What time is it anyway...

Well, Hannah and I made it safe and sound to the Crystal Hotel here in Asmara (www.crystalhoteleritrea.com). Just getting here was quite the laughable adventure. Our flight from St Louis to Washington DC was relatively uneventful. The flight from DC to Frankfurt, Germany on the other hand was quite comical. As we boarded the plane we joked about how we hoped there wouldn't be any kids--and I joked about the fact that on my flight to London in 2009, there were 2 kids sitting directly behind us. So, we passed the first section of seats on our huge plane and low and behold entered our section--where around us sat 6 children, all under the age of 3. The lady in front of us had a baby--probably 4-5 months old and I learned that on international flights they can attach small cribs to the cabin wall. So, always avoid the front row on any international flight. This flight was 7.5 hours long and on it were 2 probably Saudi Arabian women dressed in full garb who were older--likely 60s--and who were obviously uncomfortable. One of them was having some "blood pressure" problems initially and then later the two of them both were up and down in their seats and kept trying to switch seats with people around them. Finally, one of them took the opportunity to lie down in 4 seats when her friend and the two unrelated gentlemen sitting next to her left for the bathroom. Luckily we were sitting right across the aisle, so we go to experience the whole bit.

After landing in Frankfurt and finding what we thought was our gate, Hannah and I thought it would be a splendid idea to take a nap sprawled out in the empty terminal where our flight was supposed to be. So, we laid down at around 8:30 or so local time and then around 12:11pm Hannah woke me up. Our flight left at 12:35 and somehow we had slept nearly through the boarding. I woke up in a dazed half-asleep, sleepy-eyed frenzy grabbing my blanket, jacket, and backpack (but not my damn travel pillow I had so proudly bought for this trip) and went out to find information about where our flight really was leaving from because our terminal was completely empty. Much to our chagrin, our flight was nearly 20 gates away. So, we did what any American would do in a foreign country, we started to giggle and ran to our gate. Thankfully we did make it in time for the last bus which drove us out a good 10-15 minutes to the giant plane we took from Frankfurt to Jeddah, Saudi Arabia and then finally on to Asmara.

This flight was also quite an experience with an Eritrean passenger sitting directly in front of us giving the stewardess problems about the meal--first saying she was vegetarian and pretending not to speak English. She refused the economy class fish meal, but after getting a first class meal that was pasta with cheese, she complained and finally got the fish from the first class. It was comical.

Landing in Saudi Arabia (after another 5 hours) was exciting even though we didn't get off the plane simply because it somewhere I never thought I would set foot (and technically I guess I didn't). From above, the skyline of Jeddah reminded me just a little bit of a more industrial-looking Paris. They made an announcement overhead that all alcohol was forbidden there, which I found interesting and astounding (I wonder if they have any Al Capones there). After a long hour or more wait to refuel, we finally took off to our final destination.

Landing in Eritrea was exciting--and quite different from anywhere else I had ever landed. There are virtually no lights to see as you fly over at night and even when we did land it took a while before we got to the airport where there finally were some lights. The women around us--clearly Eritrean in origin--were interested and seemed excited that we were coming to visit. Most of the people that we interacted with did speak English which was nice. After getting off of the plane there were just people standing around. There wasn't anyone telling us where to go. So, once again, like the good travelers from America we were, we took out our cameras and shot a couple of pictures (until we got yelled at). Finally after making it through customs, we met our contact--"Teddy"--because I have no idea what is real name is.

Teddy met both of us with kisses to the cheek and helped us get our necessary paperwork together. We got our luggage and then he asked if we wanted anything from the small meager-looking (by our standards) duty-free shop. I said no as did Hannah, so Teddy decided to help get our papers together and to help himself to the luxury that our passports offered him. He went in to the shop where the hottest commodity was cigarettes and liquor and proceeded to buy $350 dollars worth of duty-free liquor consisting of I think vodka, whiskey, and 8 cases of Heineken beer. This was the highlight of the night. I was laughing so hard I thought I was going to get in trouble. Sounds like Teddy is going to have a party.

Well, we made it to the hotel, which is pretty nice considering--certainly nothing like the US, but nice nonetheless. I switched rooms so that I could be on the same level as Hannah and my new room has a balcony which we are stoked about. Teddy is going to come by in the morning to pick us up and give us a tour.

I am really looking forward to this experience both from a personal and a professional standpoint. I don't think it really hit me until we were finally on the last leg of our flight that the thing I had been looking forward to for the last year has finally come to fruition. Having never studied abroad, I am really looking forward to getting to know the people of Eritrea and so far they seem very easy-going. I am hoping I will take away a respect for the people here, a respect for what we have in the US, and a respect for the medical advances that we have there.