December 22, 5:45pm, Dubai, United Arab Emirates
Carolina F.'s handiwork in Munich didn't entirely pan out, but after 10 hours of camping in front of gate 116 in Dubai, and one hour of frantic scrambling, we seem to be on our way to Addis. I'm writing as the crew finalizes the boarding process. But, I should start with some of our more pleasant surprises last night.
Emirates Airlines was a real upgrade from our standard flights. They had all the latest gadgets, included an interactive touch-screen monitor at each seat. This device allowed Michelle to e-mail our contact at the adoption agency, and our guest house. What a relief! It also gave Preston the capability to call me--I was two rows behind him--and challenge me to a few touch-screen games, including chess and Battleship. Plus, there were dozens of individual games that kept the kids busy.
One of the more surreal moments during that flight was when I was flipping trough the audio options and I ran across "The Holy Qur'an." -- (waking up) What?
Where was I? How much time has passed? The last thing I remember is pausing my writing to view a flight safety video. I dozed off and awoke to the feel of the plane taxiing for take-off.
Now we are above the clouds as the sunset burns the sky red-orange through one set of windows and murky gray-blue out the other side.
Surreal moments are happening closer together now, intermittent with surprise naps. Back to Emirates last night...
I started listening to reading of the Holy Qur'an in my airline-issued headphones, while a person across the aisle and ahead of me was watching (I could spy) an episode of "The Simpsons" where Lisa works to join a coven of witches. Other video channels featured the comedy team of Gene Wilder and the late Richard Pryor; Sylvester Stallone making short work of bad guys' lives and property, and other reflections of Western culture. --LATER-- One of my favorite moments on the flight was watching the GPS-guided graphic of our plane flying over Iraq, Kuwait and the Persian Golf, and hearing through my headphones the haunting "Battle of Evermore" by Led Zepplin. What an odd collision of Western entertainment and the Islamic State. Surreal.
The food served during the Emirates flight from Munich to Dubai was overwhelming. The woman next to me got the last serving of "yogurt chicken" so I got the lamb. Every meal came with smoked salmon and couscous as a starter. The smoked salmon wasn't what I was used to. When I think of smoked salmon, I picture darkened, salty fillets. In comparison, smoked salmon in the middle east (a middle eastern airline, anyway) is more like second-had smoked. It's like thinly sliced square of salmon about 2" by 2" that hangs out with smokers. The smoke flavor sticks to the salmon, but it is far from cooked. It's cold and raw. The kids and Michelle left that course alone. I ate it. More out of pride than enjoyment.
I cleansed my palate with crackers and Laughing Cow cheese. The flight attendant asked what I'd like to drink with my meal. In return, I asked if he had a German beer. We were flying out of Germany, after all. He said yes, and offered me a Budweiser. Really? That's totally American. He said they also had Amstel (which I thought I remembered to be Dutch), and Heinekin. That sounded German, and it went great with the meal, but according to the can, it is also a Dutch beer. Oh well.
The lamb consisted of two chopped, formed sausage-like creations covered in gravy and served with green beans and cut potatoes. Excellent. The meal kept coming, in the form of dessert, crackers, chocolate and hot tea.
Although I didn't get any sleep, the flight was a terrific experience. We arrived in Dubai as the sun rose.
Most of the day in the Dubai airport was slow. We couldn't check in to our gate until 2:15pm, so we made a day of parking our luggage (5 full rolling cases, 5 full backpacks and a shoulder bag) outside Cold Stone Creamery, and exploring the ultra-modern terminal in shifts.
After a long day of waiting, we went to check in and found that our reservations with Ethiopian Airlines never made it through! There was no way we could all fit on the plane tonight. Ugh! This discovery led to much running, trying to talk to (and hear) ticketing agents on too-quiet phones while afternoon Islamic prayers came over the PA, ricocheting off stacked cigarette carton mountains and reservoirs of duty-free liquor, reminding me that I am the stranger in this land (but I am welcome to let Western vices comfort me).
The ticketing situation resolved itself somewhat mysteriously. We were resigning ourselves to split into two groups of three--one leaving tonight; the other tomorrow morning--when our Ethiopian Air agent called our Lufthansa agent our of earshot. Within a few seconds he came back to us and said, "You are going tonight." In disbelief Michelle asked, "All of us?"
"Yes. All of you"
I have a theory. Sort of a cynical theory. I am aware from recently reading "Selamta" the in-flight magazine of Ethiopian Airlines that they measure their success in profit (naturally), and the two major income streams are numbers of passengers and weight of cargo. I suspect the Lufthansa agent mentioned that her airline was going to foot the bill for our massive cargo if Ethiopian would honor the itinerary as arranged in Munich. Like I said, it's a cynical theory. The more cynical theory ends with us being charged for the baggage by the kilogram. The booking agent at Emirates did ask us to venture a guess as to its weight. That would be a real kick in the shorts, but here is my theory in writing, so don't let anyone tell you I was surprised. [Note: We were never charged for our bags, and my dad reminded me that people were praying for us. Why so cynical, Aaron?]
The flight I am currently enjoying is like stepping back in time. This bird is not the pride of the Ethiopian fleet, at least not since George Bush Senior was in office. I'm with Isaiah and Michelle in the row of seats closest to the 60-inch projection screen that once was a luxurious feature on a long flight, but now is a trophy held by a plane whose greatest bragging right is a long (presumably), safe career. May it add another safe landing tonight (even if the in-flight movie is fuzzy). Whatever gets us there.
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