Ethiopia Presents: "Lost", Part I

This is a story that deserves to be told in parts. Not only because it
took place over a week, but because we experienced it by getting new
information in small increments during that time.

When J departed Tokyo last Tuesday afternoon, she took Malaysia Airlines
to Kuala Lumpur, had a short layover, and then flew to Dubai, a port
city for the Middle East region. Once she got to Dubai, she had a short
flight on Emirates Airlines to Addis Ababa, arriving Wednesday morning.
When she left Tokyo, with the two layovers, she was happy to hear
Malaysia Airlines could check her luggage all the way through to Addis
Ababa, so she only had her hand luggage--a small travel bag with her
travel documents, wallet, camera, glasses, a book of Sudoku, gum and a
chapstick--for the duration of the trip.
I went to the airport at 11am and waited at the arrivals area, and was
relieved to see her through the doors over by the baggage claim. I
wasn't able to enter through the arrivals doors, so we just waved to
each other and she continued to wait for her luggage...for almost an
hour. Eventually she spoke with a baggage services attendant and had to
help them create a file on their system to locate the "delayed luggage"
(apparently, they don't use the word lost anymore). Finally, she exited
arrivals at 12:20 and we were reunited; although there was some sadness
in the air, I was happy she had arrived safe after her long trip. She
showed me the paper they had given her, a simple handwritten form with a
case number, the date, and the name Zeb scrawled at the bottom, who was
the girl who created the system file. J said said that baggage services
would call us when her suitcase arrived.
However, we were due to hit the road and head south to the city of Awasa
immediately, so after a brief stop at the hotel for her to freshen up,
we stopped at the center and I handed off the luggage papers to our
assistant in Addis Ababa and asked her to let me know if she heard
anything. I had packed a bag for our two days in Awasa, but J only had
her carry on bag. Unhindered, we jumped in the car with Dereje; at least
we had a book of Sudoku and some gum.