THOUGHT I POSTED THIS YESTERDAY...internet here isn't very reliable I guess...so a day late & going to post again now - weird that the PS went thru???
Well my flights went AMAZINGLY WELL!!! Doug & I drove to LAX without too much traffic - got a quick bite to eat & he dropped me off. I checked in my 2 bags & had about an hour to check out the LAX American Airlines Admirals Club lounge which was nice... until I realized somewhere between security & the lounge I had lost my personal cell phone (which I was really only taking for my contact list). After alerting the Kraus Family disaster response team I went back & found it with a nice TSA worker...it had been in my pocket when I went thru security, had to take it out & put it in a separate bin & LEFT IT...then FOUND IT...crisis averted!!!
My flight to London was REALLY FULL but I had an aisle seat in the middle group of 5 seats & with a little sleep medicine I did get some rest. I arrived in London & found the Admirals Lounge there & it was REALLY NICE!!! As exciting as the London airport is with great shopping etc I was happy to stay in the Admirals Club so I could take a CHOC conf call & also enjoy the non stop flow of food & diet cokes. I figured it was my last encounter with the Western world!!! I decided that if you travel alot the Admirals club or whatever airline lounge you like is similar to booking a hotel room on the concierge floor...TOTALLY WORTH every penny of the $50 for the one day pass Doug got me!!! I even took a nice hot shower before I left on my next flight :)
My flight from London to Addis wasn't very full but they wanted to charge me a ridiculous amount for my 2nd bag - we finally agreed on $100 as the flight was in the final boarding stage & I was fine with that. I managed to gt an empty row of 3 seats & slept some on that flight as well. I arrived in Addis, exchanged my money 18 Birr = $1, got my bags went thru customs & didn't even get stopped - I was SO HAPPY about that as I wasn't sure how I would explain my one suitcase of 50 lbs that included approximately - 24 pairs of flip flops, 30 baby blankets 20ish dresses, some boys shorts, 30 baby gowns, 30 pair of socks etc etc....all of that will bless SO MANY LIVES & it is because of friends at home, in Idaho & elsewhere who are giving these gifts - I am simply the lucky person who gets to deliver their kindness!!!
I had 3 hours in the main Addis terminal before I went to the domestic terminal - sad to say their internet hasn't improved....so I sat in a place called the "Yellow Spot" and bought a "Coke Light" the last for the next 2 weeks as it doesn't exist in Mekele. The young man who worked there started talking to me in very broken English & asked why I was there & then asked what religion I was - RANDOM. We talked for a bit & then he pulled out a Families Are Forever Missionary Track in Ahmaric that someone had given him - I said yes that was from my church. There are not LDS Missionaries in Ethiopia (I don't think) we chatted awhile - it was a crazy encounter.
I m,et the rest of the team at the Domestic terminal for our noon flight - they all seem GREAT!!! of course if you are willing to do this kind of work you have to have a good heart so I have yet to encounter an Op Smile Volunteer who wasn't wonderful & welcoming. 3 of the nurses here were ones I worked with in Kenya - that was a nice reunion & my 2 Anesthesiologist friends are here & 2 nurses from my last time in Mekele. They assigned us rooms & I got one to myself - THAT NEVER HAPPENS!!!! At first (for about 15 seconds) I felt bad cause that is one way to "bond" with one person on the team but once I got there & started "setting up my space" I was happy to have gotten that room :) I unpacked everything, set up my bathroom, my food area, hung up clothes, organized all that I brought to give away & took a 2 hour nap without worrying about a roommate I really feel like I have my little home away from home for these 2 weeks & I wont worry about staying up late to journal or bothering anyone - its just me for the few hours a day I am in the room YIPEE!!!
I KNOW one reason why I am here -Doris a Kenyan Nurse is the Clinical Coordinator for this mission - she is AMAZING & KNOWS EVERYTHING but...she has only done Kenyan Missions not missions in other countries & now she is here & in charge of an international team - I have no doubt she will be great but as I visited with Craig (Anesthesia lead & my friend) & Vince I realized part of what I need to do is whatever I can to help Doris be a successful leader of this international team. She is a bit quiet & unassuming but knows so much & I want her to be just as confident here as she is in Kenya. Also she asked me to be...TH GATEKEEPER - that is the CRAZY JOB at Screening where I need to make sure every patient was seen by every specialty, all signatures are on the chart, labs drawn & pt prioritized 105. For Doris I will happily do this. So I better get to bed is 10:30 here & we have a 6 am wake up call * then a few hundred patients to screen tomorrow.
I am SO SO G:AD I am here where I am supposed to be for these 2 weeks - so many things have pointed me back to Ethiopia & everything has gone so well on every front - I even got EVERYTHING of my pre-departure "TO DO LOST" done before I left (a few things were don as we drove to the airport but till they got done - that in & of itself was a major miracle :)
Well my flights went AMAZINGLY WELL!!! Doug & I drove to LAX without too much traffic - got a quick bite to eat & he dropped me off. I checked in my 2 bags & had about an hour to check out the LAX American Airlines Admirals Club lounge which was nice... until I realized somewhere between security & the lounge I had lost my personal cell phone (which I was really only taking for my contact list). After alerting the Kraus Family disaster response team I went back & found it with a nice TSA worker...it had been in my pocket when I went thru security, had to take it out & put it in a separate bin & LEFT IT...then FOUND IT...crisis averted!!!
My flight to London was REALLY FULL but I had an aisle seat in the middle group of 5 seats & with a little sleep medicine I did get some rest. I arrived in London & found the Admirals Lounge there & it was REALLY NICE!!! As exciting as the London airport is with great shopping etc I was happy to stay in the Admirals Club so I could take a CHOC conf call & also enjoy the non stop flow of food & diet cokes. I figured it was my last encounter with the Western world!!! I decided that if you travel alot the Admirals club or whatever airline lounge you like is similar to booking a hotel room on the concierge floor...TOTALLY WORTH every penny of the $50 for the one day pass Doug got me!!! I even took a nice hot shower before I left on my next flight :)
My flight from London to Addis wasn't very full but they wanted to charge me a ridiculous amount for my 2nd bag - we finally agreed on $100 as the flight was in the final boarding stage & I was fine with that. I managed to gt an empty row of 3 seats & slept some on that flight as well. I arrived in Addis, exchanged my money 18 Birr = $1, got my bags went thru customs & didn't even get stopped - I was SO HAPPY about that as I wasn't sure how I would explain my one suitcase of 50 lbs that included approximately - 24 pairs of flip flops, 30 baby blankets 20ish dresses, some boys shorts, 30 baby gowns, 30 pair of socks etc etc....all of that will bless SO MANY LIVES & it is because of friends at home, in Idaho & elsewhere who are giving these gifts - I am simply the lucky person who gets to deliver their kindness!!!
I had 3 hours in the main Addis terminal before I went to the domestic terminal - sad to say their internet hasn't improved....so I sat in a place called the "Yellow Spot" and bought a "Coke Light" the last for the next 2 weeks as it doesn't exist in Mekele. The young man who worked there started talking to me in very broken English & asked why I was there & then asked what religion I was - RANDOM. We talked for a bit & then he pulled out a Families Are Forever Missionary Track in Ahmaric that someone had given him - I said yes that was from my church. There are not LDS Missionaries in Ethiopia (I don't think) we chatted awhile - it was a crazy encounter.
I m,et the rest of the team at the Domestic terminal for our noon flight - they all seem GREAT!!! of course if you are willing to do this kind of work you have to have a good heart so I have yet to encounter an Op Smile Volunteer who wasn't wonderful & welcoming. 3 of the nurses here were ones I worked with in Kenya - that was a nice reunion & my 2 Anesthesiologist friends are here & 2 nurses from my last time in Mekele. They assigned us rooms & I got one to myself - THAT NEVER HAPPENS!!!! At first (for about 15 seconds) I felt bad cause that is one way to "bond" with one person on the team but once I got there & started "setting up my space" I was happy to have gotten that room :) I unpacked everything, set up my bathroom, my food area, hung up clothes, organized all that I brought to give away & took a 2 hour nap without worrying about a roommate I really feel like I have my little home away from home for these 2 weeks & I wont worry about staying up late to journal or bothering anyone - its just me for the few hours a day I am in the room YIPEE!!!
I KNOW one reason why I am here -Doris a Kenyan Nurse is the Clinical Coordinator for this mission - she is AMAZING & KNOWS EVERYTHING but...she has only done Kenyan Missions not missions in other countries & now she is here & in charge of an international team - I have no doubt she will be great but as I visited with Craig (Anesthesia lead & my friend) & Vince I realized part of what I need to do is whatever I can to help Doris be a successful leader of this international team. She is a bit quiet & unassuming but knows so much & I want her to be just as confident here as she is in Kenya. Also she asked me to be...TH GATEKEEPER - that is the CRAZY JOB at Screening where I need to make sure every patient was seen by every specialty, all signatures are on the chart, labs drawn & pt prioritized 105. For Doris I will happily do this. So I better get to bed is 10:30 here & we have a 6 am wake up call * then a few hundred patients to screen tomorrow.
I am SO SO G:AD I am here where I am supposed to be for these 2 weeks - so many things have pointed me back to Ethiopia & everything has gone so well on every front - I even got EVERYTHING of my pre-departure "TO DO LOST" done before I left (a few things were don as we drove to the airport but till they got done - that in & of itself was a major miracle :)
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