I began my journey at DFW airport on January 1. My wife dropped me off at the airport at 4:00pm to catch my flight at 6:30pm. The plan was to fly from DFW to Doha, Qatar and then to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. However, the beginning of my trip was not without drama. Upon arrival at the airport, I met up with Ryan Harrison, one of my travel companions for the trip. Ryan is a deacon with the University Oaks church in San Antonio. They support several men in Ethiopia, so Ryan intends to make this trip regularly. Also, he and I worked together in Ethiopia on my last trip, and I was excited to spend some time with him on our flight.
My check-in went smoothly, but it was anything but that for Ryan. He discovered that his visa to Ethiopia was not active until January 3. This shouldn’t have been a problem, as our flight was scheduled to land in Addis Ababa at 12:10am on January 3. However, the airline had updated our flight to land at 11:55pm on January 2. We applied for these visas months ago, and they require several weeks to get approved, so changing the date quickly was not an option. The man at the ticket counter told Ryan he could not board the flight and would have to reschedule.
We were not going to give up so easily. We spoke to a manager who then directed us to the ticketing counter. We explained our situation to the woman, and she gave us the same response. We anticipated some sympathy as it was the airline who had rescheduled the flight time. She tried to make it work, even contacting the Ethiopian airport for permission. But the answer was no. The woman gave Ryan a number for customer service and rebooking, which he called and once again explained his situation.
I waited with Ryan for most of this saga. I did not want to travel alone, if possible, so I considered rebooking my flight along with Ryan. However, my bag had already been booked and it would have been a challenge getting it back. I decided to go ahead without Ryan.
I made it through security with no issues and arrived at my gate. Ryan called to let me know he had rebooked for the following day and would meet me in Addis Ababa. During this time, I learned our other travel companion, Randy Harshbarger, was not able to board his flight from Houston. He had not purchased a visa and they obviously would not let him on the flight. My father-in-law informed me that it had been possible in the past to purchase a visa upon arrival in Ethiopia. However, they must have changed the policy recently. So, Randy will have to wait until his visa is granted to travel.
None of this was ideal for me, but as I waited to board my flight, I just laughed. My father-in-law always told me I just need to be prepared for anything in this work. I guess this was getting me ready for that.
Both of my flights went smoothly. I had a brief layover in Doha, Qatar after a 14 1/2 hour flight. The next leg to Addis was much shorter-- only about 4 hours. My final plane landed in Addis Ababa at 12:30am on January 3. That is 3:30pm CST, January 2 back home. The transition over time zones has thrown off my sense of timing, so those notes are more for my sake than yours. In case you were wondering, Ethiopia is 9 hours ahead of CST.
The only real mishap I had during my travel was at baggage claim in Ethiopia. My bag came onto the conveyor belt in a plastic bag. As I took off the plastic bag, I realized the zipper on my bag was broken. Thankfully, nothing was lost. But I will have to purchase a new suitcase.
From there, I rode a shuttle over to the Hilton in Addis where I plan to stay for several nights. Randy booked us a suite with 3 beds that I will occupy by myself for the next couple of days. During this time, I have learned that Ryan will arrive on Wednesday evening, God willing. I am still unsure of Randy’s plans. I am planning to meet up with some local brothers, Mesfin and Zerihun, today for lunch. These Ethiopian men have been involved in the gospel work in Ethiopia for a while and are good faithful brothers. I will have more to say about them in a later post.
As I write this blog, it is officially 3:00am on January 3. It feels like it has been a really long day. I am tired but thankful. I had some anxieties about making this trip alone, but God has been my strength. I am confident he will continue to supply my needs while I am here.
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