Day 2: Travel

**Please note that the date and time of when I post blogs is not the same as when I actually write them. Posting is definitely very much delayed.

Hi Friends! I've arrived in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia and it's about 3 a.m. I'm about to go to bed but I thought I should give you some of the highlights from traveling. Nicole and I traveled on Turkish Airlines flying 13 hours (I was an hour off in my last post) to Istanbul and then had to run to catch a 5 hour flight to Addis. Let me just say Turkish Airlines is pretty nice. I got to watch 3 movies including Star Trek and Great Gatsby. Also as soon as we were up in the air we were served Turkish Delights, and the nuts weren't your standard peanuts, they were hazelnuts. Anyways, to make a long story short, the flight and traveling actually went really well. Praise Him!

The only two things that could have been "complainable" issues were a screaming baby and the lady sitting next to us sobbing the whole time and drinking her sorrows in wine... But honestly it was good. Enough about the details of traveling and more about my thoughts:

1. Travel Buddy: Nicole is a fun travel buddy and I think in general its nice to travel with someone. 
2. People: There are a lot of nice people who want to talk to you. We definitely met at least 3 different people who started conversation with us. One lady in particular sat with us on our flight to Addis. She was German, but works for their military doing administration and finance. She's lived in a ton of different cities for her job. What I thought was so interesting about our conversation (and which ties into my previous blog post) was her rant about Spaniards and how they only know Spanish and don't try to learn any other languages. Obviously this is just one person's opinion, but it confirms what I said earlier about trying to learn other people's languages and how far that can go. Also, she must have been polite, because she knew we were Americans, and let's be honest most US citizens that are born here only know English. 
3. Smell: On arrival, the smell (not a bad one, but just a distinct one) brought me back to Africa when I first came. I started to get flooded with memories and emotions from just the smell. I know it's not the same country, but still. Wow. It made me realize how powerful our senses are in connection to us.
4. Arrival: I think Nicole and I were a little disoriented when we landed but that's normal. We weren't actually sure where Dereje or Mindi (the couple we are staying with) was going to pick us up, and we found out that they don't let people wait in the airport. So at 1:45 am we ventured outside to see if we could find them. Dereje found us! And I'm not going lie it made me a little nervous to be walking (even with Dereje there) past all these Ethiopians waiting to give people taxi rides. Just staring at us. It makes me realize that we really are afraid of the unknown, and that's not completely a bad thing as it helps us stay safe, but we can't let it hold us back from learning, meeting, and experience new people and cultures. Just something I want to keep in mind as I go through this experience. 
5. Addis: As we drove through the city to get to the place we are staying, it was quiet. Not many cars or people (a few dogs). And although Addis is a city there are a lot of buildings that look old, run down, and honestly... poor. But I'll be very interested to see what it's like in the morning.
6. Mindi's Place: It's beautiful. I can't wait to show pictures. All the rooms are painted different colors, and wow, seems very nice compared to the places we were passing. Okay, well I'm off to get some sleep and try to get on a normal pattern. I can't believe I'm here. I'm a bit nervous and anxious, but also very excited. I continue to trust God and find peace knowing that He is with me. I can't wait to see what He reveals!

Nicole, my travel buddy!

Mindi and Dereje's beautiful house