The McDaniel Memoirs

Well, I thought yesterday's travel woes were crazy . . . I had NO idea what we were in for!!! Right now I am sitting in the airport in Dubai, waiting to board our flight to Addis Abab, Ethiopia.

So, we had about a 4 hour layover in Wash/Dulles airport before we flew the 12 hour flight to Dubai. That was uncomfortable, but bearable, especially knowing we were done with our big travel gliche, right?!? Since we had a 12 hour layover here, our airline was supposed to be giving us a complimentary hotel. Knowing this, we tried not to sleep much on our flight over so we could sleep in the hotel and get our bodies on Ethiopia time. Also, because of the long layover, they were unable to check our luggage all the way through to Ethiopia. We would have to pick up our luggage in Dubai and recheck it. This is where the FUN begins!! ;o) So we made it to Dubai, but not our luggage. So we had to fill out a report with United (who we did fly with) and then take a shuttle bus to the Emirates terminal to check with them on our luggage. I was exhausted, disappointed, and fighting back tears already. When we finally find where to go and who to talk to, come to find out that since we were a "no show" for the Emirates flight from JFK to Dubai (see previous post), they cancelled our ENTIRE booking for our flight to Addis Ababa, AND our returning flight back to Dubai, then to JFK . . . and the flight was booked. . . seriously! Now, for those of you who know me (unless I'm self-deceived), I don't think I'm usually what you would call a dramatic person, but I literally got light headed and had to sit down when I heard this! and trust me, no amount of fighting was going to hold back those tears! After much time and confusion, and repeating our story 50 times, they printed us boarding passes and assured us we have flights on the way back . . . of course, we had assurances that we would have our same connecting flight to Ethiopia, and that our luggage was rerouted with us.

This really is the short version, and we are about to get on the plane, so I will have to tell you it all later. Right now, we will have to keep calling back to confirm our return flights, and have no idea where our luggage is - PLEASE PRAY THAT OUR LUGGAGE GETS HERE SOON!! Thanks - gotta get on the plane . . .