Visit Every City

3rd July 2024

Rather than waiting for the whole day to pass before writing, I thought I’d share some of our experience thus far. I’m sure Lena will have her own perspective as we don’t always think alike. Other than a few long lines (and the time I forgot to set an alarm for myself), I’ve had some positive experiences transiting through Addis Ababa. I would still love to come back just to visit this city. I find the people very friendly and the views from the airport of the surrounding hills very inviting. I wanted Lena to be able to experience what I’ve experienced.

Here are a few brief highs and lows (or lows and highs depending on how you look at it) of this particular stopover:

We were on the plane for about 9 hours, but the people we sat next to were either friendly or sleeping. Our flight arrived into Addis Ababa late but there was no line through passport control or getting onto the bus to the hotel. We were placed at the nearest and nicest hotel but there was a very long line just to get checked into our room. The food was delicious but Lena didn’t feel well afterwards. Half of our carry-on luggage was checked through to our final destination so we didn’t have clean clothes but the room was clean and the shower was hot. Although there were no towels when we arrived, the reception desk made sure some were brought up promptly. There was a nice big comfy bed but we were awake half the night, worried about not feeling well and about waking up in time for our flight.

We only managed to get at most a couple hours of sleep but we didn’t oversleep and miss the shuttle. We decided to skip breakfast to save some time but the queue for shuttle to the airport was very long and we ended up waiting for nearly 45 minutes. The shuttles were taking forever to get back to the hotel even though the airport was practically adjacent to us and people kept jumping the queue but it turns out it wasn’t unheard of to walk to the airport and one man mentioned it was a 6 minute walk. It was actually a 12 minute walk but the cloudy morning weather made for a pleasant (and much needed) walk. We easily found the correct terminal and there was barely a line for security but I forgot about the second security line after passport control. I didn’t get to show Lena my favorite coffee shop in the middle of the typically crowded and very tiny secondary terminal (quite an experience but worth it for the coffee in my opinion) but our gate was the first one as we stepped inside the terminal. There were plenty of shops and restaurants and restrooms nearby but someone was burning some kind of incense throughout the terminal and it made us both a little stuffy. I walked to a familiar little shop where I knew I could get water for Lena and some ground coffee to take with us but afterwards I noticed a place next to our gate where I could have bought the same water (the coffee was only a bonus).

While things haven’t turned out to be exactly as expected, there are always positives that help balance out and hopefully outweigh the negatives. The clouds obscured any possible view of the mountains surrounding the city, but the walk over was comfortable. We saw a few people begging for money along the streets and plenty of traffic which we had to cross several times but I also encountered plenty of smiling drivers and pedestrians. One man in particular, dressed in a blue suit and a white dress shirt, asked me how I was doing and asked if we were traveling. He was excited to say hello and even said “God bless you” as we headed off in different directions. He was most likely heading off to work. Maybe we would have been friends if we had the chance to go for a coffee and sit and chat for a while.

As we queued one more time before boarding our flight I started a conversation with a man who sounded American, although obviously not a native New Yorker. He and his wife are from Prince Edward Island in Canada. They had lived in Nigeria 12 years ago and haven’t been back to Africa until now. They are headed to Mzuzu in the northern region of Malawi to visit some Christian schools. So far most people we’ve had conversations with think positively about a pastor going to visit fellow pastors and brethren in Africa. That was the case with this couple and their travel companions as well as the Muslim man from Harrisburg, PA we sat next to for the first leg of our trip as we crossed the Atlantic. That’s not always the case. Lena and I always remember the people in the coffee shop outside of Dublin who nervously backed away from us when they learned I was a pastor.

Brief update as we sit on the plane ready to take off for Lilongwe via Lubumbashi: The soda I bought for Lena had artificial sugar in it which doesn’t set well with her but she also has some water. The plane is very full and there aren’t a lot of spaces for luggage but the armrest on my aisle seat can be raised and adjusted to accommodate my legs. Thankfully Lena was willing to give up her window seat so I could have the aisle and stretch my legs a little more easily. I’m sure the flight will go smoothly. I’ll update later after we arrive in Lilongwe and see our brethren there.

– Lewis VanAusdle