(Continued from here)

Thursday, June 17, 2004

Another day with some big emotional swings – someone on one of my email lists called it “Space Mountain”, not just a regular roller coaster ride. Up and down and jerk you all around – IN THE DARK! So true . . .

Anyway, Greg called just before 9 am – almost midnight in Utah – and told me there was a BIG problem with getting the credit card here. He said the tracking showed it was in Frankfurt and had no movement all day, so he called FedEx and they told him they didn't even offer 3-day service to Addis – it would be one week and I would have it Monday morning. He was furious and upset – I think it's way harder on him to have me still here than it even is on me. Not 15 minutes after he got off the phone, it rang again and a voice said “Hello? This is FedEx – we have a package for you”. :) Oh happy day!

We left and went and got it, got cash (including 100 new one-birr bills), made copies of the kids' files, then went to the Embassy to submit everything. It was 11 am by then and when I turned it in, the Ethiopian woman who took them said that I could come back Tuesday! Tuesday?! I told her that Patti Gregory had told my husband that we could submit everything one day and pick it up the next, so she told me to come back at 9:30 in the morning. I know it's for the interview, so things could still not be approved, but hopefully we'll have the visas and be on the plane tomorrow night!

I changed our tickets – mine and Aaron's – to tomorrow's flight and Greg is working on getting the kids' tickets. I was feeling happy and generous and giving out new one birr bills to most beggars. One, though, thought she would be clever and tell me she needed one for her and one for the baby on her back. I gave her two, then patted the “baby” only to find out it was a bunch of plastic bags. Tsk, tsk. It “cost” me all of 12 cents.