Things started off with the unexpected..flight from DC delayed by 2 hrs for the unveiling of Ethiopian airlines new Boeing 777, and we were its lucky first passengers. We waited in line, I mean, a crowd of demanding and impatient people for an hour to confirm our seats apparently the system was down. Ah even in our nations capital it was clear where we were going, as African culture just has unpredictabilities that are beyond abnormal. For this reason I actually didn't even print the itinerary provided by Save the Children that outlined our mosquito net distribution trip and instead just gave it a read through, knowing that at best we would stick to 75% of the schedule.
Landed for our 14 hr stopover in Ethiopia. As with most African countries, Ethiopia has a ton of tribal languages. Luckily there and Malawi have a lot of English speakers. Which is the official language for business. The women have a look to them I did not envision. Not super thin and tall bodies with deep black skin - but instad look like a bit of African / Mideast mix with facial features not typical of that you see of people in Kenya. It took us 5 hours to finally get to the hotel, with much bickering between locals over who was driving and where we were going. However, I can't complain, because we were put up for 6 hours in a nice little hotel a given a fish dinner with no extra charge to our flight costs. Josh Cohen and I stayed up all night at the bar drinking a combination of wine, beer, and whiskey- don't ask me why, other than it was dirt cheap and our body clocks were far from ready for bed. If our waiter and the lovely bartender were representative of Ethiopia, the people here are amazingly well mannered and kind. We gave them pretty generous tips knowing that there's a good chance they kept the bar open for us until 5:30, went to the room, had a 30 minute nap and a shower followed by a typical African luxury breakfast of mango, sausage, hard boiled eggs and espresso. We're heading back to the airport now, and taking in the scenery. Looks like the days start real early here for both workers and students, and the roads and traffic are a bit more industrualized/ organized than I expected. Beggars had already lined up along the side walk outside our hotel, literally 8 with their children camped out in a way that made clear they were going to spend the majority of the day or morning there. Another reminder of what is inherent in the wealth gap that is so obvious in African cities.
While waiting for our flight I swapped info with a really nice gentleman that I had a good convo with. Edward, a pastor from Lilongwe was a former Muslim, and disowned by his family for his belief in Christ. He was flying back after speaking at an evangelical church conference in Tenessee. He runs an orphanage in Malawi and I'm hoping to see it. I pumped up a couple soccer balls for his orphans since I had just told him about the 45 balls I brought over to take to local schools in Malawi, and promised to keep touch.
