We woke up, got ready and Livia, mom and dad knelt around JJ’s bed for a quick prayer and gave hugs and kisses. Becca came just in time and we loaded the luggage into our car. While doing this Kelly twisted his ankle a little but he’s toughing it out; he said it doesn’t’ feel broken or anything. We made it to the airport in plenty of time thanks to Ernesto’s chauffeuring abilities.
Each of our four checked bags made it just right under the 50 lb. limit. The flight from SLC to JFK (NYC)was really nice. Thanks to a friend, we had an exit row seat which made the 4.5 hours much more pleasant. We arrived at JFK just fine and followed the masses to get to terminal 4. We discovered the transportation method forces you to be outside the security so now we would have to go through and reenter once again. Waiting outside the terminal, the seating was extremely sparse. So after grabbing some KFC to hold us over, we went to find the Partner Lounges so we could chill there. We splurged and paid $90 to Delta’s Sky Club program so we could use the place later in the morning in SLC as well as for our long layovers in JFK. It was really nice. They had free WiFi and all the sodas, juices, cheese, crackers, etc. you could ever want. Lots of seating too unlike the masses outside.
We started getting nervous of the crowd that was developing inside the lounge, figuring there must be a larger crowd outside who are trying to get through security. Though it was 2.25 hour early, I was tired of waiting. We made it through without a hitch. We sat next to another couple who are also on their way to Ethiopia to pick up their 2 year old daughter. We exchanged pleasantries and questions but didn’t really engage much in a conversation.
We boarded the plane at about 10:15. They almost tried to take Lisa’s carry-on bag because it looked too big (wasn’t anywhere overstuffed at all). I got it to fit in the upper bin with no problem. Little did they know Tim’s backpack that folds into a briefcase weighs, much, much more. The flight itself was really nice. I like the plane (777-300) and the staff seemed really friendly and always asking what they could do. We had some dinner (chicken or lamb) both of which tasted fantastic and then we went to bed. Though the 1200 channels of entertainment were tempting, I succumbed to sleep. Before we knew it, we were once again getting ready to land.
Disembarking the plane you could feel the almost instant “oooo” from all the passengers as the heat and humidity hit you. The airport sure was nice. Lot of really cool architecture including huge fountains sliding down walls. We waited for only minutes for our four our bags and we got them all. Remember how I was freaking about the “butt-Paste” leaking all over, well they didn’t. However, it turns out someone else’s bag leaked some sort of clothes washing detergent on our suitcase. Good think we packed all those clothes in the space saver bags. They wouldn’t have been ruined but still a nasty task none the less.
After trying to get swindled from a “taxidriver” who was really just a guy with a car, I told him his rates seem far excessive so we went out to the que and waited in the real line for about ½ second. Our driver, Solomon was a very nice gentlemen from Sudan. He took us on a quick drive and gave us a pretty good orientation where our hotel is compared to bigger land and water sites.
We got all checked in to the hotel and walked around the corner to a little quicky-mart that had drinks for far less than the hotel (and the U.S. for that matter). It was a little hard but we finally managed to figure out how to charge our computer. It’s working now. We’ll lug it around with us tomorrow as we tour around until we can find a Starbucks or a place with complementary internet so we can post on our blog and maybe connect the cell to WiFi and call home and talk to the kids.
Tomorrow morning’s plan is to wake up (not jet-lagged and walk five minutes over to the mall to see Ski-Dubai and then catch the tourist bus that runs between all the sites. I think it will be far cheaper than doing taxis plus we can get on and off as we want. On our list are the World’s tallest building, Atlantis Aquarium and maybe their beach/waterpark. We want to see the gold and spice souks too.
Off to bed. See you in the morning. Love you all
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