Sunday in Ethiopia

(See previous post first.)

Dawit picked us up at some pre-dawn hour and took us to the airport. We said our goodbye’s to him and filed through security and into the British Airways line. After a while it became apparent that something was wrong, and we found out our flight had been delayed for 18 hours. EIGHTEEN hours! Something about how the flight coming from Egypt had been delayed, so now the flight crew had mandatory rest time before the plane could take off again. So we called Dawit again, who had dropped us off just long enough ago to get back home and fall back asleep. Bless his heart, he came right over and got us, and never lost the smile on his face.

We stopped by the Hilton to check out the British Airways office and didn’t get anywhere with that, so we went back to the Damu. The employees there felt like old friends and were happy to see us again, and even let us back into our old rooms, which hadn’t even been cleaned yet. We blessedly got a few more hours of sleep, then stored our bags in the office and did random things throughout the day. We spent a couple hours at the Sheraton hotel since we’d heard it was worth seeing. It was extremely beautiful and we even got to watch as guests arrived for a wedding.

Back at the Damu we loaded up Dawit’s van with our luggage again to head back to the airport. We only made it about 100 feet down the road before we were stopped by soldiers to let a motorcade of dignitaries pass by. During the 10 minutes or so we were stopped, some of the hotel staff came out and stood by the van’s open window, just to get one more chance to say good bye to Isaiah.

Everything went fine on the trip home, except we ended up with an 8-hour layover in London due to the flight delay. The airline gave us food vouchers and we passed the time pretty easily by washing bottles, browsing the shops, and getting a nap on the chairs (me and Isaiah). In Seattle we had enough time to say goodbye to Dad and Kathy, say a quick hello to Aunt Theresa, and freshen up before the final, quick flight to Boise. At this point the excitement really started to set in.

Some how the flight to Boise seemed longer than all the rest. I think we were just so tired, and so excited to see Emma and be home at last. Walking off the plane, I was nervous and emotional. I could see our group waiting for us on the other side of security and I couldn’t get there fast enough. I carried Isaiah in my arms and Brian carried our bags. Through the doors, I went straight for Emma and hugged her and cried. It took me a while to even look up to see who else was there, and I was moved to see family and friends there to greet us. Emma was curious about her new brother, and gave him a present – a little toy, and he reciprocated with a pre-arranged gift – an outfit for her teddy bear.

Our group was a crowd of excitement as we headed toward baggage claim and out to the cars. We fastened Isaiah into his car seat – his first time ever.

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Previous Posts:
Monday in Ethiopia
Tuesday in Ethiopia
Wednesday in Ethiopia
Thursday in Ethiopia (Part One)
Thursday in Ethiopia (Part Two)
Friday in Ethiopia
Saturday in Ethiopia