Wanderlusting Woman

Today was low key. I think I woke up around 2:00PM (there is a 7 hour time difference, so I’m a little out of it still). The cook (Bekalich) made me an omelet (she will make me whatever I want, whenever I want it...I could get used to that!). Then I walked around their compound and took pics (this place literally is a compound with 2 guards on duty 24/7 and razor wire on top of a cement wall that goes all the way around the property.) I thought the guards had guns, but Alan said, “No, just machetes.” Eekgads! In addition to the house, there is a little building for the guards to take naps in and a little house for the nanny when she stays and another little building for the boys to play in, where all their toys are kept). After lunch, I gave the twins (Gavin and Austin) their presents (Superman and Iron Man legos and Halloween candy) and then took on the dubious task of trying to construct those horrific little lego parts into something they could actually play with. For dinner, Al...

As I went to exit the airport to find Alan, another security guard stopped me and told me that I had to go get in ANOTHER long line and put my bags through another machine just to get out of the airport. At this point, Alan had been waiting for me for close to 2 hours. I worried that he might leave thinking I missed my plane or something. He had no way of getting ahold of me, so how long is my friend’s poor husband expected to sit and wait for me before giving up? I started to find the end of the bag line and realized it stretched quite a ways back. I was never going to get out of this place! And if I did, was I even going to be able to find Alan?! And how was I going to be able to get back in and get my passport if I left without it? (I can already hear Ma in my head saying, “See? That’s what you get for making fun of your mother.") I looked across the packed luggage claim area where I could see people in the glass on the other side waiting for their loved ones. Just then, I thou...

DAY 1: MADE IT! Thought I wasn’t going to when the guy at Customs asked me where I would be staying while in Ethiopia and I told him I didn’t know the address. I told him that my friend Alan was picking me up from the airport and I would be staying with them. Angry Ethiopian Customs Man acted totally annoyed with me and demanded that I go get the address. He then tossed my passport to the side and said he would give it back to me after I returned with an address. I had no clue what to do. I had no phone to call my friends, no access to the internet so I could find the address in an email. I couldn’t leave the airport in search of Alan because I wouldn’t have a way of getting back in to Customs without my passport. So as I sat there, poised for a meltdown after 18 hours of flights and layovers and no sleep and long lines for visas and Customs, and dealing with Angry Ethiopian Customs Man, I tried to get my exhausted brain to switch from “fu** fu** fu**” to “problem-solving” mode. And on...