Friday afternoon...through arrival at home
Warning...this post contains whining
After the coffee factory, we did some more shopping at the Post Office area. Granny stayed in the van with the baby and Katie and I did some fast shopping. We had limited time. We picked up more souvenirs and gifts. We also went back to the Guest House to get packed up and checked out, pay our final bills, take group pictures, pass out tips, say our good-byes, etc. We got Zoie's visa and the official "brown envelope" which needed to stay sealed until we got to the U.S. Here's our travel group.
Here's some AWAA friends...2nd from left is T., our guide, then Robel, Travel Coordinator, and David, our driver. (Not sure who the man in purple is.) These guys are very nice and are hard workers. Robel is trying to take kids who are homeless or almost homeless and get them into school (which comes with food if they attend) so that they will have a better chance in life.
We left for the airport later in the afternoon for our 7:30 flight. Once we got to the airport, Granny realized that she had left a painting back at the Guest House, so she rode back and got it, while Katie and I waited. The airport wouldn't let us wait inside for her so we waited outside. After she got back, we went through the first of many, many security checkpoints and waited in line to check-in for our flight. I had neglected to buy Zoie's lap pass ahead of time, so this created quite a problem at the counter. It had to have been over an hour later, when finally I was handed the boarding passes and paid $177. My mistake and I should have done it via-email sometime during the week. It would have avoided a lot of time standing with the baby. The flight was very late leaving Addis and this was hard on me. I just wanted to get started on the long trip home and we just sat there. I believe it was because the security line was extremely slow. They were checking people very carefully. It was the end of a busy, emotional and physically exhausting week and now a busy day was winding down. I was already so tired and in hindsight, I would have done things differently. For me, it would have been best to start the trip back home when I was a little more fresh and reasonably rested. It was not smart to leave Friday night after being awake since early that morning. Or, I should have planned an overnight stay in Dubai or something to allow for rest along the way. Just being honest and not trying to complain. I would not have been disappointed if we had missed our connecting flight because that might have meant a hotel! Anyway, we arrived in Dubai without any problems and had a short layover. The flight to New York left Dubai at 2:00 a.m. After more security and a horrible blow-out diaper, which lead to just tossing the outfit, we left for the 14 hr. flight to JFK. Luckily, Granny Pat had re-selected our seats to allow for an undesirable empty seat between us in the hopes that it would remain empty. Luckily, that dream came true and Katie did some good sleeping in 2 seats for a good chunk of the flight. Big thanks go out to Granny for helping with Zoie on this flight. She held her a few times so that I could take a few short naps. These naps were very helpful and I did feel a little recharged. I really don't know how anyone could do this trip solo.
After arriving in New York, we went through all the appropriate lines to get into the U.S., including the special line to bring our Zoie with us. All was in order and we were successful! We had to then get our bags and we took a breather and got a drink. Then, Zoie had another blow-out. After that was cleaned up, we headed toward our next airline and oops, we had to take a train to another terminal all together! Once we got in the right spot, there was a HUGE line filled with DC passengers that needed to be re-routed because of a big snowstorm. I had to be aggressive to get someone to realize that I was just trying to check in for a regular flight that wasn't cancelled. We had to say our goodbyes to Granny because she was on a different airline and we went through more security. Once we were on that flight, we heard the announcement that our flight time was 5 1/2 hrs. I realize that in comparison to 14 hrs., 5 1/2 is not much, but it seemed like forever. It felt like a tiny plane compared to what we were used to and we spent a lot of it in the back standing. Once we landed in L.A., we knew we had an incredibly short time to make our connecting flight. It was a fairly long walk and I just gave in and asked one of those moving carts to take me and I'm lucky I did. They called my name and said 1 minute as soon as I arrived. I believe this flight was about 20 minutes long and I know I fell asleep several times. Arriving in San Diego was awesome!!! I was completely exhausted and so happy to be home. All together, the trip time from door to door was about 36 hrs. 24 of that was in a plane. And add another 10 hrs. to that of additional awake time before leaving. And that's why I slept about 16 hrs. in the first 24 of being home.
This is what awaited me at the airport!!! My sweet Ella!!!
My three girls all together!!!
A very excited Grandma!!!
