Day 1 (Part 1) in Ethiopia: Cliffhanger in Customs

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 once I made the switch, I decided I would have to leave my passport behind and go in search of Alan…(to be continued)

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