We Made it! (Caitlyn and Mason)... Posted 7/18/17

7/16 7:00 am- We woke up for mass, and blessed everyone going and the people who helped make it happen, before we left for our long adventure.

7/16 8:40 am- Was the last time we got to see our family, for us we don’t really miss them right now but we know later on that we will get homesick and miss them as well.

7/16 10:00am- Once we all gathered at the airport, we got to stand in line for two hours waiting to get though security. My bag got searched because they thought my Bananagrams were pills, but I made it though. Once we got though, the boys went to 7/16 12:00pm(MN)- Arby’s and the girls went to where they felt like.

7/16 3:00pm- When we got closer Newark, New Jersey we got to see the Statue of Liberty, which was pretty awesome. Fun Fact the Statue of Liberty is actually in New Jersey. Sitting around the airport was a grand ole time, playing card games, eating, watching Allie and Kaylee have a water fight at dinner time. Also at dinner Allie, Kaylee, and Elyse flirted with our waiter Omar, he even invited Allie and Kaylee back to his homeland. The different card games that we played were Trash, which we quit. Also played 31, which Rachel won, and the boys played Uno but  Mason doesn’t remember who won so we don’t know. Against Mason’s will, we decided to braid his hair twice. Allie sent Sophia to go get coffee and it took Sophia like three hours to get the coffee.

7/16 9:45pm- We started our 17 ½ hour flight to Addis Abba. Lots of feet swelled, bathrooms were terrible, and lots of puking currently at a count of nine times. On the bright side, we got tons of food that didn’t taste the best. Movies were okay, like Kong: Skull Island, Mason gives it a 7/10. Us girls fit all eight of in a three seat row, which was really fun. We got board and some of us started playing heads up. Even though we were in the way of many people when we stood up in the aisle, no one seemed to be mad that we were in the way. Everyone learned that sleep is a great thing and it’s not possible on a plane. When we found out that we were close to Addis Abba, all the girls changed clothes either in our seats or in the aisle, it was a great time.

7/17 10:00pm- Landing in Addis Abba and being able to move around and stretch was the greatest thing ever! It took them two hours to figure out if we were going to go stay at a hotel. Waiting for the shuttle was a long painful time for Nathan. We were the second group to get on because we couldn’t all fit everyone on the first trip, so Joe’s travel group stayed behind and waited for the second trip. They said it would only take 15-20 mins but it really took 45 mins just for it to come get us. After impatiently waiting, and actually realizing that everything was going to take forever, the shuttle final came and we walked down to it. Nathan was freaking out because he thought that the shuttle wouldn’t start and he didn’t want that as one of our many experiments. Driving down the roads was very scary, it was very sketchy and for sure thought we were going to die because there were a lot of AK-47’s, but we didn’t so it’s all okay. I shared a room with Kaylee, and we’re pretty sure we broke the toilet because it wouldn’t flush, and the beds were as hard as a rock.

7/18 5:40am- Waking up to go get back on a plane was great. Everyone wasn’t ready for it and it wasn’t great at all. Although we did get to see Mount Kilimanjaro it was amazing to look at. After we landed I was finally relieved to be off of a plane for two weeks. The line for immigration was really long and it was insanely hot outside. Eventually we got to meet Juma, Baba Dick’s friend, and were able to start our final journey to Moshi. The bus ride to Hardebeest View Lodge was very eye opening to see the culture and the surrounding environment come to life from when we talked about it in class. Not everyone got to see what is was like on the hour bus ride to the lodge because most of us feel asleep. When we got to the lodge we all got our rooms and everything explained to us with how things were going to work around here. Honestly I thought this place was going to be a lot worse than what it actually is. It’s really not that bad, we even have warmish water for showering. Before supper everyone played Uno on the roof where you can also see Kilimanjaro. The food was amazing and the bananas were unbelievable and great 10/10… would recommend. Now it’s time to go to bed… but over all the trip is great so far!