Malawi Journal – Day 2 – Luggage, Security, Addis Ababa
Leaving Washington, D.C. at 10 a.m. meant getting up at 6 and catching the shuttle back to Dulles International Airport with all of our luggage.
Luggage
Our luggage includes 5 – 50 lb. bags besides our 3 carry-on bags and backpacks. To most people, this looks extreme and it feels extreme to me at times. Would I ever do this for a personal trip? No! I can usually pack in a backpack or certainly not more than a carry on for a two-week trip.
Why so much luggage? Malawi is one of the poorest countries on earth. We carry hygiene bags, sewing kits, baby blankets and hats, ibuprofen, books, school supplies, communion trays, and cups, Bibles, teaching materials, and so much more!
Ethiopian Airlines is one of my favorites and they have a friendly spirit and attitude of service. We find out we can check one of our carry-on bags so that frees us up a bit. They go over our paperwork thoroughly. Covid test results, passports, etc. Now we are ready for security. At least we thought we were ready for security.
Security
This morning security is not very busy so there is numerous extra staff on hand. I am not sure what they were preparing for but I was not prepared. They cleared us and our backpacks but pulled both of our carry-on bags to go through X-ray multiple times. Then they opened each one and went through all the items. Opened a new package of Bibles and scanned each one as well as the children’s books I was carrying. I found out they were scanning everything for explosives. Eventually, they finish and give me the mess to put back together. I think they should have to repack after the mess they made, but I don’t say so.
Afterward, I find out that the supervisors were present so they were trying to look busy…. 30 minutes later I am on my way to the gate. As we leave the security checkpoint we hear the signals going off and the officers saying shut down all security stations. We were thankful to be through before they shut it down and walked away quickly to avoid being caught up in the excitement.
We arrive at the gate which is across from Wendy’s so we grabbed a breakfast sandwich and soon boarded our plane to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, our longest flight over 13 hours.
Onboard we were able to spread out because there were a lot of empty seats. I had three seats to myself. Plenty of room for a nice nap or two during such a long flight. The long flight went by quickly. The flight attendants kept us busy feeding us snacks and meals. There were many movies to choose from, even though it is not usually my thing. I did watch Abraham Lincoln.
Soon we set foot in Ethiopia.
Day 2 complete.