Day 871. It was a chaotic afternoon and evening yesterday, and then we had to finish getting everything ready after all, and it all took time, so that it was already 12:30 am, when we headed to bed. It wasn't long before both kids joined us in bed, and they ended up in a great position for everyone to be able to sleep. We were only gonna have 5 hours to sleep anyway. And then it was cut short, when Margit tried to call at 5:15 am. I was awake, but we got up at 5:30, when the alarm went off. Emmy was immediately wide awake and demanding to be dressed right away, saying we'd be flying all the time. I got him dressed, and then Tammy, while Randy took care of Sammy. Margit came to our window, while we were doing so and then went to our door to wait for us to let her in. Time was short, and we had plenty to do, but she was trying to get her flight booked and needed my help, which was challenging in the midst of all I had to do. Our driver had taken the kids to school earlier than usual so that the car would be back for us to be able to leave at 6:30. It was stressful, but we got it all done, including helping Margit get her ticket, and use our credit card to pay for it to help her out. Then we loaded the car up and walked out the door, without even saying good-bye to the cats. Amadou and Bakary were there, as well as Fanta and Hama, to say good-bye. Paul came to the airport with us. We had a good time talking one last time in the car. The kids were awake and looking out the windows.
Arriving at the airport, two porters put our luggage on two carts to help us. I put the baby carrier on and Sammy inside. We said good-bye to Paul and went to the end of the line in front of the airport doors. The porters left us there. We sat down near there, while more and more people were coming. While sitting there Randy had to call his credit company who had flagged paying for Margit's ticket; thankfully it got sorted out so that Margit did not lose her ticket. Then there was movement. They made separate lines according to the flights, and so we got into place. Tammy and Emmy were sitting on top of the cart, while Randy was holding Sammy at that point, as he was getting cranky. Finally the line started moving. The first thing to do was to show them our PCR test. Then the porters put all our luggage through the x-ray machine, and gathered it back up on the other side. We were then at the actual door to the terminal, where they checked our Malian visas.
The check-in line was right after walking in. That's where the porters left us. We still had to wait in line for a while, before it finally got moving. They checked our passports and ticket, and then we got to the actual counter, where we gave them our passports. He printed out all our boarding passes, and then Randy put all our five suitcases onto the scale one after another. We gathered our belongings together to make our way out of the area, where they checked our boarding passes for the first time. As we walked the few steps over, the handle on my carry-on suddenly broke. What timing! For a while I still had the handle on one bar, but it wasn't long before it came off all the way, and then I had only one bar coming out of the suitcase to push it with. It was a challenge, and I was missing being able to put my weight on it, when Sammy's weight on my chest gets too heavy.
Leaving the check-in area, we walked to the elevators to go upstairs to passport control. There is an escalator, but I only saw it working one time, right after this new terminal opened a few years ago. Tammy and Emmy were sitting on their dogs with Randy pulling them. Upstairs we lined up for passport control, with only one person ahead of us. A lady officer then took our passports and boarding passes, scanned them, took a picture of Randy and me and took our fingerprints. Then she said that it said on her screen that my passport was expired. That was ridiculous, as it's valid until 2025. She said she can't read the passport, she can only read what's on her screen. That was the end of the story. Weird. When it was Randy's turn, he did get her to laugh, when he misunderstood her instructions, as she broke French, and made a gesture that made no sense but was funny.
After a few steps we had to give them our passports again to be checked. The guy never even talked or smiled at all, which is not typical.
Next came security. We were first in line. It was a challenge. I had to take the baby carrier with Sammy off, my jacket, even shoes, which was until now not the case in Bamako. Then we went through the scanner, and on the other side we had lots of stuff to put back into place. However, we only had three steps to the next bag check, where you have to hand them all your bags, one after another, and they go through EVERYTHING. It's a hassle, plus they do the very same thing again before boarding. Finally we were done and could move on to where the gates were.
The Ethiopean Airlines gate was right there. We sat down there, but we needed some water bad, as you can't take it through security. But first I needed to go to the bathroom. Tammy and Emmy always want to go with me, so I took the diaper bag with me as well, and off we went. I gave them both new diapers, then we returned.
Coming back, I noticed that they had started the bag checks at the gate. You then get into an area, where you have to stay if you don't want to go through it all all over again. As it all takes time, we decided to do it right away, so buying water was postponed again.
First we had to show our passports and tickets. Then they waved a wand all around us. Tammy was scared of it for some reason, or at least she didn't want it done, while her brothers didn't mind. Then I had to put one piece of luggage after another on a table again so they could go through it all. Then we were in the secure area, where we found ourselves a few seats to sit down on. It was time to go buy some water. Tammy and Emmy came with me, walking all the way to the other end of the building. I ended up buying some marble cake for them as well. Returning to the boys, I got the bread with cheese out, and they ate the cake, and drank water. And Emmy and Tammy enjoyed running around. We could see our plane right outside the window. I got my phone out for the first time to connect to the world, and to let Paul know that everything was well. I also called the Austrian consulate in Senegal again to let them know we were on our way out, and that Margit was on the same flight tomorrow. They were happy to hear that.
We kept waiting and waiting for boarding, which started rather late. The kids were getting tired, and Randy had his eyes closed. FINALLY boarding started. They scanned our boarding passes, and we walked into the jetway to go on board. The kids were on the dogs again, and I had a hard time getting my broken carry-on down an incline without it spinning and falling. We got on the plane and went to our seats. I had three seats with Tammy and Emmy by the window, while Randy and Sammy sat on the other side of the aisle. I ended up sitting between them so that I could help them both. They were interested in the video screen, and I put some kids stuff on there at different times. The flight was from 11 am to 9 pm, 7 hours long. That was pretty long for them. After two long flights I now have a hard time recalling the details from the first flight. This time they were both awake, when the food came, which was a huge challenge, sliding trays with sliding items on it on tiny tables.... all I did was to keep things from falling off. They didn't want to eat anything anyway.
At that point Emmy had already had a short nap, but not Tammy. At some point they both were asleep at the same time. I actually watched an hour of a movie, before there was too much going on to continue. And I made an interesting discovery. Tammy thinks that the word for "airplane" is "Mali". I corrected her so many times, and tried to explain to her what Mali is, but I guess that's too hard a concept for a 2-year-old. Emmy seems to understand though.
Take-off and landing is always a challenge, as they need to sit down and put their seat belts on, which they do not want to do at all, when they're tired. I'm not sure at what point it was, but it was later in the flight, when they were cranky that the flight attendant asked wether we had received the toys for them. She then brought a pouch with different things inside for each kid. One toy was theses bendable sticks you could stick together, and they were genious! I made them little armbands which they loved. And it kept them distracted and busy and stopped the crankiness. There were also several sheets to color and a few crayons, and Tammy did those. Randy was holding Sammy the whole time. They both slept most of the time, but Sammy also did a lot of crying.
I waited as long as possible with putting their seat belts on, when it was time to land. Emmy was a big boy and let me put the seat belt on him, but Tammy was tired and cranky, and so I got a baby seat belt for her to stay on my lap.
We landed right on time in Addis Abeba. I strapped Sammy back onto my chest, we walked off the plane, and the other two went back onto the dogs, so Randy could pull them. We got to the security check and were directed to the priority lane because of the kids. Sammy was also crying again. Going through security is always a big challenge, and having to do it twice in a day and in one trip.... And this time there were a lot of people, it was really busy. They weren't happy with our speed, taking the baby carrier off and getting Sammy off. And then a lady took Sammy from me and held him, while I went through the scanner. Then I returned and went through again with him. Tammy and Emmy went through by themselves, but they were cranky and tired and wanted to be near me, especially Tammy. Once through, I had to put Sammy on the floor to pack everything back up and put the baby carrier back on. Randy has so much stuff in his pockets, plus a belt, that it also takes him a while before he is done.
We walked on, found out what our gate was, and walked there. I was glad, when I was able to sit down and then get Sammy off my chest, as carrying him starts hurting my back after a while. Randy was pretty tired and his stomach hurting. I gave him Sammy who immediately quieted down, and they both closed their eyes. I had seen signs for a pay-to-access lounge and decided to go check out how much it was. We needed comfortable chairs for the kids and for them to possibly sleep, plus the "free" food and drinks. Of course I can't go anywhere without the kids wanting to come with me, and so they did. It took us a while to get there. The price was acceptable, and so we walked all the way back to get everything and everybody.
Randy was in rough shape, which meant I was on my own watching over the kids the next few hours. After having paid for the lounge, we went into a darkened room and found some space for us. I put Sammy on the floor, hoping he'd sleep there, but he was just screaming. I walked away with Tammy and Emmy to get some food and drink, while Randy sat in a chair with his eyes closed, and Sammy screamed on the floor. It wasn't long before the staff approached me because their customers were disturbed. They asked us to move to a corner of the dining hall instead, where there were comfortable seats and carpet, and they dimmed the light there. It was actually a nice little corner. I had to get watermelon for them several times, and they had fun running around and interacting with the stuff. I did have to keep my eyes on them, as they were constantly trying to grab stuff. They went with me to the bathroom, and then we went there again, so I could give them both a new diaper, which was a challenge in that shower where they had mounted a changing table on the wall.
Once back in the lounge, I finally got to get some food for myself and connected to the world on my phone, while always keeping an eye on the active two. Sammy did a little bit of sleeping here and there, but not too much. It was mainly Randy who did the sleeping.
