Catherine, you were right. If anyone can blog from South Africa, it's me. Here is my first travel journal update.
My trip to Johannesburg was full of twists and surprises. When I checked in at Dulles Airport, I learned that I would no longer be flying through Barcelona. Instead, they routed me through Madrid, where I would have a 15-hour layover. Joy. The first thing I did was call around until I got in touch with someone from Jubilate who could contact Christa and let her know that I wouldn't be able to meet up with her on Saturday. Unfortunately, I just learned that Derek failed me and never e-mailed Christa or found someone who could. Derek, I will never forgive you for this! [shakes fist in the air]
I ate one last dinner with my parents (homemade dumplings, mmm!), and then I went through security to wait for my boarding call. Just as I was about to get on the plane, I looked up and saw Matt. Apparently we were on the same flight, and neither of us even knew that the other person was going to Madrid (granted, I didn't even know that I was going until an hour earlier). We tried to sit next to each other on the plane, but the lady next to me was traveling with a large group, and the guy next to Matt was a jerk. He refused to switch with me even though he was traveling alone, and according to Matt, he was reading some book titled How to Live Life with Pleasure. I'm sorry, but only a jerk would read a self-help book with that name.
The flight to Madrid was otherwise pretty uneventful. I sat next to Judy, a semi-retired teacher who still substitutes from time to time. The flight itself was kind of bumpy; in fact, it was the bumpiest plane ride I've ever been on. Iberia more than made up for this by serving us glorious, glorious food. Some of the best airline food I can remember having, actually. They brought dinner around at 10:30pm (my second one, of course), and they also provided us with breakfast before we landed. Om nom nom!
I met up with Matt at customs, and we were greeted at the airport exit by his brother, Andrew, and his friend, Trey. Andrew reminds me a lot of Matt, albeit a little bit nicer, better at Spanish, and less grumpy (Matt, if you're reading this, I like you a lot, but I'm sorry, it's true). They were planning on renting a car anyway, so I hung out with them all day. Thank goodness I ran into Matt, because there was no way I could have survived 15 hours in the Madrid airport by myself. We visited the Royal Palace of La Granja de San Ildefonso, a quaint meadow nearby with lots of horses, and the historic town of Segovia (pictures to come, of course). At the end of the day, I took one of the fast-speed trains back into Madrid and hopped on the subway back to the airport.
My second flight was not as pleasant as my first one, mostly because it was my second red-eye in a row, and I was exhausted from my day in Madrid. I met a few members of the South African Special Olympics women's basketball team, which was pretty cool. I also had an empty seat next to me, which allowed me to spread out a little, and a Tom Selleck look-alike sitting two seats away from me. Unfortunately, there was a baby traveling in the seat across the aisle from me. He was very cute, but his incessant crying was not. Suffice it to say that I did not get a lot of sleep last night, either.
But here I am in Johannesburg, sitting at a computer at Door of Hope, where Russell works. Here's to an exciting six and a half weeks ahead!
No comments:
Post a Comment