Home Studio v3

Day 1: The long flight begins

10:33 – Schipol Airport, Amsterdam

When I showed up at the Helsinki-Vantaa Airport with two suitcases, a laptop bag and a backpack I knew I was toast. Luckily my KLM ticket allowed me to check-in two items and the rest I could carry with me on the plane. As usual I had stayed up all night, since there was no point in going to sleep for a few hours (packing took a bit longer than expected :p). The only downside to flying with KLM is that it leaves around six in the morning, which means you have to show up an hour or two before that. Having received a reminder by email and checked-in online, I was able to bypass the mile long queue and proceed straight through security. I passed out pretty much as soon as I sat down in the plane and slept happily most of the way to Amsterdam.

I ended up buying breakfast at the usual sandwich bar and got myself some surfing time from the KPN Communication Centre next to it. Since there’s about three hours to kill between flights, I figured I might as well write something and check my emails while waiting.

As the sun slowly rises from the horizon, I realize I’m still tired. Hopefully this fatigue won’t go away by the time I get on the next plane. It would be annoying having to stay up for the rest of the trip considering I won’t be landing in Addis until ten in the evening. Wish me luck, this is going to be a rough ride

22:05 – Bole International Airport, Addis Ababa

After a long flight, we finally touched down at Bole Airport. The plane had been filled up to the last seat – a clear indication that this route is very popular. We stopped at Khartoum (Sudan) where half of the passengers got off and new ones came in. By the time we got to Addis, I could hardly feel my legs, but at least the worse part was over.

I waited for my luggage for well over half an hour and started worrying that they had ended up somewhere in South America again. They came through eventually and although they had gone through a severe beating, nothing had been broken.

You know you’ve come very far when you step outside and see the moon tilted in a different direction than what you’re used to back at home. It was a mild 20′c outside, a nice change from the chilly weather in Helsinki. Lot of exciting times ahead and I hope I’ll get a chance to write some more in the days to come!