Alexander and the TV with no Sound 

The beginning

I’ve made it about my South African jumbo jet, seat 63K. In my seat I was greeted with headphones, a pillow, blanket, and a small pack that contained an eye mask, toothbrush with tooth paste, and a wash cloth-this was a nice touch. 

The man that I mentioned earlier, his name is Alexander, he’s a businessman and for the past 13 years he’s lived in Johannesburg, or JoBurg as he calls it. He met his South African wife in the States, she was there for only 12 years, but when she told him that she wanted to move back home to her country he did just that. 😊 this made my heart smile and from the endearment in his voice I could tell that he did not have one regret, he truly loves her. Once a year he travels back to the States to see his mother who lives in Florida, a sister who lives in New York, and some other family and friends who reside in  the Washington DC area, he is 1 of 5 children. During his time in the States he makes sure to get his wife’s and 10 year old daughters favorite goodies-peppermint patties, watermelon flavored gum, and goridella chocolate. He has a government job, I’m not exactly sure what he does, but from the places that he has apartments and vacation properties he seems well off.

Since Alexander has been in JoBurg for the past 13 years he has been quite informative. He’s not too sure of the rural area in which I will be traveling but he gotten me up to speed on some cultural norms, certain sayings such as the boot (not the trunk), rubbish (not trash), petrol (not gas), he’s also told me that many people in the county oversay the words ‘shame’ and ‘stunning’, so once I return and this is apart of my daily language you know why haha. There are 11 languages spoken in the part of South Africa of which I will be traveling, the top two being isiZulu and Afrikaans, among those are some clicking dialects. I’ve been assured that the natives are amazing people and that the country is much like the States, just beautiful.

5 hours in…

I had my first inflight meal, I ordered Kosher. I must say it was actually delicious. I’m doing my best to stay fed and hydrated so that the jet lag will not wear me out too bad. I have a TV right in front of me, it has movies, games, music, a camera to see the plane, and even some flight information, but unfortunately my sound doesn’t work….by the end of this plane ride I’ll be an expert at reading lips.

I’ve only been able to take a 3 to 4 hour nap so far. There’s a mother in the middle row with 3 small children, two boys and a girl. The girl looks to be about 1 almost 2 years old, and I’m sure the boys are 4, they’re twins. They’re of middle Eastern decent and absolutely adorable. Mom seems extremely stressed out but she’s handling this travel thing like a pro, she’s come prepared with food, blow up seat beds for the children, and snacks to keep them happy. Baby girl cries it seems every 30 mins and one of the twins has a pretty nasty cough. I prayed for her, cause I know that it isn’t easy. I only have to worry about myself and traveling has been a little stressful for me!.

Unfortunately my plane doesn’t have wifi….. a 14 hour flight doesn’t have wifi!?!? I couldn’t believe it, I was willing to pay for it and everything. At least I have decent legroom, I am able to fully stretch out with enough ease as can be expected. The seats are narrow though, another 2inches around my hips would’ve made this trip miserable. There’s been a lot more turbulence than I have liked, especially since the majority of my flight has been over water thus far. Though at the time of writing, I’m only 4 to 5 hours in, I’d do this again. Even though my final destination is Durban I have to pick up my luggage in Johannesburg, there I have to make it past customs and I assume obtain my visa; from my understanding that’s just a stamp in my passport that’s good for 90 days. I must indicate that I’ll be in the country for Holiday purposes because volunteering is often confused for working, and to avoid confusion I’ll avoid that simple detail like the plague. 

To stretch my legs, I decided on taking a trip to the bathroom to take a couple of selfies lol. It was only enough room to halfway turn around in, so if you suffer from claustrophobia I would suggest you avoid all liquids possible. 

9 Hours in…

I ended up saving a majority of my Kosher meal, so after finishing the dinner/breakfast/lunch whatever you want to call it because of the time change, I decided to take yet another nap. It was exactly 5hrs and 26 mins until arrival when I noticed that baby girl in the middle row had a set of lungs on her. If I wasn’t in the window seat I would’ve offered to hold her myself, but Alexander was sound asleep listening to music, his sound works. There was no comforting baby girl. Mom was sleepy, and brothers were too, she wanted to play, even moms arms wasn’t comforting to her. She’s a beautiful little girl, she’s wearing pigtails and a rainbow colored tutu. 

The time change is a bit confusing and I’m sure I’m going to be completely backwards once I land, My Forever tried to explain it to me. It’s as if I’m going forward in time. It’s like the plane has run away from the sun only to meet it again. It’s 7:43am Virginia time at the time of writing and I’m expected to arrive in Johannesburg at 7:56am their time, which is in only 5hrs and 12 mins.

Since it’s dark outside and my TV has no sound,  I’ve been watching the flight map. Though I was extremely annoyed at first, I’m happy the pigtailed rainbow tutu woke me up in time to see Ghana placed on the map; I immediately thought of my favorite roommate in college 😊 thanks Michelle for keeping me hip lol. 

The Final hours

I woke up to the final hours 1hr and 36mins until my arrival. I woke up to a beautiful view of African skies sitting high above the clouds. My plane is currently over Namibia, so far I’ve traveled 7,319 miles. I woke up with an aching big toe, stiff lower back, greasy face, ashy elbows, and nose full of boogers lol-the air on the plane is a bit dry. No longer than 5mins after I wake up the flight attendant dressed in royal blue proudly displaying a scarf designed with the South African flag, brings me my breakfast, surprisingly I’m actually starving! My Forever would be extremely proud of me for eating breakfast. As soon as my food is all opened and I’m ready to dig in, the captain of this sky ship greets us all with a good morning and well wishes. During my breakfast I look over at the rainbow tutu to notice she seems extremely unhappy to still be on the plane. I open my window just a little higher so that she too, could enjoy this marvelous view. Since I ordered a Kosher dinner I was also given a Kosher breakfast, though my breakfast is delicious, I wish I would’ve gotten the French toast option haha.

Since the sun is now up, I switch the view on my television to the plane!s taxi camera and it’s exactly as My Forever explained it would be, we are meeting the sun face to face again.

It’s 11:49pm in Virginia at the time writing and I’m still in the sky. I’ve had Morning twice in less than 24 hrs. And if you’re wondering, yes I miss home! 

In less than an hour I’ll be stepping foot into foreign soil and making my way through customs, it’s safe to say that I’m not in Virginia anymore. Hopefully the hustle and bustle of customs won’t give me too much trouble. I already have a bit of a headache, I’m thinking it’s from this filtered air. Thank you Emily for my Advil!

Landing

Freshening up in a plane was probably the hardest thing I’ve ever had to do, but it got done. I am overly excited at my first view of the motherland. I see green grass dusted with purple flowers, red dirt, many houses, and highways that look just like ours. There aren’t many trees where I’m looking, mostly flat land. The captain of this sky ship has taken a few very sharp turns which has me a bit nervous. Where I’m at has very big houses. Man this country is breathtakingly beautiful. And just like that I’ve landed, and to my surprise after the turns and all the turbulence during the night, the captain nailed it, my landing was smoothe. I’ve arrived safely to Johannesburg, the skies are clear, the sun is bright, and I’ve even managed a picture with Alexander.

Soft music is playing and the pigtailed rainbow tutu is crying because she’s been woken from her 20th nap, I understand baby girl, I understand. I look around at the many faces around me. We’re all tired but there’s many smiles too, we all look like yesterday but that’s okay, we’re safe.

(Customs)

(The above pictured is Kaitlyn and I making our way through customs)

Now time to find Barbara! 

(Barbara, Kaitlyn, me)