Faith Goes to South Africa...and London...and Chicago...

Most of you probably heard what happened on my way to South Africa so I will give a Faith-style brief recap (that means not brief and wordy for those of you who just tuned in).

In Philadelphia my plane to D.C. was delayed and would cause me to miss my connection to Joburg so my arrangements were changed to Philly, Chi-town, London, Cape Town. It was the best they could do and my layover in London was 9 hours. I told the woman who did it for me that it was ok because I figured what the hay, I've never been to the UK.

I had no trouble getting to Chicago and waving at the huge 25 years of Oprah signs that greeted me. (Aside: I felt technologically deficient on this flight because while I was reading my paperback book, the old man next to me was on his smartphone reading a book from some app, the old lady next to him was reading a book on her kindle, and the old guy across the aisle next to her was on his laptop.)

The flight from Chicago to London was fine. The seat next to me was open so I could stretch for a bit. There were two screaming infants and a toddler behind me that made noise now and again, but it was tolerable. I also finally got a chance to watch The Social Network. (Nice recommendation Tia A- I did enjoy it)

London was greeaaaaaat. I had no problems at all and I admit that I was a bit nervous. Everyone I encountered in London that seemed to be from the area was very helpful. I had an informative and freezing bus tour of the city and then made my way back to the airport via train. When I got to the airport, I immediately went to the check-in line and was stopped before I got to the counter because my flight had been cancelled. They scheduled me for the next flight to Joburg and then from Joburg to Cape Town.

Heathrow to Johannesburg was a long flight. It was full of turbulence so I did not get much rest and just me and the woman next to me had faulty entertainment systems. They offered for us to change seats, but only middle seats were available and I prefer to have a window to lean on so I just read and tried to sleep. MY BAGS WERE THERE!!! I couldn't believe it! I had to re-check them to Cape Town.

Finally my last flight was from Joburg to Cape Town. That was a short flight and I slept for most of it and skipped lunch. I picked up my bags and met Patricia. Everything turned out ok in the end. I think the trip was 44 hours with a 2 hour flight, a 7 hour flight, an 11 hour flight, and another 2 hour flight. About half and half waiting time and flight time give or take a few minutes.

Strand has been great. I have just rested and walked around in the area and become reacquainted with the suroundings of the flat. I went to Cheetah for a few hours this morning and had a nice visit with the people I met last year. I didn't really bother meeting with the animals since I will see them in a couple months and I would have needed someone to go in the enclosures with me because I need to redo my clearance.

Tomorrow I will go to the airport and head to East London to meet up with PSU.

It will probably be another week before I post again due to internet availability issues.