Arrived in Cape Town!

I'm here. It's dark. It's cold. It's raining...BUT I'M IN AFRICA!!

I wrote this blog when I was on the plane from Amsterdam to Cape Town. Talk to you all soon!!!


Wednesday, June 24, 2009 5:41 pm somewhere over Africa
And thus it begins...here I am sitting on my flight to Cape Town from Amsterdam. Only 3 more hours to go in the air...thank goodness!! Mom dropped me off at the Detroit airport around 2pm yesterday...and we had a bit of an ordeal checking in. The lady at the desk could hardly speak English and when my bag was 2lbs over limit she wanted me to fill up another one. Then the check-in wouldn't read my passport...and it was just a big cluster, but I managed to get through it and only had to take out some granola bars to stash in my carry-on. I said good bye to my mom (thanks for the awesome card, mom!) and made my way through security. No problems there. Then I began pacing the McNamara terminal. With the forthcoming 19 hrs on the flight, the LAST thing I was going to do was sit down in the airport. I think I went back and forth at least 3 times...which was a good walk! I got to the gate and they started boarding REALLY early. Only then did I realize that I was at the wrong gate for the flight to Amsterdam that was leaving an hour and a half before mine. Thankfully I realized it before I went to board! I finally found the right gate and met up with my new Wisconsin friends, John and Elayna. Elayna and I became faceboook friends, so we've been talking about the trip for weeks now via the internet. We finally boarded our flight and we were off!
These long flights are BRUTAL. My add is seriously kicking in. I've tried watching movies only to doze off and then wake up in a contorted position. I did manage to make it through The Reader and I enjoyed that very much. The first flight to Amsterdam went pretty well. I managed to change my seat to an aisle at the last minute, and luck have it, I ended up sitting next to another person from my program – John – from Wisconsin. We talked a lot about the trip and shared our love for cheesy 80's music. I managed to get about 1-2 hours of sleep on that flight. Once I finally fell asleep (around midnight our time), they turned on the lights and served us breakfast as we were preparing to land. After finally getting off the plane, we ventured to our gate and met some of the group. I am really excited for the group – everyone seems very friendly and excited. The group is primarily females (probably 65% or so) and there is a range of ages, but most of us are late 20s – 30s. I can't wait to get to know these fascinating people!
The best part of the flight was when we boarded our 11.5 hr flight to Cape Town to find a practically empty plane. We were able to move seats and I have an entire row of three just for myself. It is probably the best gift I've ever got from an airline! Thank you to everyone out there who decided NOT to fly Amsterdam – Capetown on Wednesday June 24! I was finally able to get some good sleep all sprawled out on my seats. I actually slept for 4 hours straight! Hopefully this will help with the jetlag. We land in Cape Town at 9pm and then have to go through customs and catch the bus to our hotel (about a 40 minute ride). By the time we check into the hotel, I hope that I'll be able to sleep because we have an early morning tomorrow heading to the university for a full day of orientation...
I still can't believe I'm almost in AFRICA!!!! Later, kids! :)