Travel 101 for Dummies

Not that we are dumb...but borrowing from popular books, mind you. So here is a compilation of "who knew??" and "now you tell me!" thoughts I took mental note of while in Addis. I'll arrange them by events and places.

The Guest House:
1. VERY clean and new furnishings, only open for 4 months.
2. Coffee and hot water for tea available nearly all the time
3. Incredibly kind and helpful staff who are willing to get you what you need
4. Large sitting area with couches to visit and play
5. Dining area where meals are served
6. Breakfast is included and the cook will make you scrambled eggs and omelets which are quite good. There will always be bread, croissants, jelly, cheese and some mystery meat I stayed clear of. The juice is from a sealed container and we found it to be good and safe.
7. If you choose to eat dinner, the cost is around $6 per person. We ate twice for the convenience. The cook is sensitive about cooking the vegetables well which I thought was quite considerate.
8. The laundry service is WELL worth it. We gave them a huge load and it wound up costing us about $20. This is hand washed, hung to dry, and ironed and delivered. Even I wouldn't do that for you!
9. Each room is a suite set up with a common living room and kitchen. There is a balcony that looks out which is nice for a breeze. The kitchen has basic dishes, a microwave and the infamous hot pot, which is new by the way. It takes about three minutes for water to boil.
10. There are two mini-fridges, one for each room. There is always water, soda, and beer if you choose. The larger waters are a dollar, and the smaller around .80 cents. The larger bottle is the better deal. We bought water at the store for the most part. We found out on the last day that you get two of the smaller bottles of water a day at no charge. Who'da knew?? The cleaning ladies check the fridge each day and record any drinks on your tab.
10. THIS IS A BIGGIE-you will see that the room keys are a bit of a hassle. Each time you leave the guest house, you must give them both keys. This is for safety reasons. The one thing we DIDN'T like was that if you leave and your spouse stays in the room, this person is LOCKED in if you take the suite room key with you. So if someone leaves, don't have them take the key because you are locked in for real. This is not so approved I'm sure by our fire standards, but we wanted you to be aware of it.

US Consulate Visit:
1. First off, if you aren't a skirt wearer, don't bring one just for this. This was a huge non-issue. You basically walk up to a bank-teller like window and no one sees you from the chest down. So DON'T sweat the khakis and nicer clothes just for this reason. The lady we had was an American. They ask you about 4 questions, look at their computer screen and you're done. I nearly puked from nerves for no reason!
2. ABSOLUTELY no cameras or electrical devices whatsoever are allowed here. We left ours locked at the guest house. They will take them and it's a hassle to get them back. There are several check points and bag checks where you show your passport. If you brought water, they make you drink some in front of them to make sure you don't fall over dead. You wait outside on benches under a canopy so it can be a bit toasty. Dress cool.
3. You will be seated in a room full of chairs and called over the microphone by someone upstairs. Robel comes with you, although we didn't have a language barrier because of the American consulate worker we had. The questions are not tricky, just basic ones like, "Is this the child you have been referred?" Uh...yeah.

Overall Clothing:
1. Dennis wore jeans and longer shorts and sandals the ENTIRE trip. No issue.
2. I wore Capri's, long Bermuda-type shorts, long skirts for comfort and flip flops the whole time. The people here wear about everything, including sleeveless.
3. The kids at the transition home are enthralled with long necklaces I found out. If you have one or two, they go a long way in the "Don't you want me to hold you?" area! :-)

Okay...enough for now. I hope this helps you who are preparing!!!