Travelling Well

Whether it was excitement, worry or something else, I didn’t sleep more than an hour the night of August 14^th in anticipation of the next day’s move out to live among the Gmz. So, I lay in bed counting down the ticks until the 4:30am alarm released me to get started with final preparations.

 

Next thing we knew it, it was 5:13 and we were backing the fully-loaded Hilux out of our compound. Two adults occupied the front seats while Micah had the back seat to himself (well, I suppose he had to share it with the large coolers, fresh veggies and fruits, chair cushions, and a whole bunch of other stuff we crammed in with him). As usual, Micah didn’t last long as the car bounced down our bumpy road. Whether it’s the bumps of the road, the rumble of the diesel engine, or just the feeling of movement, Micah has never managed to stay awake very long when we’re out driving. However, as we started down the road of our 10.5 hour trip out to the Gmz, we doubted that the Hilux could work its magic the whole time, and so, we prepared ourselves for a long day…

 

The journey began with ease as we had beaten all of Addis Ababa’s morning traffic and soon found ourselves at the peak of Entoto (the “mountain range” that acts as the boundary of Addis Ababa to the north). Micah, as usual, was sleeping…zim bilo. “Zim bilo” is an Amharic phrase used by Ethiopians in a huge range of circumstances, but its most common usage is to mean “silently.” So “zim bilo” we crossed Entoto and headed northwest on the great plateau that covers good portions of Ethiopia. With it being rainy season, rivers are high and at one point knee-high water covered the road – Thank God for our Hilux’s high suspension!

 

Several hours passed and Micah still sat “zim bilo” in his seat, with nothing more than a few peeps every now and then. Finally, even without Micah throwing a fit, we stopped in a small city where we grabbed breakfast as Micah was eating his. Back on the road, we had no problems going through the Nile River Gorge, though fog covered the spectacular views this time through. Our next stop was still a couple hours past the gorge where we typically stop to fill up on fuel. So our fuel stop became a Micah-feeding and changing stop as well – much to the delight of the audience that had gathered in the large truck next to us. We ate a quick lunch of torpedoes (tortillas, honey and peanut butter) that our travelling companions had brought.

 

Back on the road, Micah’s 6 hours of “zim bilo” riding came to a halt as he occasionally started expressing his displeasure. Yet, it was easily bearable despite all of us being cramped into tight quarters. Our next and final stop came just outside of a town called Injebara, where we turn off the nice asphalt and onto gravel. Micah filled his belly as the rest of us snacked on the last of the torpedoes. The final two and a half hours of gravel roads felt long, a feeling which Micah clearly expressed at times as well. As we passed through Chagni, we were disappointed to see that the internet was not working as we had planned, but if you are reading this, then that means that our second visit to this “city” was more successful.

 

Somewhere around 6pm we were all relieved as we pulled onto the station of another organization where we would be staying. All in all, it was an uneventful trip – for which we are thankful to God (and to the many back home who were praying). Sure Micah had a few moments, but I’d estimate him crying a total of 30 minutes out of the whole 13 hour trip! I’d say that’s pretty good for a nine-week-old who sat by himself staring at the rear window. As our travelling companions said “good MKs must learn to travel well.”

 

ps. The extra special fit that Micah threw later that evening reminded us all that the stress of travelling doesn’t end upon arrival at the destination. Recovery may take a few days.