Airplane Choo

May 31
Well, its official… I have jetlag. It’s about 1:30 am in Joburg and 7:30 pm EST and I’ve slept less than four hours, and I’m not tired. Let me tell you about the trip. I woke up at 7:45 Thursday morning and had breakfast with Grandmommy and Ntate Moholo (my mother’s parents) and we finished sticking the last few things I was asked to bring in my roll on. We went by the bank on the way out of town to pick up some traveling cash and some dollars for my parents. My grandparents and I got to the Asheville airport at about 9:45 and I checked in (two hours? Departure time?) I went through security, got a cup of coffee and tried to set up a flight tracker. My first flight was Asheville to Charlotte and we had a mid-sized twin-engine prop plane. That flight lasted a whole twenty minutes. I came into the terminal and saw that I came in right across from the gate my next flight was from. I went and sat at the gate and called several friends to say goodbye. Before I knew it it was time to get on the plane to Washington. This plane was still small, but it was a jet. The lady sitting in front of me was going to Alaska (she had lived there for 18 years) and our one stewardess was from England (just south of London). I was starving by the time we got to Washington, and I had at least a two-hour layover. So… I went to the gate I was going to depart from to SA, and right across the terminal was a Fuddruckers! I had to have a one pounder to tide me over until we ate on the plane (US Airways doesn’t even give out a free snack anymore). But thankfully my puddle jumping flight was with South African Airlines (they have some of the best airplane food I’ve ever tasted). So in DC I ate and read my book, and watched the other passengers. I love watching people, and there’s no place like the airport to watch people interact with others. I listened to a group of hunters talking about their previous hunting trips up to the Arctic Circle killing bear, moose, and caribou. I could tell by the way they were dressed they were going to be met by a wealthy safari company to go hunting zebra and antelope. There was a group of college students from Oklahoma, and at least two groups of mission trips. I liked trying to guess peoples nationality by their dress. I think I was right 90% of the time. We had some Brits, Indians, South Africans, Americans and at least one Frenchman. I’m going to have to finish this when we get to Lesotho. My battery is dying.

The trip went by quite quickly, I watched American Gangster, P.S. I Love You, the Great Debaters, and just for my sister Alifa, Enchanted. SA served us beef roast with mashed potatoes, peas and carrots. Wow it was fantastic. Breakfast was scrambled eggs and fresh fruit. I went through immigration and straight through customs and out into the arrivals area and the wait began. I had no cell phone and I learned about patience... My parents had the wrong arrival time, I arrived early...and I was picked up 2 hours after I arrived. It was a fun experience, one I hadn't had in quite some time. The little kids met us at the baptist guest house, and we went to dinner at a restaurant called mike's kitchen. Then we came back and went to bed... and I started writing this. This morning we packed up the land cruiser and headed south towards Lesotho. We arrived the border around 5pm I got in line for immigration while the rest drove on home. I walked through the South African side and on through the Lesotho side and started walking towards the house. My mom and dad went out on a date tonight while I baby sat the little 4. These are some of the shenanigans we got up to...