Alas, the luggage!

It's nearly 7am in Addis. The house is starting to wake up- kids are up, adults are groggy, and Hirewot is clattering in the kitchen, starting our breakfast. \We arrived safely and soundly last night, but alas, our luggage did not. Our trip started off badly, with our first flight out of MSP being cancelled within minutes of our having checked. Long story, annoying Northwest, but we ended up on the 1pm to Dulles, and our luggage may or may not have done so. In any case, it's not here now. Maybe it will come on the Sunday flight from Dulles. Maybe we'll get it Monday. \In the meantime....our late night drive through Addis, the night noises of a busy city late at night, the cool air, the smells and sounds, the poverty right next to the wealth...all of this reminds me (Julia) of Mexico D.F., growing up.
The views are spectacular, the morning calls to prayer over distant loudspeakers, the sound of a lone runner, feet slapping on the asphalt, a truck driving very fast down the little street the Guest House sits on....
We need coffee, and there are other families already in line for the computer. Breakfast is soon, and then, we meet Messay. Even as I write those words, I'm getting teary.
More soon, on our first day in Addis........