Shakespeare said it - "to pack or not to pack, ay tis nobler to suffer like a pack mule in the Arizona heat, cuz than you get a deep sleep, where perchance you might dream." Or something like that.
So we took everything out of the suitcases, repacking them, to put all the stuff that had never gone into a suitcase, plus shifting things because of the weight allowances, plus leaving stuff out, and then nestling some more. I know I weigh 181.4 lbs. because I held each of those bags on the scale at least 4x each. It will be a wonderful feeling when we show up at the House of Moses at the end of the day.
So here's the agenda - fly out of Dulles @ 10AM. 15 hours later we're in Ethiopia. That's right, 15 hours later. We thought about drugging the kids, but instead went heavy on the snacks and kid activities. Wow. Then our 2nd flight will drop us into the capital city of Zambia, Lusaka at 2:30 in the afternoon (they are 6 hours different from the US). We will then navigate the visa process and the taxis, to go to the orphanage (the House of Moses; www.childreneverywhere.org ). We will then meet our host, Sandra. She spends 6 mos. of the year in country working in H.O.M., and the other 6 stateside. She will then helps us adjust.
Then it will be off to the place where we will lodge for the 1st week. It is near the major shopping center (Manda Hill), and will be nice. We hope to move somewhere cheaper later on. Our 1st draft choice is the "other couple" coming to adopt. They arrive from Oregon tomorrow (a day ahead of us). They are coming without their two young kids, but with a church group. There is a slight chance we can move into the lodging they have arranged.
We have a had a WONDERFUL time with the cousins. We love coming to the Gustavuses because we like spending time with my sister, Jennifer and her husband, Wayne. It is a little hard though because we spend all of this time here, and never see our kids...they disappear into the basement amidst cackles and guffaws.
(side note - Rayna lost her "other" front tooth. Then promptly lost it on the kitchen floor, where we surmised the dog ate it. I thought it would be funny to mention how tough it would be for the tooth fairy - not only is Rayna in an unfamiliar house, but she has no tooth to prove the loss. Of course that only made her insistent that I'd have to pay. I guess that's better than the exchange rate in Zambia.)
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