Day #1

Day 1: Are we there yet?We left Bonney Lake early Wednesday morning after kissing each of our beautiful children good-bye. I can’t believe we are leaving them for 9 days! Thankfully we have the wonderful grandparents caring for them while we are away! Thank goodness. After a long (really long) plane ride we landed in Addis Ababa at about 8pm. We were immediately impressed by the beauty of the people a board our plane. We were probably 2 out of the 5 white people on the flight. We were put to shame by the culture and beauty around us. We loved listening to people speak, the strange language rolling off their tongues sounded like music! It was something else! The plane ride over Africa was something out of a movie! We were captivated as we watched the sun set over the great flat continent. It was breathtaking! Picture a straight line for as long as the eye can see. On the bottom is dark. Above the line, imagine that God has used a paint brush to wipe vibrant colors of orange, yellow, red, purple, and blue across the horizon as the sun disappeared behind the Earth. It was truly awe inspiring.

Once on the ground we got our entry visas and made it through customs without any delay. This was a new experience for both of us. We were relieved that all went smoothly. We were met by our driver and whisked (no lie!) to our hotel. Let’s just say me hitting the poll in the neighborhood was NOTHING compared to how people drive here! We checked into our hotel and settled in for the night. At one point we were able to watch, from our hotel room, large groups of people walking down the street, singing and clapping their hands in celebration of Christmas which was celebrated the day before here in Ethiopia. The singing and joyful clapping was quite a sight! We stood at our 4th story window for a long time watching the celebration. We were very thankful to have witnessed such a scene! Wow! We’re in Ethiopia! CRAZY!!!

Layover in Washington D.C.

The Ambien is working!

Our Plane

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Breathtaking African Sunset