15 months 15 days

Yesterday I was done and went to bed at 1:30, tonight I'm starting to write this at 1:30... local time, so it's already 2:30 in Paris/Vienna. After having been extremely tired earlier, I'm okay now.

I had set my alarm for 6:30 this morning, which would have meant 5 hours of slept, but I guess it wasn't meant to be. Emmy still wakes up and cries when his pacifier is not in his mouth, and usually continues sleeping after you put one in. At 4:45 am he woke up, and just kept crying and crying, no pacifier or milk helped. Sleeping in a strange bed in a foreign place... I ended up picking him up and lying down with him. I thought he'd fall asleep on me, but he didn't. For a whole hour I tried, wishing I'd get some sleep, and even tried to put him back into the bed once, but picking him up again. I guess we finally both fell asleep for a short while, until the alarm went off.

We got dressed and took their sleeping bags off (I'm so glad I brought them, as cold as it was in the room!), and then Barbara already arrived to help us out. We fed them the milk cereal jars I had brought along. They were having fun walking around the room and exploring everything like the phone, and the light-weight bedside tables were perfect for pulling over and dragging across the floor. When they were done eating, we changed and dressed them and put them into the stroller, and I carried Sammy again. We packed everything up and left at 7:30 am. We took the shuttle train back to the terminal and walked all the way to the check-in area we needed. It's a big and confusing airport, but I know it in and out by now, after 17 years in Mali. For over 10 years I was a gold frequent flyer, but since they made it harder to reach that status, we've been silver, and for the first time I did not have access to the fast lane, which was disappointing. Just as we were about to walk away, the staff person suddenly said we could go ahead after all since there were no people in the line. That was nice and unexpected!

We first went through passport control, and then it was time for security again. Again, what a hassle! Getting all baby food out, getting the babies themselves out, taking the stroller apart so each piece could be sent through the machine, and Paris is notorious for how bad security is. They actually pulled aside several of our items for an extra check. One of the baskets had their milk bottles, and one bottle wasn't closed properly, so there was liquid milk everywhere! It took us such a long time to put everything back in and back together again, and a lot of people behind us were waiting for an extra check of their luggage. I was glad when we were finally put back together again and ready to move on! I should have taken a picture there!

We then went to the gate, Tammy and Emmy in the stroller, and Randy pulling our carry-ons. We stopped to buy some water and sat down at the gate. They were eager to get out and get to move again, taking off to explore the area. Emmy is such a friendly and social guy, which has been noticed by a good number of people, and he walked around meeting everybody and making friends with them. They got to eat some snacks, and Emmy has really been enjoying these fruit juices for babies. Sammy also got to stretch out and move, when we put him on the carpeted floor.

Then I remember that I had to go try to move Barbara and Emmy closer to us, as they were seated a long way away. I was told they couldn't do anything at that time, but would try. It wasn't long after that boarding started, and in our case pre-boarding. We were told we could not go all the way to the plane with the stroller, but had to take it apart right there and then. So the babies had to get back out, and Daddy had to take it apart again. Tammy jumped onto the car seat as she likes doing, rocking in there, and then she fell forward when she had rocked it too hard and started crying. She had a bloody nose! I comforted her, holding both her and Sammy, while Emmy was watching the luggage and Randy and Barbara putting the three parts to the stroller into plastic bags, which they then tagged. It was a long way to the plane, but first we had to wait as we could not get on yet. We waited for a while, and then they let us go down the walkway, and we waited again to get onto the plane. There was a metal fence that moved and made sounds, which they enjoyed, while we were waiting. They also enjoyed all the babies around them. After a long time of waiting, we could finally walk on. Randy had all our 4 pieces of luggage, so I carried both Tammy and Sammy, which was a little challenging with the aisles being so narrow, and Tammy so heavy. Carrying her a long time is getting hard when I can't make any adjustments.

We got to our seats in row 30, and I was positively surprised that we were all three next to each other! We couldn't have 4 people in 2 seats on the small plane, but 6 people in 3 seats were okay! Praise God!

By now it was 11 am, and they were really tired, having gotten up so early and still not had a nap. We were among the first to get onto the plane, and then there was a half hour delay, so we were on that plane for a long time before we finally took off. They were so cranky, and after we had finally put ALL the luggage on top (as we were in the first row of the section) and settled in, after some crying and complaining, all three fell asleep on us. Sammy is the one who slept the shortest, as you can see on the picture the flight attendant took for me.

For take-off, they had to be strapped in and facing forward, so all three were awake by then. After we were in the air, it was high time for their lunch. We gave their jars to the flight attendant who warmed it up, and then fed them. Tammy and Emmy ate everything, and then the other half of Sammy's jar that he didn't want. The flight attendant mounted the baby bed onto the wall in front of us - just one this time, as it's a smaller plane, but when we tried to put Sammy in there, who is 70 cm long, he was too long to go in there, even though it's up to 13 kilos and he only weighs 7. So it ended up being a place for trash and other stuff we needed to put down.

The flight was 5 hours long, and it sure seemed REALLY long. At one point they were all sleeping for a while, thank God. I was also glad that Emmy fell asleep on Barbara, and Sammy has hard time sleeping on us, but he did sleep on Daddy for a short while. When they brought our food, it was the next challenge, how to eat it. Randy and Barbara were eating, and after Randy was done, he started taking them one by one to the restroom to change them, and that gave me some space to eat. It was nothing like what it used to be before Corona anyway, no more menus or menu choices, and I didn't care for most of it. Such a shame.

The babies were soon getting cranky again, yawning and rubbing their eyes, and I had Tammy on my left knee and Emmy on my right, with both of them trying to go to sleep, but they keep each other from sleeping when they are this close to each other, and while both were close to falling asleep, it just never happened.

Sometimes I have to stand up with Tammy for her not to cry, and she was screaming really hard every time she was so very tired and just needed to sleep. The more tired she is, the harder she screams, until she falls asleep. One time I was gonna go walk meet people with both of them, to keep them busy and distract them. Tammy would not let me put her down, but Emmy loved walking from row to row meeting everyone. There was a Mom with an older boy than them, sleeping in her arm, and he stroked his head. Suddenly the boy shook and nearly fell to the ground, in his sleep, and it scared Emmy so much, he sat down on the ground crying. Remember, I was trying to distract him from his tiredness! Well, it was over then. I picked him up, and we returned to our seats.

As landing was getting closer, we had to strap them all back onto our laps, facing forward. I had already taken their shirts, socks and winter shoes off and put sandals on them. The pilot said it was 36 degrees Celcius in Bamako. That is 97 F.

We landed half an hour later than scheduled, at 3:30 pm local time, which is an hour earlier than the time zone we came from. We were told to stay seated and get up row by row, practicing social distancing, but none of that was happening. It was challenging getting all our stuff back down, and I had to put Sammy back into the carrier, and carry the girl as well. People were moving really slowly, and my arm was getting pretty sore. I was eager to put our stroller back together right after getting off the plane! In Paris they had told me to just ask them to bring the stroller back up for us, so I asked an employee, a white guy (French?), and a discussion ensued, as I did not want to accept that we were not getting the stroller back. He said it would be coming out with all our luggage. I knew how far it was until then, and all that we had to do before, and I did not think it was possible to do it without the stroller. How in the world...! I was upset.

Here we were, standing in a crowd of people that were barely moving. In January, when they had seen an old couple with three babies, somebody had immediately taken pity on us and led us by all those people, helping and favoring us all the way to the outside. Not today; three adults and older kids. My arm with Tammy was getting pretty soar, so I swapped Tammy for luggage, and Randy took Tammy instead.

We finally reached the first checkpoint where they measured our temperature and asked to see the negative Corona test. It reminded me of the years we had Ebola when they measured everyone's temperature. Even though Ebola is so much more deadly, there were more measures in place now.

On we went, slowly in the crowd, to the next check. Passports and visas. Finally, when they saw three babies, they told us to step aside and wait. Then they checked that we had our yellow fever vaccinations. While we were waiting there, they got to look out onto the tarmac, and the few planes there. It didn't take long before a lady told everyone waiting to follow her. It was everyone who had a visa on paper instead of already in the passport. I told the later we had to take the elevator down, and she said okay. When we got off the elevator, she was nowhere to be seen. Thankfully we have done this before, and a guy pointed us to where we needed to go, the same place we went last time. When we got there, the lady was still nowhere, and somebody told me to just stand in line to see the officer. And in fact, he had our passports and visa copies that the lady had taken with her. It turned out it was the very same guy who processed us last time. When he asked which baby was Samuel, he smiled, and I remembered that that was also his name, as he had told us last time. He took a picture of each one of us, but only the adults had to give them their finger prints. Then he told me to go outside to get the original visas from Paul and bring them back in. I decided to just take Sammy with me, and left the others in the waiting room there. I went all the way outside, where there was again a crowd, looking for Paul, who finally saw me and handed me the visas, and I turned around and went back in, and gave them to the officer. They then put all the visas into our passports, which took a little time again. Finally we were done and able to move on.

We had to go through where other passengers with visas already in their passports got checked and then were in the baggage claim area. If we could only get the stroller quickly now! There were still people everywhere, but so very few porters. There used to be so many who were trying to make money helping you, and I used to have to turn them down over and over again. Today I had to find one and ask him for help. I must have found the right person, as he seemed to be the boss, being very busy and delegating. He got us the stroller first, though he brought an extra piece of somebody else's stroller, and left to get someone who'd collect our 10 suitcases. Randy unpacked the stroller and put it back together. It was badly damaged, really bent, but at least it was still safe to put the girl in there. Still annoying. We put her and Emmy in there right away. They were tired, and pretty quiet by that time, looking at everything going on around them. They were okay being in the stroller, as long as I was moving around with them. We kept waiting, as Barbara's suitcase came out pretty late, but then it was there, and off we went. Unfortunately that's not when it's over. The line at the x-ray machine was really long, as each piece of luggage and carry-on is put through for items you should pay customs on or food items. In January we had just walked out because of having 3 little babies. Not this time, but at least the guy was able to go to another machine with no line. EVERYTHING went through the machine, and then it happened that they marked one suitcase for food. I got pulled aside and a lady asked me what I had in there. I pointed at the three babies and said I had some baby food for them. She started giving me her typical speech. Men in the past have been nice and would just let us guy, especially in a situation like that, but not this lady. She wanted some money before she'd let us go, so I ended up giving her 10 Euros.

Next step, at the door they compare your luggage tags with the luggage to make sure it is your OWN luggage you have, not somebody else's. This has never been an issue before, but today somethings was wrong with some numbers, and both Randy and me had to show our passports. Then we were done and could continue on. We had been at that door for a long time as well.

Now we were out, in the crowd, and it was time to find Paul again. He was so excited to see us all, especially the babies. The porter had doubled, adding another guy to help him push the carts to the car. Paul went off to pay for parking, so I was the one who ended up paying the porter, and this time he was okay with how much I gave him. Our driver and the porter were loading all our luggage on top of the roof of the car. We put the two car seats with Emmy and Tammy on the floor in the back, and sat down on the benches on either side of them. Once Paul was back, and everything was packed and loaded, we finally got on the road. It was hot, and the air was bad, with lots of fumes. There was a lot of traffic, and we were moving slowly for a while, which made the trip a lot longer than what it was when we'd arrive at night. The babies, especially the boys, were getting pretty unhappy. I looked at the clock, and it was already nearly 6 pm, so over 2 hours had passed since we had landed. And that was 7 pm in Austria, and they're usually in bed sleeping by then. Randy took Sammy after a while, and I got Emmy out of the car seat, as he was really unhappy. Once I had him on my arm, he was very happy, especially as he could now see outside, all that was going on. Tammy was happy in her car seat. They got some milk and juice.

As we were approaching where we leave the paved road to go to our base, I was shocked to find out that they had closed the road to the market, which means we now have to take a huge detour to get to our base, and it's all bad roads. We got shaken quite a bit. And the streets around our base were badly damaged this past rainy seasson. Paul had already had two sides fixed, but the street we needed to get to the entrance was pretty bad and we nearly didn't make it. I was so glad when we finally drove through our gate and parked the car! I didn't want the babies to get overwhelmed, as tired as they were already, and asked our Malian kids to take it easy and not all rush them. It was so great to see them all again! They all helped carry our luggage into the house.

Then came the most challenging time of the day, at least for me. We found ourselves alone in the house with 3 babies and clueless how to proceed. Nothing was baby-safe, there was nowhere to set them down. Their bed was a mess and needed to be cleared up and made. And they were tired and hungry. When Paul returned, I asked him to help me with putting the sheet onto their mattress in their huge bed, and then we put it down. I was glad our carpenter-in-training fixed the bed so they could not get out, but was shocked to find loose pieces with nails sticking out, so I removed those.

My cat was so glad to see me again after 10 months. I was holding a tired Emmy, and he got scared when the cat got too close. They'll soon see how friendly she is!

Paul had taken Barbara to her apartment, and we were glad when she returned to help us. I was so very exhausted and tired, I couldn't think straight (kind of like right now) or make decisions. Finally I ended up cutting up a banana, and putting it on a regular plate, and we sat down around that one plate, feeding them bananas, which they love. They were really hungry, so I cut up a second banana, and they ate that one as well.

Then we cleaned them, changed their diapers, put their pj's on, and they went into their one big bed they'd all sleep together in again. I was wondering how that was gonna work again, but tonight they were so tired it was not a problem; I think it's gonna be different on a regular night. They all fell asleep pretty fast, with little fussing, but it's been Emmy again who has woken up repeatedly, standing up and wanting to be comforted. I had to take him out and hold him a few minutes before he let me put him back. And the last time he finally accepted the milk; the girl has not even had milk, and it's 3 am (which is 4 am where we came from).

I was glad when they were in bed and asleep, but oh so tired. I didn't know how to function and how to go on. Randy wanted to go to bed as well, but I knew we couldn't just leave everything sitting there. There were Christmas chocolates that needed the fridge, and we needed to have an area ready for the babies to be in in the morning. So we unpacked all 9 suitcases. And then, while Randy went to bed, I moved furniture around and set up their two houses and tunnels and 200 balls I've been so very excited about. It's a shame I'll be sleeping when they first see it in the morning! I'm not happy with the setup yet, but it'll do for a start. We still have lots of work, baby-proving outlets and drawers etc.

Then Randy went to bed, and I got to work, getting my computer out. I knew it would take me a while, but I also knew I needed to get it done tonight. Now I can barely write any more and my eyes are closing, and I'm glad I got it done and can go to bed now.