The Skids Family: THE TRIP Day 1

So we are finally gonna start posts about our trip, one day at a time,so here is Day 1 (we both made daily journal entries so this will just be excerpts from those. you will have to excuse the grammar and punctuation since we typed on a tiny keyboard and I have no interest in correcting it all)

"So I worked a little today and Pat had to tell every patient that I was about to leave to Ethiopia. Every patient was like, "that's so great," or "have a safe trip." So I was kinda thinkin about it all day. Then I got BO, which is pretty rare for me so I realized I was pretty nervous. I was a little stressed for our baggage since everyone always says how strict emirates is, but when we got to lax there were no problems at all. Once that was behind us and we got thru security, I kinda realized what was happening. When we boarded the plane, I kinda had a couple mission flashbacks. I am so excited, this will be such an experience and really change our lives I think. Its hard for me to even imagine what it will really be like, this is so different from anything I have ever done. But I am in love with this little girl. I am proud to have the chance to be her father. I hope she learns to love me the way I love her."--Mike

"Well, the day is finally here, I woke up this morning at 5:00am and couldn't go back to sleep. I rolled over and grabbed Mike's face and squeezed his cheeks and said "we are going to Africa today". I keep imagining how E will react when we see her for the first time... I am almost positive she will cry for the first few days. It will be hard not to just go pick her up and snuggle her right away, but my plan is to take it easy and have her warm up to us first."--Chantel

Arabian Pepsi

Leaving LAX

EMIRATES TO DUBAI

DAY 2

"Well, we are in Dubai, we arrived last night at 7:45 after a pretty uneventful flight. I was really sick of the plane though and my booty was so sore and my legs were so swollen and tight. we weren't sure where to go so just followed the crowd which ended up taking us to transferring flights, not final destination as Dubai. So we had to go back through security and down the stairs to the Visa line (which took forever) and then to get our baggage. Ours was the last one there but I was glad it was all there. As we were leaving we got one of our bags searched at customs, it was full of vitamins and creams and stuff. We explained what it was and they eventually let us go, they didn't really understand what it was but eventually said it was o.k. The 20 mile car ride took us over an hour because of the crazy amount of traffic. The drivers are crazy here too, I thought for sure we were goint to crash but I guess it is even worse in Ethiopia so I better get used to it. we arrived at our hotel and it is super nice. I am a little stressed because you can't show any form of public affection so I have to stop myself from grabbing Mike's hand. They could arrest you if they see you. We toured the hotel a little and walked to the beach, the sand was so nice and the water was so warm. I woke up at 5:45am and couldn't sleep any more. Our hotel room has an amazing view of the Arabian Sea. I tried to Skype the kids again but no one was online. Now I am sitting on the balcony overlooking the beach and trying to elevate my swollen feet. I'm pretty sure this time change is going to rock me, I will definitely be taking a nap on the beach today.. possibly as I sip a virgin Pina Colada. I can't even believe we get to meet our sweet baby girl tomorrow. I can't wait to see her in person. "--Chantel

"So day 2 is over, but it was really day 3 I guess since we lost about 12 hours, which is weird and confusing but whatever. So the plane ride wasnt too bad, 3 movies, a nap and some old school atari type games. When we landed, I was expecting it to be more foreign. It was strange to see the Arabs in their traditional garb but otherwise it was just another airport. After taking a wrong turn or two we found our way to the line for Visas. When we went thru customs we did have one bag searched, the one with all our vitamins/creams/ointments for HH. They didnt really get why we had them, but we seemed innocent enough I guess and they let us thru. The letter from AGCI was worthless to them. Anyway, then we got vultured by some non-union taxi driver who wastn really a taxi driver and started what turned out to be an hour long 15 mile drive. Again, I wasn't expexcting to see what kind of looked like Mexico, tons of little shops/stores lined the roads and there were a lot of people out. I know there are the fancy spots of Dubai but we didnt see any of them. Our hotel was really nice and the staff was over helpful not letting you carry anything, pour your own water, etc. Got checked in, took a walk on the beach which was really cool, it finally felt really foreign. It was AZ hot too. We slept for maybe 5 hours, chatted with Jboy and Jgirl for a few minutes on Skype, ate an amazing buffet breakfast that inclued the regular US stuff (except the egg yolks were orange) and then an assortment of meats, cheeses, soups and other non breakfast items tha I guess other people eat for breakfast. Anyway, after that we went to the beach and swam in the Arabian Sea, and people watched. It was a nice relaxing day and it was frickin hot, the water was like a warm bathtub." --Mike