The day to leave for Ethiopia finally arrived. I flew to Washington, DC Monday evening and spent the night at a hotel near the airport. Two girls from North Dakota, Hannah and Kylee, also had to fly in and spend the night. The next morning we took the shuttle to the airport, checked in with Ethiopian Airlines and headed to our gate. Emily and Owen were sitting at the gate when we got there since they had left Raleigh early that morning. We waited a little over an hour then it was time to begin boarding.
Ready for the 13 hour flight to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia! This was Emily's first time to travel to Ethiopia. Owen went last fall when their family made their first trip for their little brother's adoption.
While sitting on the plane we realized that the seven joining us from Chicago weren't going to make their connection with us due to weather delays. They ended up spending an unplanned night in DC then taking the flight the next morning.
About 11 hours into our flight, I looked at the flight map and realized we were close to flying over a portion of the Nile River. Two years ago it was too cloudy for me to see it. I was excited to be able to see it this time. This isn't the wide part of it but I can say "I've seen the Nile!"
We could see the Nile for several minutes...long enough to get some somewhat good photos.
We weren't allowed to take photos at the airport. After a few "hiccups" with Immigration and finding all our bags, we finally made it out to find Kelly Putty and her crew. They loaded up our bags and took us to the guest house. After settling into our rooms and having some breakfast, we headed to the lower level to sort some donations.
Note: Ordinary Hero has their own guest house. It is a very nice place to stay if you ever find yourself in Addis Ababa. They will take very good care of you!
After lunch we went to an orphanage that is home to many children with special needs. We spent over an hour playing with the children.
Some of the children are unable to get out of bed so we went to their rooms to sing to and love on them.
I've seen photos but have never experienced an orphanage like this. The ladies who work there as nannies are special ladies. I could have gone home after this visit and been a changed person.
We were very tired as we were fighting a 7-hour time change. We went back to the guest house to relax and have dinner. Our flight landed in the morning so we pushed through the jet lag to stay awake until night time. By 9pm we were all asleep!
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