And so the trip begins... As I write this I am sitting on a bar stool in the kitchen of the small cottage on my uncles property that I am sharing with my friend Carlie, who accompanied me and my mom on this trip. Today was our secong full day in South Africa and so far its been very fun. Since I'm a few days behind on my posts, I'll back track a little and start from the airport...
A largely uneventful flight from Charlotte to D.C., except for the fact that I shared the flight with my friend Anna who I ran into at the airport and then realized we were both going to D.C. Whilst she was headed to Rawanda (yikes) Carlie,my mom and I were off to South Africa via the city of Dakar, wich is in Senegal, a west African country.
The flight from Washington to Joburg (with a stop in Dakar) was a wopping 17 1/2 hours, and yes, it was hell. Naturally the flight was late, which as all travlers know is a great way to start a long trip. The flight was cramped, the seats felt like something akin to concrete, screaming babies were present and the food was...well...gross. I avoided all meats with a passion, I swear the smell of it is enough to turn ones stomach.
Dakar was kind of cool, although parts of the city looked like it had been bombed and abondoned (but i don't think either of thoes assesments are correct). It was also pretty dirty, so all in all, a typical African city I suppose.
Arriving in Joburg was nice, although it was at night, so I didnt get the best view of the city. Because the plane was late we ended up missing our connecting flight to Durban, but we were lucky enough to get on the last flight out at 9pm.
And so a short hour long ride later the three of us arrived home! Well, home for me and my mom. It was about 10:30pm when we finally got in the car etc, so the drive back didnt afford me the views I would have liked but eveything did look beautiful in the dark all lit up. Seeing the family was nice, they are as I remember them, and so, funnily enough is everything else. I have managed to amaze myself and my family with my detailed memories of almost everything about Durban. I remember how to get everywhere and which stores etc are where and a multitude of stuff. I was trying to figure out how my memories, which are sometimes 10+ years old are so fresh in my mind when at times I can barley remember grade 9. I think its because as a child I was always unfailingly happy. When you're young you don't know any better, you think: "why shouldn't I be happy?" good question. It seems as you get older you come up with more answers to the question. Anyhow I think because the happiest times of my life were spent in south africa I subconciously fixed all of the memories in my head, I don't want to forget thoes.
Jet lags a bitch, as usual. Hopefully it won't take to long to kick it. I will write more about the past two days in a new entry soon. For now, bed.
