Travel Day!

Okay I know this is a long time coming but we made it. Talk about a REALLY long day. I definitely was not prepared for how long I would be sitting on a plane. I was fine until we got to Amsterdam. The Amsterdam airport was highly frustrating and that seemed to be the catalyst for the rest of the flights. Once we figured out how to get seats on our flight and confirm our baggage there was little peace. After that we were delayed leaving Amsterdam do to a sand storm in Khartoum. They decided to go ahead and take off from Amsterdam and then decide on route if a stop in the Sudan would occur on not. About an hour outside of Khartoum they decided to stop. A friend had warned me to be prepared for the heat when they opened the doors and she was right it was terrible. When we landed it was 113 degrees and what was supposed to be an hour long stop, turned into almost 2 hours.

We were definitely fed well on all flights. Tried some new foods. By the time we got a meal on the Detroit to Amsterdam flight the only option was vegetable curry. I was nervous but it was actually quite good. On the Amsterdam flight to Addis both meal options were curry as well. It was unexpected, interesting and surprisingly not terrible. This coming from someone who has only started eating curry or and anything spicy in the last couple years.

When we finally arrived in Addis we had about a 2 hour process to go through getting a visa, and then get a stamp in our passport, then go get our bags (which all made it) and then go through customs and then sit in the van and wait. We finally left the airport just after 11:30. We pretty much dumped our stuff and crashed so we could get at least some sleep before the big day.

While leaving the airport we found out that we were the first families staying at the new guest houses aka old care center buildings. They had to move everything in just a couple of days to get set up for us. It is not 5 star but not terrible. There have been power issues, water issues and one room had a bug problem. The power issues are out of anyone's control. The water issues are being worked on daily. We currently have water which we didn't most of the day. We don't and haven't had hot water since we got here so cold showers it is.

So we are settling in and getting ready to meet our daughter. The day has finally arrived. I can't believe it.