We are Home Safe (9 comments)

Wed, 15 Aug 2007 23:59:00 -0700

After a very long trip, we are finally home. Buchela did really well. He even made a little friend! Since my parents are here and my husband can take some days off, we plan to take a family vacation over the next few days. We don't know to where yet, the organized bunch we are! Right at the moment, it is a toss up between Beijing and Harbin.

At Home at Last (12 comments)

Sun, 15 Jul 2007 21:59:00 -0700

It was a looooong journey but we are now safely home. Addis greeted us with a lot of wind and rain. The weather has been pretty gloomy the couple of days we have been here. Few things about the trip: At the Dalian airport, as I was going through security, I had to take the Buchela out of his stroller and fold it up to put it through the x-ray machine. As soon as I took him out, he ran to the little security gate people pass through. When I saw the security woman go over his little body with her electronic thingie, I didn't worry because I knew she would stop him as I was obviously busy trying to put all our stuff through the machine to be checked. Next thing I know, I look up and I see him running down the terminal, with incredible speed and glee, all alone. Startled, I dropped everything and ran through the security gate to catch him before he disappeared among the crowds of people. The security woman who let a 14 month old go through alone tried to stop me to check my body with her little machine. I, of course, pushed her hand off and proceeded to go after my child. When I came back, they were all looking at me as if I was insane. I don't know what they expected.... At the Beijing airport, at the passport control line, three Indian men cut in front of me. I tapped one of them on the shoulders and asked, very loudly, "What the fuck do you think you are doing?" Embarrassed, all three left the line and the rest of the time, none of them so much as glanced towards me. On the plane, a very helpful silver haired man sat in the same row as me. He brought me extra blankets and pillows and adjusted the air conditioning for me while I was breastfeeding. Then, after dinner, the lights went out and we all went to sleep only to be awakened by a woman near by sneezing successively. Every time she sneezed, the older man that was very helpful to me, mumbled "fuck off" in a barely audible voice. So for a while, there was this odd dialogue between those two where she sneezed and he said "fuck off". At the Dubai airport, I could barely function from the exhaustion. I went into the bathroom to change the Buchela. As I was getting his stuff out from the bag onto the changing table, I found a note that read: Hi love,
I love you and Lisan. I miss you guys already . Have a good trip and a wonderful time in Ethiopia.
Paul
As always, he came through at the right time.

The first day we arrived Addis I over ate some kitfo with kocho and felt a little sick the rest of the day. It was still totally worth it. But next time, I need to remember to stop pigging out once I am full. Buchela took a little bit of time to warm up to his family here but in the end, once he did, there was really no stopping him. Photo: The road infront of our house during a heavy rain.

North Korea, Scenes from the Otherside (5 comments)

Mon, 11 Jun 2007 05:06:00 -0700

The amazing thing about being in Dandong, looking across into North Korea is the difference between the two river banks. The Dandong side is bustling with energy and life. There are lots of restaurants, vendors, shops, cruise boats, and all sorts of businesses on the China side. You look across the river however, there is no development. In this case, the grass is literally greener on the other side. Just to provide you a reference point, the first two pictures are of Dandong. The rest are pictures of North Korea I took as we cruised down the Yalu river.

Dandong in the day time.

Dandong at sunset.

Pictures Below: North Korea.

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Looking Across

Mon, 11 Jun 2007 04:44:00 -0700

This weekend, we went to Dandong, China, a city that is located on the Yalu River. The river is narrow and across it is the reclusive nation that is North Korea. I have always been fascinated by North Korea. So, taking a boat cruise close (very close) to the border of a country that is being led by a totally insane man was extremely exciting for me. I took pictures although our guidebooks advised travelers to tuck their cameras away. It was much easier to take pictures of the scenery and civilians. I was pretty intimidated by the machine gun slinging soldiers. North Korean people can not leave their country unless they are high ranking officials that can prove their loyalty to the government. Anyone that leaves risks his/her life but more importantly, the lives of all family members. In the next few postings, I will be putting up North Korean pictures, giving explanations whenever I can.

Look Mom... (2 comments)

Thu, 08 Mar 2007 06:16:00 -0700

I am all better. I have taken the baseboard off the wall!

At the Beijing Airport (China)

Thu, 08 Mar 2007 05:58:00 -0700

We were both totally and absolutely knackered. So, I was not very receptive towards the baby ogling Chinese unabashedly staring at us. Just when I was beginning to get a little irritated, one of them fell looking back at us on a moving sidewalk instead of paying attention to when to get off. I laughed. She didn't. But I regained my sense of humor. It was still pleasant to hang out, away from prying eyes, in one of the baby playrooms at the airport.

At the Dubai Airport (UAE) (2 comments)

Thu, 08 Mar 2007 05:51:00 -0700

They actually have free strollers at the airport which was really nice for a exhasted mamas like myself. Tired babies just sat there looking pretty glum!

At the Bole Airport (Ethiopia)

Thu, 08 Mar 2007 05:47:00 -0700

Our time at Bole airport was really nice. Once we checked in, we relaxed with my parents and my little sister (who took this picture), drank not one, but two tall glasses of mango juice, and had a few more laughs.

Leaving for China (4 comments)

Tue, 06 Mar 2007 03:45:00 -0700

We are leaving tonight (March 6th). All our tickets have been rebooked and confirmed. Buchela's tummy is still iffy. His ear infection has, for the most part, cleared. Over the past few days, he has lost 1.5 lbs. But he is mostly good to go. I hope our trip will be a pleasant one. See y'all on the flip side!

The Trials of International Air Travel Begins a Few Days Early (3 comments)

Mon, 26 Feb 2007 23:22:00 -0700

"Hi Love! Guess what? Your flight from Beijing to Dalian has been canceled! Welcome back to China." This is the email I just got from my husband. I will be flying back to China on Friday and once I get to Beijing, I get stuck there because my flight to Dalian is canceled. Fun.

Gone to Ethiopia (5 comments)

Tue, 30 Jan 2007 18:29:00 -0700

Luggage Update

Thu, 04 Jan 2007 12:41:00 -0700

Our luggage finally arrived. Nothing was broken or stolen. All our liquor got here safe and sound, thank god! Buchela can now change out of the outfits he wore for the trip. Note to self: Don't take all of your baby's cloth on your next trip dummy!

Bone Tired but at Home... (1 comment)

Tue, 02 Jan 2007 20:53:00 -0700

Our trip back to China was almost like the movie Planes, Trains, and Automobiles where everything seemed set to go wrong except there was nothing humorous about it. It all started when we were delayed at the airport in Eagle, Colorado. For some unknown reason, our plane sat around on the runway for an hour before taking off. So we got to Denver an hour late which meant we missed our original flight to San Francisco. In Denver, we were told there was another flight available, so we took off running to the gate where the plane waited for us. Once we settled into our seats with a relief that we made it. Once the plane taxied off, the pilot announced that we needed to wait for take off because of a backlog in the San Francisco airport. My heart sank because I knew then we were not going to make our SF to Beijing flight with this delay. On top of that, we were worried about our luggage not having enough time to get off from the Eagle flight to join us on the plane to SF. One of the stewardesses assured us our bags will be with us but we were not convinced. We arrived at the San Francisco airport and went to one of the gates in the international United Air terminal and began a long, nightmarish discussion about what happened and what to do next. One good news we got at this point was we found out our bags in deed made it to San Francisco. Of course by this time, we had already missed our flight to Beijing. So, the customer service rep. put us on Air China (we were originally on United Air) to Beijing. With this new arrangement we were told we will reach Beijing in time to go through customs and make it to our Dalian flight. Unfortunately, the new flight they put us on was delayed which dashed our hopes of making it to our Dalian flight in Beijing. So, we got to Beijing knowing that we have missed our flight to Dalian. We went to baggage claim and waited and waited and waited and waited, last bag came off the baggage belt and our bags were no where to be found. We went to the baggage information office. We filled out some forms and then went to the domestic terminal. After a lot of confusion, we found our airliner ticket agent who told us to run to another terminal because the last flight to Dalian was leaving in 9 minutes. So we ran. We got to the counter which sent us to another counter and that counter sent us back to the first one and just when we thought we might be okay, they said Lisan has no ticket. So, I had to buy a ticket on the spot for Lisan. Then we had to go through security which was too slow and nerve racking considering that our flight may leave any second. Then we ran to gate where the flight waited for us. So, no bags but we are here in Dalian. Finally we made it home, and astonishingly, China now feels very much like home. Buchela handled the trip beautifully. He played, napped, or seduced the flight attendants all the way!

Don't Eat My Buchela! - Between Borders