May 18, 2007 and May 19, 2007 Journal Entries

The last two weeks have been very hectic as we've prepared to leave today. I've had long hours at the office, and Lyle's endured many phone calls from me - can you do this? and don't forget that. But, alas, we are finally on our way.

Last night our neighbours drove us to the hotel in Richmond. They were so good to us. L. was very encouraging to me through my first emotional cry. I picked up my cat, Sandi, to say good-bye and the tears finally hit.

We tried to go to bed early but my mom thought it was a good time to be on the internet while I tried for over an hour to call. Yay for dial up! But I was able to watch Ugly Betty - the last tv show while in Canada. Sleep was brief, having an alarm for 4:00 am. We were unsure if we were a domestic or international flight so we had to be at the airport the required 3 hours early. In the end, we were very early for our domestic flight. Good thing though as we left the camera bag on the shuttle bus. Thankfully we had all that time to realize it and have the shuttle bus driver get it to us on another one of his scheduled drop offs.

We went through check in and security very easy. The man was extremely helpful with weighing our bags, and even had them checked through all theway to Addis Ababa so we would not have to deal with them again on any of the other flights.

Now we sit at Gate C37 waiting to go. The sunrise behind the planes is nice to watch. We have another hour and a half before we board our 8:20 am flight.

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We are in Toronto now, about to board. It is 2:00 pm back home but here it is 5:00 pm. Apparently we will have both dinner and breakfast on this flight. The last one [Air Canada] we had a snack, but had to pay even for that. We are now out of Canadian money. Oh well, shouldn't need it now. We met a couple from Ghana. They were on the same flight from Vancouver, but we didn't talk to them until at the Toronto Airport. We will now be on the same flight to Germany.

Toronto is nice to look at from the airport. We don't see much but the city line. It took a while to find a post card and we couldn't find one Toronto sign to take a picture with. Are they not as proud as Vancouver?

We were hoping to see B., a friend who used to live in Vancouver and would go to the races in Mission. He works at the Tornoto airport, but was unable to get away from the desk. Maybe on the way home.

I called my mom again. Last call for two weeks I guess. I miss her already, knowing we are even farther away from each other. She would love this trip - I know she would.

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We're now on the plane to Frankfurt, Germany. These people on Lufthansa just want to feed you! We have already ha our snack and after collecting the garbage, they're already servin dinner. We've only been on board about an hour and a half.

We did have bulk head seats, giving us more room. Someone with leg surgery needed the seat though so we were asked if we minded moving. We didn't, but we sure hope we have the bulkheads on our return home with Mikiyas. The room would be appreciated.

The sun is going down now. I don't see it, but it is getting darker. The sky looks very pretty with distinct lines of blues above the clouds. Not something I have ever seen before.

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We are flying over Africa now. Frankfurt was beautiful from what we saw above. Lots of hills and forests around and throughout the city. The airport was not much to be desired though. Very large, with more being built, but nothing to look at. Very few stores and coffee shops. Two different stores keep being repeated over and over, with an occasional third. People smoke everywhere which is not something I'm used to. I guess they don't mind as it seemed everyone stood around smoking. We paid 4 Euros for 24 minutes of internet. We were able to send a few emails and post on a couple forums.
So now we are above Africa. I have slept most of the way, waking for snack and dinner. They still love to feed us. When I look out the window, I see miles of flat desert. You can see where the wind moved sand, like wrinkles in tissue paper.

We made a brief stop in Kartoum, Sudan to drop passengers off. We were forbidden to take photos at or of the airport. Nonetheless, before the photo warning, I had taken a few photos of the city as we landed. I missed getting photos of all the anti-aircraft guns mounted at the ends of the airstrip. That would have been very neat to have. I think I ended up with just the bushes as we were moving too fast.

Addis is getting much closer. I believe we are now 1 1/2 hours away. I've caught up on a lot of sleep. I would like more but if I do, I won't sleep at all tonight.

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We're 1/2 hour away from landing now. It's dark and I'm waking up. I'm still tired but happy the flying is now coming to an end. We've been watching an amazing lightening storm. I have always had to look up to watch. this time it was eye level. The continuous flashes were like a strobe light. The best was seeing the actual forks of lightening.

So very soon we will be doing the stressful stuff. Going through customs. Getting our visas etc. I'm nervous but I am also trusting God.

I'm excited to be so close to Mikiyas. But I still feel patient and content. I don't feel anxious at all. I just know God's timing is perfect. Perhaps I'll be more antsy tomorrow after sleep and a shower.