"...After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and people and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb...and crying out with a loud voice, "Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!"" (Revelation 7:9-10)

Friday, January 6, 2012

Day 1

10: 40 A.M. (EST) – Dulles International Airport
Here I am! Sitting on my B777 flight to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia! Amanda got up bright and early with me (I’m going on about 3 hours of sleep) and brought me to Dulles to meet with our team. Going through check-in and security was thankfully uneventful and I had an emotional parting with my suitcase. I said a little prayer that it makes it. Okay. So the plane. Stop, I can’t get ahead of myself. The terminal we were in had flags from all over the world. Pretty cool. We were definitely in the international area of Dulles.

Okay, so the plane. Is. Huge. A woman, in what I imagine is traditional Ethiopian garb, greeted us and pointed us in 2 different directions. This is because the plane is massive. I didn’t book my ticket, but I did finagle an aisle seat with an open seat on my right. The seats are green, 3 sections, and 3 seats per section, but they are labeled A, B, C, D, F, H, J, K, L…hmm, where are E, G, & I? The blankets on the seats are beautiful blue-green pashmina-type (beats Delta red by far, though I have been known to swipe those…Verdict is still out, but I thought that was allowed, either way, I’m keeping this one!). Also, a face/sleeping mask and some other cloth I have yet to figure out. Each seat has a TV complete with 20+ movie choices, TV shows, and games such as Solitaire & Soduku. There are multiple languages and also an interactive flight map, which I love to watch. Speaking of: We leave Dulles at 11:00 AM and after a 12 hour flight, get into ADD @ 8:00 AM, I've been taking bets as to what hour in the flight we will hit nighttime. It is all so fascinating and good because now sleeping through this flight is basically a must cuz’ we will go through a night despite leaving early. Thank you, Motrin PM. I think I’ll stop here for now since I’m feeling that all too familiar heavy eyelid pull that has enabled me to fall asleep on take-off 6 of my last 7 flights (not drug induced, and neither is this!) We just starting taxiing and BAM, I’m out!

2:20 P.M. (EST) – Gloria Ridge, Atlantic Ocean
We traveled up to Canada, over Montreal and Newfoundland before starting our crossing of the ocean. I thought my prediction (like 6 hours, which was more than anyone else said) may do well since we didn't go straight across, but it is getting pretty dark, I can still see the wings and I’m not doing the math til I deem it dark so that I’m not biased. News Alert: The flight attendant just walked by with a cart of cigarettes and something else…cigars, maybe? Weird.

So it appears that we did get socks too and everyone is walking around in just them. Also, the front row of the middle section has a crib type basket sticking out of the wall with a very new baby sleeping in it. Slick!

I just watched
Romancing the Stone and loved it. Michael Douglas and Kathleen Turner, who plays a hopeless romantic author on an adventure, right up my alley. Favorite line was from her book: “That was the end of the man who killed my father, raped and murdered my sister, burned my ranch, shot my dog, and stole my Bible!

2:31 P.M. (EST)
3:31 minutes into the flight and it is completely dark, dad wins! I’m contemplating taking Motrin PM, but pretty sure I will not be able to sleep the entire 9 hours we have left. Oh yea, the first meal was decent, some chicken and rice thing with basically spaghetti sauce. I didn’t eat much though.

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