Bole Int'l Airport

Here I am in Addis Abada, waiting until 2am local time to board a
flight to Nigeria and then on to Kampala, arriving at 7am. It's 21
hours total, not 27 as I've previously stated, but usually I'm good
with time zones. If the flight were 2 hours later or something, I
might fall asleep in the airport but I would get to hear part of the
Sox game here, I think. It's slow but a good machine.

Anyway. The departure ceremony went well, and faster than previous
ones thank god. They cut out the whole bit where departments you
never worked with give speaches as well. I was thanked, and wished
a safe journey (in Jesus' name) and the like. I gave a speech, the
jist of which was...

I wish I could have been here longer to see more things happen, but
I know the Int'l volunteers are an extremely capable smart etc. group
of people. CBW does such important work that no one else is doing
and we IVs can be homesick and look to 3 weeks, or 5 days, until we
go home, but you LVs are also away from your homes and yet you do
this incredible work. I'm Jewish and we have a traditional holiday
called Passover, at the end of the ceremony we say "Next year in the
promised land" to symbolize a desire to be together in peace and
unity. So Next year in Liberia.

(I changed Jerusalem to promised land....)

Then we went to look for goat soup and they were all "finished!"
I was heartbroken, having loved it the one time I had it - it's spicy
enough to burn your whole lower face but it's a delicious spice.
Wed. was packing and reading and napping - Tues. two houses down from
us was a booming party until 1:30 am - and then dinner with all the
IVs and the leadership of CBW, which was a first.

And then Thursday to Accra. Found Moses, went online, got ice cream,
was stuffed to the brim with food at his house. I mean I felt sicker
than thanksgiving. After meeting his neighbors at like 8pm he wanted
to give me eggs and bread and I flat out refused. My stomach has
been terrible the last few days anyway; wonderful timing to travel.

Woke up at 3:30am what is now yesterday, Friday, at Moses's
insistance. Got in the taxi at 4:45. ugh. At the airport I had
to wait a bit for the check in counters to open, and when they did I
was first in line for Aero, my Nigerian airline. I then proceeded
to have a calm heart attack as my name was not on the passenger list
and they told me to step aside. Luckily this was true for the next
two people in line, and they then got the right list. The departures
side of the Accra airport is much, much nicer than the sketchy
arrivals side. Moses followed me in his uniform right through
customs.

The plane was like a 40 seater, and I was in row 5 or so with a
propellor attatched to the wing right outside my window. The hour-
plus flight was straight vibrations from the little engines. On
the ground I was accompanied by an Imigration officer as a transit
passenger without a visa. He took my passport and tickets and
disappeared while I waited for my bag, which was quite frightening.
But he saw me to the Ethiopian Air counter, cut the line with me,
got my baggage checked even though it was over the weight limit,
then asked me for my card. arg. The airport was larger than Accra
and the wait flew by with a Clancy novel. I went through the metal
detector immediately - in Accra it's not until you're about to board -
but when it was time to board they took every passenger through a
line to hand check the luggage. In both cities you had to also go
to the curb and identify your luggage to be put on the plane, though
it had already been tagged. They also announced in Lagos that the
seat numbers on our boarding passes were to be disregarded - open
seating. Thus ensued pushing, chaos, and crowding waaay too close
together, especially for someone who at 5'2 is about armpit height
of many of the men who could have used some deoderant...

The flight was fine though, I got a window seat in the 6th row and
first class was nearly empty so I almost just went up there. Wish
I had, my back feels brutal from the heavy backpack alternating with
sleeping on the plane. The food was comparatively good, it was
about 5 hours, and then I was here. Addis Abada is yet a bigger
airport with plenty of duty free shops. It being past midnight,
July 16, I checked every store in the terminal for Harry Potter (I'd
finished my book and stretching my legs was in order) but most
didn't even carry books nor understand what I meant by the word.

And here I am killing time until 2am at the ridiculous rate of $5
an hour. It was sad to leave Accra/Ghana, to pass the Kollege
High School on the way to Knieshie forthe last time, etc, but I'd
already sort of found closure with leaving Buduburam and CBW.
I'm psyched for Uganda, so here goes...