in Africa but too far from destination. Now Laura did not have a pass for her luggage to go to Nairobi, but I did. I did not have a boarding pass to Nairobi, but she did. So we inquired where do we go?! We were directed upstairs to Gate 7. We finally reach the main desk and the guys asked what do you need? We explain and he with the wave of his hand ushers us into the line, saying “okay.” Now we were moving extremely slow and in groups. We made it but the mama singing the barney theme song with the wrong notes did not help our exhaustion. Upon getting through security we have to see another guy, who HANDWRITES :O my boarding pass. We were not sure of the validity of this pass, but I am obviously in Tanzania so it worked. Laura was told she would be taken care of and while there was apprehension, we chose trust. A random guy approached us and asked if we were going to London, and I asked where was he told to go and pointed him in the direction. The amusing part of the night was us walking in aimless circles to stretch out our legs, and seeing 3 men smoking in the airport under a “Do Not Smoke” sign. Then just I’m taking a picture, London guy comes and sits right next to me in personal space, and Laura to my rescue questions, isn’t our flight departing? And off we went, Thank you!
Last Flight:
Next blog with the adventures in Arusha…. Stay tuned.
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