Arkansas - Home!

We have returned! The trip was exhausting but we all made it safely. At the Memphis airport last night, everyone recieved their luggage except one suitcase of Lauren's. I suspect that the plane from Chicage was just too small to fit everything since most of us had at least two large, 50 pound suitcases each.

We arrived very early at the airport in Lusaka on Thursday. Everyone made it through the exit process smoothly except, nine or ten were told we would need to pick up our boarding passes for the second flight when we arrived in Addis Ababa (never a good sign). We were late getting into Ethiopia and found out quickly that those that didn't have boarding passes were on standby. This was complicated by a three hour delay without food (supper) or water. They finally brought a limited number of drinks just as we boarded after midnight. I had a seat assignment but Ian didn't get a seat until the last minute. We arrived in Washington, D.C. several hours late and rushed through Customs and Immigration only to discover that our luggage had not been checked to Memphis. We had to go out to the check-in counter and recheck our luggage, United couldn't find our reservations, then they had to assign seats (since we didn't have any), and then race for the gate. We barely made the flight. Keri DID come with Gene to Memphis. It was good to see her but since she had to work today, she didn't get much sleep?



We are home, and I woke up on African time. It will take awhile to adjust