Begin at the Beginning.

Every good adventure begins with a bit of misadventure. I was originally supposed to set out for my year abroad on January 6, but due to a slight hiccup I didn’t set out until January 10 (in case you were wondering, it is apparently ill-advised to set out for a foreign country with a one-way ticket and no visa).  Anyway, no harm done in the end, and I eventually set out.

The trip to Dulles and then on to Addis was uneventful, except for the fact that the travel map documenting our progress showed the sites of famous shipwrecks.  Strangely enough, I found being reminded of past mass transportation calamities that resulted in thousands of passengers drowning in the icy waters of the North Atlantic less than comforting.

Looking at the in-flight travel magazine, one might assume that the Addis airport is a rather large hub of international air travel.  After all, flights leave daily to (almost) every corner of the globe.  I eagerly looked forward to a chance to stretch my legs after the 16 hour flight, brush my teeth, and maybe get a bite of delicious Ethiopian food.  In reality, however, the Addis airport looks more like an airplane hanger that was converted into an airport about 10 minutes before my plane landed.  After much searching I found one tiny bathroom.  Allegedly there was a place to buy food, but sadly it was on the other side of the security barrier. Oh well, the layover was short.

After not being allowed on the plane in Roanoke because I didn’t have a complete ticket, I was amused to be handed a handwritten ticket by the gate check agent, after she couldn’t find my boarding pass in the pile of tickets. America, you silly, don’t you know that rules like “all-passengers-must-have-a-ticket-that-doesn’t-look-like-they-made-it-themselves” are made to be broken? In any case, I hopped on the plane, accompanied by a group of young African Mormon men, who appeared to be headed out on a mission, and we set off. After a brief stop-off in Lubumbashi, DRC (try saying that 10 times fast) to drop off the Mormons, I arrived safely in Lilongwe and the real fun started…