T minus 42 hours

At this time on Monday, I'll have boarded my Ethiopian Airlines flight from London to Addis Ababa.

The wait is over

At 2:29 this afternoon I was practically jumping for joy. I finally got a ticket to Ethiopia. Wednesday evening my travel approval came though. That’s when the giddiness started to set in. If it weren’t for the 9.6km run I’d been on earlier that evening, I doubt I would have been able to fall asleep. The physical exhaustion knocked me out cold, but not before I could fire off an email to my CoP letting him know that I had a few loose ends to tie up here in Copenhagen, but I’d be ready to travel on Sunday.

This morning when I woke up I was greeted by an email from my CoP cc’d to me, asking our HR team to book me a ticket anytime after Sunday. Over the course of the next five hours I checked my email constantly, waiting for news. Between checking my mail, I finished my packing… not a job for the faint hearted.

My good friend Lieke was lucky (or unlucky?) enough to be there when it all happened. She stopped in today to say hi and goodbye (again) and grab a bit of lunch and some coffee.

The rest of the afternoon was spent finishing off the chore of packing my room down and getting Walter ready for the great re-location of 2010. Walter moved postal codes today from 1265 to 2700. His new roomies are my darling cousin and her darling dog. I’m living out here too for the last few days before I ship out.

Without further ado here’s my itinerary:
Depart: Copenhagen Apt (CPH) 16:05 Monday, March 01, 2010
Terminal 3
Arrive: London Heathrow (LHR) 17:05 Monday, March 01, 2010
Terminal 3

Depart: London Heathrow (LHR) 21:00 Monday, March 01, 2010
Terminal 3
Arrive: Addis Ababa Bole Airport (ADD) 07:45 Tuesday, March 02, 2010
Terminal Not Available

Best news I've had in weeks!

From: XXX@mercycorps.org
Subject: RE: waiting for your travel approval
Date: February 24, 2010 8:39:04 PM GMT+01:00
To: XXX@et.mercycorps.org, XXX@STU.CA
Cc: XXX@mercycorps.org, XXX@mercycorps.org, XXX@et.mercycorps.org

Hi all,

Travel approval just came through.

Please see attached.

XXX

Yes, this means that my travel approval finally came through and that Mercy Corps can book me a ticket and I can finish packing my bags. I'm not going to lie, I was beginning to get a little nervous and anxious, not to mentioned worried. Hopefully this means I'll be lugging my suitcases to the airport very soon especially since I'm homeless in Copenhagen as of Monday when my subletter takes over. Luckily I have more than one couch I can crash on in this city, but still its nice to know that I didn't rent out my room for nothing.

Hope... I think

From: XXX@et.mercycorps.org
Subject: waiting for your travel approval
Date: February 23, 2010 5:55:39 PM GMT+01:00
To: Miriam
Cc: XXX@mercycorps.org, XXX@mercycorps.org

Hi Miriam,

I am still waiting for your travel approval. Sorry it is taking longer than usual.

Thanks

RAIN program
Mercy Corps Ethiopia

From: XXX@mercycorps.org
Subject: RE: waiting for your travel approval
Date: February 23, 2010 7:17:26 PM GMT+01:00
To: XXX@et.mercycorps.org, Miriam
Cc: XXX@mercycorps.org

I spoke with XXX about this and the other outstanding approvals. She assured me she is working on them.

XXX

Things to do while you (I) wait for your (my) ticket...

(not necessarily in this order)

... indulge



... spend time with the ones you love.


... go to the National Art Gallery


... run this route with your little brother.


... buy toilet paper in the snow.

Will accept donations...

So I've been looking at my list. The list knows at Things to do before Ethiopia.
So far I've done good. I've got my vaccinations, I have my visa. I've established that I don't actually need to buy a mosquito net, because there's one in my house there, along with practical household items. I've taken care of my malaria prevention and purchased 96 o.b. tampons, in assorted varieties.

But to be honest, hamstering away on short notice isn't a cost-free affair. I'm still short on hair dye and sunscreen and shampoo and other assorted toiletries. More tampons might not be a bad idea. Another Canasten might be a good idea and maybe I should stock up on regular painkillers too.

A tool of some sort, as also on the list. And Swiss army knife. Or better yet a Leatherman. I also think stocking up on batteries could be a good idea. Or better yet, rechargeable batteries, or maybe one of those solar charger pad things.

Anyway, I'd basically accept any and all of these things as donations at this point. Writing lists of things to get keeps me occupied while I'm waiting for my travel date.

The waiting game

Here I am on a tuesday afternoon, drinking a cup of spiced rooibos tea from a plastic cup and snacking on a peppermint filled chocolate bar, waiting.

All I've been doing the last week and a half now is waiting. Waiting for news. Waiting for my passport and visa. Waiting for a my plane ticket.

I'm not particularly good at not being able to control a situation and having a situation completely out of my own hands. I'm powerless and playing the waiting game.

The most I can do is hope. Hope that the paperwork will go through today. I've said that everyday since last Monday. And it worked. I got the visa on Friday. Maybe today is my lucky day. It's evening now in Copenhagen and I'm soon tucking in, but the work day at HQ in Portland, is just reconvening after lunch. The travel approval could come today. And if not today, maybe Wednesday will be my lucky day.

My visa showed up today!

The big news today is that my travel documents (visa papers stuck on a page in my passport) arrived in the mail today.

I picked it up at the post office this afternoon and popped by the pharmacy while I was out. I'm in the process of hoarding possible items of use on for my trip. I went to pick up my malaria pills, but they didn't have the mega pack in stock. Instead I came home with a few pharmaceuticals that could come in handy while down south. They've ordered my malaria pills for tomorrow, but I paid for them today while I was stocking up on goods anyway. I'm telling you, this little adventure definitely doesn't come cheap. Between the visa, vaccinations and other pharmaceuticals, stockpiling personal hygiene items and the like, I've invested quite a bit in preparation for take off.



Now, I just need an airline ticket and I'm off. As for when that will happen, your guess is as good as mine.

Rediscovering snow

I can’t remember the last time I got all bundled up to play in the snow. Since I moved to Denmark four and a half years ago, I’ve been out sledding twice, I’ve been skating outdoors twice, and haven’t really had use for proper outdoor footwear.

Besides the few snow angels I made when walking the house dog in university, snow related activities belong to that part of my childhood when snow was still a novelty and not burden; when tobogganing down the railroad hill was fun, snowshoeing was done on old-fashioned wooden “racquets” tied with mock-sinew, and snowsuits weren’t the definition of dorky. Back then a little imagination and a pair of cross-country skis, poles and a scarf could go along way. I still remember rigging up an elaborate system of ski gear—I can’t recall the purpose— from the tree house in my backyard with one of my best childhood friends.

But at some point the innocent fun of playing in the snow turned into tiresome wading through knee deep drifts to get to and from school. When the practical Sorel or Kamik boots become un-cool and a pair of sneakers was the preferred footwear.

This year my impending relocation to Ethiopia and the unusual amount of snow and below zero temperatures has raised the latent snow-lover in me. The snow-hater is still there, don’t get me wrong, but suddenly the idea of spending an afternoon skating on a frozen pond or engineering an igloo-turned-fort seems like a great way to spend an afternoon. The presence of nieces and nephews helps too.

So on Saturday I spent part of the afternoon building a snow fort with my cousin and her kids. The children lost interest before the adults did, and it turned into an architectural/building project where we developed best-practice techniques to ensure a stable construction. It’s amazing how much fun you can have even when determination and the inner perfectionist takes over.

Perhaps it’s the threat of plus 30 degree temperatures in my near future or the unusual nature of the winter this year, but which ever it is, I’ve rediscovered the joy of winter this year.

Goodbye Copenhagen

Friday night I said goodbye to Cocktail Box. Thank-you people who came to have a drink. You'll be missed.

The next step

Today’s date: February 8, 2010. In my computer’s calendar I have a green post (colour-coded according to category: blue = personal, green = work, red = travel, orange = birthdays, purple = visits) that says Ethiopia? Yet here I am, Monday morning still in Copenhagen.

My Things to do before Ethiopia checklist is considerably shorter than it was a week ago. I’ve sub-letted my room, packed all my belongings, cancelled my gym membership, gotten all my vaccinations, applied for my visa, confirmed that cutlery, dishes, linens, mosquito nets and an assortment of other practical household items are available at my staff guest house. I’ve sorted out my malaria prophylaxes and have a back up emergency treatment lined up as well. I have yet to stock up on personal hygiene items like shampoo, conditioner, o.b., hair-dye and reusable toilet paper (honestly, I’m still a little skeptical here). I could have taken care of all these details already, but I’m in a virtual limbo, so as long as I can calculate at least five days to take off, I’m comfortable procrastinating these small things.

My travel plans are hinged on the donor approval of my international airfare. This means that my visa application is caught in limbo. The kind souls at the Ethiopian Embassy in Stockholm can’t finish processing my visa until I have a fixed arrival date in the country, this also means that I am not currently in possession of my passport. My HR contact at Mercy Corps, can’t proceed with the travel plans until the donor has approved my travel. My Chief of Party wants me to start ASAP, but with the embassy being in Stockholm, there’s a tricky logistical situation involved in the travel planning. They need at least two days (we’re working across time zones here, from Portland to Stockholm) to process and get my travel documents sent off to Copenhagen. Then the postal service must be allowed two–three days to figure out where I live and deliver the precious documents. This means that there is at least a week delay on the travel plans, and as long as we’re waiting for donor approval, I’m going no where fast.

So I’m left here in sub-zero temperatures, waiting anxiously for the next step; for someone to get their butt in gear and give the approval which would in turn set the final arrangements in process.

In the meantime I’ve been killing time kissing friends and family goodbye, filling out forms, planning medical insurance, registering next-of-kin with ISOS and creating a proof of line statement, you know, just in case.

Now, to the sounds of Final Fantasy, my fingertips are dancing across the keyboard keeping my mind occupied so the inner control freak in me doesn’t freak out. Patience is a virtue and I’m telling myself that the ball will start rolling today, in at least one of the time zones my fate is tied to.

Current local time: 11:37; Portland: 02:38; Dire Dawa: 13:38.

Cross your fingers for me.

If I were a bicycle tire, I'd be flat already

Six needles in as many days could potentially leave a person rather flat. I'm not quite there yet, but it's close. Today I had the last (most probably) two vaccinations before I leave. The rumour is true: the tetanus/diphtheria vaccine takes its tole. The soreness in my left arm after the Yellow Fever shot was nothing compared to the sore/tenderness my left arm is experiencing with the DiTe vaccine. This means I had to bare a cheek to get the sixth needle. The typhus vaccine went into the right arm, which until further notice has yet to react to being injected with a vaccine, and the Hepatitis A vaccine met my right gluteus maxius.

In the subletting department, we're two steps away from making a decision. Three brave souls weathered the storm (which turned out to be mostly a figment of the media's imagination) to take a look at our humble abode yesterday. Two others will show up tonight for their casting calls. Finding someone to babysit my room while I'm gone will sure make sleeping at night a little easier, or at least give me one less thing to worry about.

This winter weather that's been hanging over Denmark seems especially harsh when I know what's waiting for me on the other end of a long plane ride next week. Not owning winter boots doesn't make it any easier to cope. In the battle to keep my feet dry, my rubber boots have won over a warm boot and plastic bag combo, however waiting for a bus for over 40 minutes can make me reconsider my choice of footwear. My primary/middle school principal used to make frequent announcements over the school speakers about the importance of appropriate footwear. If this was fifth grade, I'm sure I would have been reprimanded by now. It's possible someone would have sent a note home too.

Sore again

Today I was in for my Hepatitis B and Diphtheria/Tetanus vaccination. I was 10 minutes late for the appointment after the universe decided it needed to stress me out more this week by ensuring a late bus in the morning, a broken down bus on the way to the doc’s office, and another broken down bus on the way home. Yikes! Let’s hope the busses are running normally tomorrow.

My room is almost all packed away. A few clothes to get me through the next week (I should be leaving in about 7-10 days!) and a few pictures are still hanging on the walls. My clever brother who is visiting suggested that leaving them up might make it look more homey when people come to view the room/apartment tomorrow. And right he is. I can’t imagine bare walls already. I’m not that ready yet.

Tomorrow, Tuesday, is the big meet-potential-subletter-day. I’ve four prospects lined up for sure, and one maybe. Hopefully one of them is a good match and my room will be taken good care of and roommates can sleep easy at night.

The next question is now, who is going to take care of Walter, my Siamese fighting fish, for the next six months? I went on holiday for two weeks this fall and he barely ate the pellets my roommates had dropped in his BiOrb. Any one in Copenhagen want to bond with Walter (Cronkite) for the next six months?