Aaaaaaand...

We're back! Praise God!!!

Yes, I realize I did not post anything for almost the entire duration of our trip, but it's really not my fault.

See, where we were, we had only dial-up, and for some reason, blogger did not much like it. So, every day I tried to log on to post about our AMAZING time there, and every day it said the page was not available.

But we're home now, safe and sound with two more in tow! I think I'm going to start at the beginning, and hope I get everything in.

So here it goes:

We left Wednesday morning at about 9:30 to get to the airport. Mother and I were praying fervently that our bags would go through, and they did! We filled four GIANT suitcases (thanks to all who gave donations!! And thanks to the D family for the use of those suitcases!) with clothing and formula for the orphanage, and packed all our clothes in our carry-ons (which could only be 15 pounds). The wonderful little rolling suitcases we planned to carry on were 10 pounds. Empty. So, we lugged shoulder strap suitcases with our clothes, plus our "purses", which held all our stuff for the plane, and then some. God must have blinded many people that day, because no one commented on our definition of "purse" :)

Our first flight was to Washington - my very first. It was lovely, and quick - only about two hours.

We then had a 4 hour layover in D.C., which wasn't the worst. We walked around a bookstore, bought a book, sat, ate some lunch/dinner, sat, waited, checked in (they didn't even weigh our bags!! YAY GOD!), then sat some more. We met two other families, also adopting through our agency, who were flying the same flight - The L family, and the G family.

We finally boarded the plane, and then took off.

Now that we are home, I have decided that I will never be a pilot. Up in the air, I do alright, but landing freaks me out.

Taking off, the first two times or so, was really fun, but the last times have just been a good excuse to practice fervent prayer :)

The flight over was not really all that bad. We slept almost the whole way to Rome (where we refueled), then slept some more to Addis.

I also don't understand why people complain about airplane food. Now, I'm probably not the best judge, and actually, I'm not a judge at all, since I've only eaten on one airline, but I thought the food was really good. Both flights we had breakfast, lunch, and dinner, and I liked them all!

Landing in Addis was (except for the actual landing part) wonderful. It was dark when we were coming in, so we got to see the lights of the city - beautiful!!

We managed to stumble off the plane, and into the airport. I got my visa ok, and Mother got money changed, and we got our bags, and met up with the L's and the G's, and then were joined by another family, the B's. We all were waved out and into the main lobby place, where we were met by Ato T.

Driving to the Guest House was an adventure - to say the least. I think you have to have grown up in Addis to understand the rules (rules?). I saw maybe 2 stoplights our entire time there, and no stop signs. People drive like maniacs, and yet everyone is so polite when it comes to going round the roundabout, or pulling into traffic. It was great seeing the city at night, since there weren't very many lights. The glimpses I saw fluctuated between metro urban and desolate poverty. And seeing the people, and the city... I felt right at home. I felt like I belonged. It was great!

We got to the Guest House, unloaded our stuff, then went out for pizza :)

Thus, our first day(s) passed.

Well, I have yet to learn how to get pictures at the end of my post, so I think I'll just go ahead and do another one... With pictures...

If anyone has any tips for this technologically challenged girl, please let me know!