Travel Day 1 & 2 Houston to Addis Ababa (aka July 15-16)

So, as of now, it is 1557 (Ethiopia time) we are over Al-Kharijah, Egypt, about 1294 miles (just about 2.5 hours) from Addis Ababa. Just an FYI, we are flying at about 533 mph (ground speed) at 37000 feet. The temperature outside our plane is -40 degrees Celsius. If you count the time since we left Houston, we have been traveling now 15.5 hours. Mostly in the 'economy' class seat hosted by Lufthansa with about 1 hr 45 min transiting through the Frankfurt airport. I have decided that in the future if it doesn't cause me to go too much in to debt, Business Class is the way to go. I was honestly hoping more from our layover in Germany, like we'd get to wonder around the gift shops but we barely had time to make our way off the plane (took 20-30 min to debark from the plane), get onto the transport bus, go back into the terminal, back through security (at least security here was more efficient than in the states)—note to other travelers, if you have a REALLY thick book in your bag, be prepared for your screener to check it out. After security, it was down more hallways and stairs, a quick stop at the ladies room, back on a transit bus, then LONG wait on said transit bus until it was full, then back to another plane.

I do have to say that Xanax has been wonderful. Just a little dose has kept me quite calm this trip. We've had more turbulence that I'd imagined you'd have flying this high on a larger plane. Even Tony says it's a bit much for the circumstances, but I guess jet streams are a crazy thing. I'm certainly not looking forward to spending even longer in the air on our way back. The girls have done pretty well too. Hailey was a little nervous on the first takeoff but has done great since. Sarah just wants to sleep (that's what they're both doing now). Tony and I napped a bit too on this flight, in fact we both slept through what I'm sure was a lovely airline lunch. Our previous breakfast and dinner were both very good.

I'm not sure what all I'm feeling right now. I'm tired, that's for sure. I'm excited about seeing the country where my daughter is from and getting to know more about her culture. I'm very anxious to meet Hanna, but I'm trying not to get too worked up about this or let myself think about it TOO much, since I won't be able to see her for 9 more days. I think it would be harder to visit early then be here in the country with her and not be able to visit more. I understand why the directors of the orphanages don't want us to spend a really long amount of time with our kids before they are ready to come home. It must really be hard for them to see us and then we disappear for who know how long—maybe 4 weeks, maybe 8 weeks—maybe longer. I also know that the younger the child, the more difficult the visits must be. It's easier to explain to a 12 year old what the situation is than it is a 12 month old.

Anyway, our flight in to Addis Ababa was on time but it did take us a couple of hours to get out of the airport. The line 'visa on arrival' was a little on the long side, but not as long or as slow as the line to get our 'visa stamped' in order to leave the airport. We managed to get through those lines uneventfully then to the bank to get some dollars exchanged for Birr--$400 for 5428 Birr. That felt awkward holding such a stack of cash. The exchange rate is 13.55 Birr to $1. I do find it somewhat interesting that the fastest line the whole trip was the final one to get out of the airport through customs. Our driver from the hotel was waiting for us (I felt bad because I think he had been waiting since shortly after our flight arrived—but it took us a long time to get through the airport). The drive from the airport to the hotel was pretty short—10 minutes maybe? It was already dark so it was hard to see much of what was going on. There were a lot of people out for 830-900 at night (both pedestrians and cars). It seemed that a lot of the shops were closing up, especially street vendors. I'm not sure what the traffic rules were—I'm just glad so far that I'm not driving in the city.
Our hotel is pretty nice. I've been very surprised as I was looking around online before the trip that rooms with 2 double beds for families are nonexistent. You can have cribs brought in or sometimes a rollaway bed, but certainly not for girls the ages of Sarah and Hailey…they get their own room. And, they are so hyped up from the trip, that isn't necessarily a bad thing. Our hotel, the Afro Land Lodge, is a newer guest house/bed and breakfast. Our room rates are pretty good by American standard although slightly higher than what we had hoped for. Our rooms do 'connect' albeit by an outdoor 2^nd floor patio. There are also only 3 rooms on the 2^nd floor, two of them being ours. There is also someone at the desk 24 hrs/day and there is apparently security. Which from what I read having a security person is very common although crime is pretty low here.
Everyone was happy that we had packed snacks (ramen noodles, oatmeal, peanut butter crackers) so we didn't have to go out for dinner last night. Our dinner consisted of ramen noodles, peanut butter crackers, trail mix and soda. So--not the dinner of champions, but we all just wanted a little something before we went to bed. By the way, temperatures here are in the 50s at night.