Arrival in Addis

Yesterday, I started off by saying that it has been a whirlwind around here.  At the time I wrote that, I had no idea that within hours tornados would be touching down at various locations in the St. Louis area.  Many homes and businesses were destroyed or received significant damage, including Lambert International Airport, which is reportedly closed “indefinitely”.  Luckily, Dave had chosen the earlier of his flight options, or would not have departed at all.  We’re hopeful he and Trey will be able to return to the St. Louis airport on Thursday.  However, we could easily drive to meet them in Chicago or Kansas City if necessary.  We do not typically use a travel agency, but are grateful we did this time and feel confident they will work everything out for us.


Dave arrived in Addis Ababa this afternoon.  He was easily able to send me messages through Facebook and we were able to talk a little over Skype.  He said that one of his suitcases was missing at first, but was eventually found and everything arrived intact.   David, our driver from the last trip, met Dave at the airport and delivered him to the Yebsabi Guest House.  It was close to 10:00 p.m. their time, so he would spend the rest of the night in his room.  I have added a World Clock to the left column of my blog to help me keep track of the time difference.


Above is a picture of the Yebsabi Guest House, where a majority of the America World families stay.  During our last visit, we had a suite on the 4th floor.  We had two bedrooms, each with their own bathroom,  divided by a small living area and a kitchenette.  This week, Dave will be staying in the same room that Samantha and Toby stayed in, which has 2 twin beds, while another family will occupy the adjoining room.

At the end of our conversation, as I was telling Dave (who had only slept two hours, but was clearly wired) that he better get some rest, we remembered that he would be sleeping on the side of the building closest to the road, and that sleep might not come easily.  Despite what you might think, it isn’t cars or people that cause foreigners to lose sleep in Addis Ababa… it’s the dogs!!  The city streets are home to wild street dogs that run about barking and howling all…night…long.  Fortunately, we had been warned about this last time and came prepared with a “nature sounds” app loaded on our iPad.  This worked great and will hopefully do the trick again.


Tomorrow morning at 10:00, Yonas, will take Dave and the other families to the Transition Home, where Dave will be reunited with Trey.  I cannot wait for that update and will be waking up during the night to check my messages.

Thanks again to our friend, Michael Gowin,

who took the above photographs during our fall visit.