Day 1& Day 2 - Ethiopia Bound!

At the airport in N-ville.

Vince and Kelli Monks...they are also with our agency.  We were blessed to seriously bond with them and the Veals.  What a blessed trip!

This is the airport at Rome.  B was excited because he took a picture of a "real Italian"  LOL

Airport at Rome

The Mediterrean Sea

Coast of Africa

Overview of the African plains

This was our handy dandy map that we watched.every.single.moment.of.the.17.hr.plane.ride. :)

Stunning African sunset.

Our HUGE bed at the Crown Royal Hotel

The sitting area of our room.

Our flush was a push button and our toilet paper was the hose :/  There was no toilet paper.  They did bring us about 1/4 of a roll....boy, did we make that last!

Our very own hot water heater that was placed above the tub.

We were blessed to have our neighbors take us to N-ville.  We certainly didn't want to drive and pay for parking, but that is minor.  They were sweet enough to haul us down there.  What a fun trip :)

In the N-ville airport, we had no problems getting in and through security.  We ended up sitting for 3 hrs LOL....we wanted to make sure we got there, in time, with no snafus!  We succeeded.  The first plane was a cracker jack plane, but we made it safely to DC, in what seemed like the blink of an eye.

We got through DC's security in no time, and again, we sat...for four.long.hours.  We were blessed to meet the Monks, not too long into our layover.  We introduced ourselves and had a lovely chat before our long flight.

The big plane was, big....but it was so scrunched.  B and I were really really close, during our trip.  I mean REALLY close!  I took some meds and rested for part of the trip, but in true nature of the Ethiopian culture, the flight attendants were very attentive...even when we were sleeping.  We'd feel the SMACK SMACK SMACK...wake up, there they are...giving you food, drink or a hot cloth.  

We watched 2 movies FOR THE ENTIRE TRIP.....The "New" Karate Kid and Grownups (you can only watch those 2 movies so much before you start to go a bit crazy).  B tried to read and sleep. I tried to work some puzzle books and sleep...to little avail.

I finally decided to break down and go to the bathroom...sat in the shoebox on the plane and then I flushed the toilet...I wasn't prepared for the WHHHHOOOSSSSHHHHHHHHH and the force in which it flushes.  I squealed, peed a bit more and then opened the door, only to come face to face with an old man (that would be my introduction to Eric Veal LOL).  I know that he thought I was insane and my squealing at the flush of a toilet.  That's one way to be introduced to the other family that we were to be staying with, on our trip.  OOPS.

The Ethiopian airport was a bit overwhelming.  It was dark, I was tired, there were people and lines everywhere.....once we all got our ducks in a row, found our luggage...we shot out the door and there he was, Mr. Ethiopia himself, Woudneh.  His eyes could light up the darkest room and his smile is contagious.  He immediately put us at ease.  Off we all went, us, the Veals and the Monks'.....our adventure was beginning.

Woudneh took us straight to the hotel, which was lovely.  We settled in our room and then B and I decided to go to the "traditional" restaurant.  There was live music and the most stunning dancing I've ever seen.  The food was spicy, so we didn't eat alot of it.  We were simply mesmerized at the dancing.  Finally, we decided to head to our room and we slept...oh did we sleep....

.....to be continued......