leaving on a jet plane…

…a Boeing 787 Dreamliner, specifically.

I’ve never flown business class before. It was kinda cool seeing how the folks on the other side of the curtain live. I have to add the following disclaimer, though: the State Department pays for coach class travel except in certain situations. Although Ma is in pretty good shape, due to some medical issues, she’d normally qualify for work paid biz class travel. Unfortunately, her waiver wasn’t received in time, so she would have been in coach. However, during check in with the Ethiopian Airlines, she found out how many carry on and checked bags she’d get in coach, how much it would cost to check extra bags, and decided that paying for the nextupgrade was absolutely worth it, given the 14 hour flight time and added amenities (like 2 free carry on bags and 3 free checked bags, a LOT of extra legroom, and a seat that almost lays flat).

And I gotta say, getting treated like royalty the whole flight really made moving so far from home easier — like we were celebrating the beginning of our big adventure.

Then, there were the meals… Dinner was several courses:

And, about an hour before landing, there was breakfast:

We landed in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia feeling pretty good; we were then hustled through the international departures terminal to catch the flight back to Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso; which, after a nearly 6-hour flight, would be stopping briefly in Niamey to let off about half the passengers. Once again we lucked out by winning our bid to be upgraded to biz class.

A pre-departue glass of bubbly, followed by an orange Fanta served with a bowl of nibbly bits (roasted grains, including barley and chick peas) started things off nicely.

Lunch was then served, again with a delightful Ethiopian red. I didn’t get a picture of the starter as I gobbled it up like it like I was a starving gnome. 🫣 I did, however, remember to get a picture of the menu (identifying what was in the “Ethiopian National Dish”) with the red wine selection, for posterity.

After landing in Niamey, it took us over 90 minutes to get through immigration, get our checked bags, and clear customs — even with the help of the supremely well-connected embassy expeditor (a snappily-dressed local gentleman with a great sense of humor – thankfully!).

And then, in a blast of 110° dry heat, we made the half hour eye-opening drive from the airport to our house.

Ma will work a condensed schedule at the embassy, which is to say longer than 8-hour days Monday to Thursday, then a 5-hour day on Friday. Since we arrived on a Thursday, Ma managed to get a bit of sleep, then went to the embassy for a brief orientation Friday morning (ensuring that she’ll continue to get paid AND get some local currency for grocery shopping, etc.).

Initial hot take: as a result of being on the bank of the Niger River, Niamey is greener than anticipated. It is also hotter, dustier, and dirtier than anticipated. There are children, goats, cattle, motorbikes, and trash everywhere. But the people seem really friendly. Ma has noted, though, that fighting her urge to speak French first is proving difficult. The anti-French sentiment is strong. But there are 11 languages spoken in Niger, and French has been the lingua franca for a while. She just needs to learn to start with English, then switch to French so people know she’s not French… in spite of not wanting to sound like a demanding American.

That said, hopefully her Hausa lessons start soon so she can at least initiate conversations in one of the local languages! I’m looking forward to seeing what she can pick up.