Wednesday, May 20, 2009

Security Rocks

We're sitting in the Heathrow airport in London on our four hour layover...two movies, two hours of sleep and three security checks later. Seriously, security. We have watered plants and chugged our remaining water each time we have to head through security. Don't worry, we also took off our shoes and all our jewelry, and have had to exit each airport just to come back in. BUT the good news: my mace has made it though all security checks. I guess they understand the importance of a little protection for a couple of girls.

Checking bags was fairly simply with the help of one wonderful husband, who ran to help us carry everything in and weighed each bag at the airport himself, who then had to rearrange things to make sure everything was under 50 pounds. Because of his accuracy, we can make a correction and say that we are bringing exactly 98 pounds of toys and therapeutic necessities. Amazing. We're pretty excited to see the faces of these kids (and likely adults), as nobody knows we're bringing this much.

We have only one more flight...sort of. We are flying with British Midline (or something like that...), our third airline carrier of the trip. Apparently, we technically have four legs...we make a stop in Amman. We would ask you to tell us where this is, but the amazing world of google informed us it is the capital of Jordan. Sounds cool to me. I've never been Jordan, and Keely hasn't either. Although when I asked, she made me feel like EVERYONE has been to Jordan...I mean, who hasn't? The pictures look pretty awesome, so we're looking forward and crossing our fingers for some good airline views. We may or may not be getting off the plane...this has yet to be determined.

We've also just realized that we don't know where we're living. This could prove to be interesting when we're asked to fill out our customs form of where we are staying for the next seven weeks. Note to selves, we're spending the next hour trying to figure that out. Hmmm....maybe we'll be returning to the states sooner than we think! (Just a side note, I've been looking for quite some time with no luck...eekk! But maybe we can't find it because they don't have addresses...places are just listed by street name. Will update about this situation later, once it is hopefully successfully resolved).

We also just found out that it may or may not be still 2002 in Ethiopia. We have discovered TIME TRAVEL. Nobel prize, here we come. However, this means Keely is 21 and I am only 18. Hmm.....fountain of youth.

We'll be trying to wrap these up with a thought or quote of the day. We apologize we haven't done much to share yet, but we will, we promise!

Thought of the day: There is a mercado in town that is apparently enormous and we are pretty excited to go. Obviously, it's important to be aware of pickpocketers. According to our guide book, once scheme is to do the simple bump and grab. Another, however, is described as "a less subtle tactic involves someone diving at your feet and holding your legs while another pilfers your pockets." We will spend our next hour implementing and practicing tactics to escape said pilfering. Partner self-defense, here we come!

3 comments:

  1. When they dive at your feet you should just drop a huge elbow on their back (WWE style). That way every pick pocketer in the area knows not to mess with you! You may have to repeat this solution in every area you go, however.

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  2. If you run into any problems, explain that your father has a particular set of skills acquired over a long career that makes him a nightmare for people like them. If they just let you go there will be no problems. If not, I will track them down, I will find them, and I will ___________________!!!!!!

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  3. I think I'd pay money to watch the two of you practice those techniques.. especially in the airport!

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