Our exciting trip to Ethiopia started dark and early with all of us up waking up by 3:45am! We boarded the SMS short bus at 4:15am (thank you to Ms. McGlohon for driving us to the airport!) and headed to RDU for the start of this exciting trip. We boarded the plane to Boston and then we were off! We looked out the window and could see snow! Our layover in Boston was a short one, but filled with lots of coffee breaks. During our layover, we were asked if we were a part of a team and we said we were the newest members of a national hackey sack team. It was noticeable that it was St. Patrick’s Day, with many in the Boston airport wearing green.
We later scurried to get our last few minutes of social media in before the 12 hour flight to Dubai, but luckily Emirates came in clutch with $1 WiFi. There was an unlimited selection of entertainment in route. Our flight attendant was THE BEST because he gave us all a stuffed animal “carry buddy”. We were served a late lunch, a snack, and breakfast. The long flight finally came to an end, and we all boarded a bus and took a 20 minute bus ride to the terminal. Everyone had to stand the entire way, holding onto the handles that hung from above. On this journey, we learned that Lauryn really does not have any balance. After a hot, bumpy ride, we finally arrived at the terminal and scoped out the food options. All of the girls decided on McDonald's, which featured the McArabia chicken. Mackenzie was fortunate enough to get two free McRoyale’s instead of her chicken nuggets and fries. As we were waiting to board the plane, we thought we would get some exercise in so we started doing lunges, to get ready for our hackey sack tournament. We boarded the plane for the 3 hour flight to Ethiopia! We don’t remember much about the flight because the flight was rather empty and we all spread out and slept.
We got off the plane, grabbed our visas, and were ready to take Ethiopia by storm! We met Biniam and Dagim, our right hand men for the trip. The driving here is CRAZY! People like to walk in the middle of the street while drivers are swerving around them. It really was every man for themselves. The van with the luggage in the back struggled to make it up the hill to our house due to too much weight. Lauryn told everyone to lean forward, so Lauryn, Suz, Mackenzie, and Ms.Rundles all leaned forward and we finally made it up the hill! We all arrived at the house and got settled in. The house is three stories high and very spacious. We all showered and gathered downstairs to engage in conversation before dinner. We learned some basic Amharic phrases and some cultural differences like the date and time. We ate a delicious dinner of rice, ground beef, chicken, and salad. We ended the night all writing in our journals and getting ready for a good night’s sleep because we have not slept fully in 2 days. More tomorrow!
Ciao!
-Lauryn Durham ’17, Leann Kelly ’17, and Mackenzie Logan ‘17
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