Packing them was one thing but getting them to Rwanda was another. 7:30am the day of departure we met our shuttle driver as we unloaded our cars. It was almost like a comedy with endless suitcases being lined up. The shuttle driver took one look and said they won't fit, but they had to. On his first attempt he loaded 3 in the back and said 1 more would fit. So I asked if we could start over and wok together to pack it. We hefted them, shoved them and ended up getting 11 in the back. That left 7 to go into the van with us. We did it!!!
We arrived at the airport and needed two porters. They were great as they loaded them up and at check-in lined them up by the counter. Ethiopian Airlines has been fantastic allowing us one extra suitcase for free each year. That meant 9 free and 9 to be paid for. Unfortunately the $150 per suitcase had increased to $200 each. The person who had approved the waivers via email suddenly showed up. She reached across the scale and gave me a hug thanking us for helping the people of Africa. Then decided to approve one more waiver.
You ever know who will be in your path, so be open to the generosity of others and their kindness.
All 18 suitcases arrived in Kigali, Rwanda. Oliver met us with the car that had a trailer for situations like this....many many suitcases. Everything was loaded and we were on our way. Tomorrow we will begin the sorting and organizing what we brought.
FYI - the one photo looks like we were at Air China. No we didn't get lost!!!!
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