planes, curry, and automobiles
[This background info is a bit dull... but hang in there]
So it’s been a week since my departure… and a crazy week it was. It has been a week of many extremes—more than I’ve ever come across in my lifetime. For example, this was my first time flying solo, in a literal sense… I had flown back from Australia by myself, but this was my first time going overseas on my own. (Not to mention, South Africa is very, very far!) The first 8-hour flight to London was not so bad; however it was an international experience right from the beginning, as I flew “Air India” out of Chicago. The flight attendants wore their traditional Saris, and I was served extremely spicy curry… which made me a bit nervous, seeing as how I was stuck on an airplane. Luckily, I had yogurt with it to calm things down a bit. :O) Despite the two babies that were crying in front of me the whole time, I was able to get a little sleep.
Things got a little crazy once I arrived in London. I thought I’d have enough time on my layover to venture into the city, so I stood in the line for immigration. I had just gotten my stamp when the officer asked what day I would be leaving. When I told him I would be leaving in about 7 hours, he said, “Oh noooo, you don’t have time for that… Just go on to your terminal and have a bit of a sandwich.” A sandwich?! That hardly compares to the sights of London, but okaaaaaaay…. I then went back to “flight connections” which had previously had no line at all, and now was about a quarter mile long. No joke. After standing in line with my heavy carry-on bag for about 2 hours, security personnel told me that I could not have both a purse AND a bag… well, let’s just say that things got pretty crazy after that… it involves a custodian sitting on my backpack, losing something very important, stuffing and emptying my bag about 5 times, getting in trouble for filling my water bottle up at the airport water fountain (when I thought I was going into London), smuggling a bag of items I had meant to stick in my suitcase, and sweet talking about 6 security guards.) ugh! It was harder to get into the shopping area than it was to get on the plane OR into the country!!! By the time I made it into the terminal, I was exhausted and literally had to fight falling asleep. Although, there were a million little shops to keep me distracted.
The next plane was much newer, and much smaller. My legs were literally pinned between mine and the seat in front of me…. For all 11 hours. I thought I would be clever: by ordering the vegetarian meal, I would be served first. You’ll never guess what they were serving for the veggie dish: MORE SPICY CURRY! With the tight space, I did not sleep a wink. It was horrible. Due to my sleep loss, I began getting very very sick, and then I couldn’t eat the rest of the time. The only good thing about this flight was meeting Jo. Jo is a very sweet young woman who lives in Joburg. She is a speech therapist and often works in the HIV unit of Johannesburg General Hospital… She had also spent a year working with patients in a tribal village near Swaziland. My conversations with her were more enlightening than any materials I’ve read or movies I’ve seen. She gave me her contact info, and I felt much better knowing at least one Joburg-ian.
I was so sick when I arrived. After surviving the horrible customs line and gathering YES BOTH of my bags!!... I was very excited to see a sign, reading “Stacy Beery—Sparrow Village” Johnny was unable to greet me at the airport due to a lack of transportation. (For those of you who don’t know, Johnny Wakefield is a friend I graduated with. He was the one who told me about Sparrow’s Nest, because he is working at the Nazarene headquarters in Joburg and had volunteered at Sparrow.) Pauline, my dome-mate, was the one holding the sign. Just getting out of the airport was pretty difficult.. the driving is crazy here. Of course, everything is opposite and manual… So I cannot drive. Pauline has been here several times before, and is pretty high up on the chain of command. As we drove to Sparrow, I was amazed at the sights I saw: beautiful homes, shopping centers, a big city skyline. This is just scratching the surface of the great “extremes” I spoke of earlier, but we will have to save the rest for later.
So it’s been a week since my departure… and a crazy week it was. It has been a week of many extremes—more than I’ve ever come across in my lifetime. For example, this was my first time flying solo, in a literal sense… I had flown back from Australia by myself, but this was my first time going overseas on my own. (Not to mention, South Africa is very, very far!) The first 8-hour flight to London was not so bad; however it was an international experience right from the beginning, as I flew “Air India” out of Chicago. The flight attendants wore their traditional Saris, and I was served extremely spicy curry… which made me a bit nervous, seeing as how I was stuck on an airplane. Luckily, I had yogurt with it to calm things down a bit. :O) Despite the two babies that were crying in front of me the whole time, I was able to get a little sleep.
Things got a little crazy once I arrived in London. I thought I’d have enough time on my layover to venture into the city, so I stood in the line for immigration. I had just gotten my stamp when the officer asked what day I would be leaving. When I told him I would be leaving in about 7 hours, he said, “Oh noooo, you don’t have time for that… Just go on to your terminal and have a bit of a sandwich.” A sandwich?! That hardly compares to the sights of London, but okaaaaaaay…. I then went back to “flight connections” which had previously had no line at all, and now was about a quarter mile long. No joke. After standing in line with my heavy carry-on bag for about 2 hours, security personnel told me that I could not have both a purse AND a bag… well, let’s just say that things got pretty crazy after that… it involves a custodian sitting on my backpack, losing something very important, stuffing and emptying my bag about 5 times, getting in trouble for filling my water bottle up at the airport water fountain (when I thought I was going into London), smuggling a bag of items I had meant to stick in my suitcase, and sweet talking about 6 security guards.) ugh! It was harder to get into the shopping area than it was to get on the plane OR into the country!!! By the time I made it into the terminal, I was exhausted and literally had to fight falling asleep. Although, there were a million little shops to keep me distracted.
The next plane was much newer, and much smaller. My legs were literally pinned between mine and the seat in front of me…. For all 11 hours. I thought I would be clever: by ordering the vegetarian meal, I would be served first. You’ll never guess what they were serving for the veggie dish: MORE SPICY CURRY! With the tight space, I did not sleep a wink. It was horrible. Due to my sleep loss, I began getting very very sick, and then I couldn’t eat the rest of the time. The only good thing about this flight was meeting Jo. Jo is a very sweet young woman who lives in Joburg. She is a speech therapist and often works in the HIV unit of Johannesburg General Hospital… She had also spent a year working with patients in a tribal village near Swaziland. My conversations with her were more enlightening than any materials I’ve read or movies I’ve seen. She gave me her contact info, and I felt much better knowing at least one Joburg-ian.
I was so sick when I arrived. After surviving the horrible customs line and gathering YES BOTH of my bags!!... I was very excited to see a sign, reading “Stacy Beery—Sparrow Village” Johnny was unable to greet me at the airport due to a lack of transportation. (For those of you who don’t know, Johnny Wakefield is a friend I graduated with. He was the one who told me about Sparrow’s Nest, because he is working at the Nazarene headquarters in Joburg and had volunteered at Sparrow.) Pauline, my dome-mate, was the one holding the sign. Just getting out of the airport was pretty difficult.. the driving is crazy here. Of course, everything is opposite and manual… So I cannot drive. Pauline has been here several times before, and is pretty high up on the chain of command. As we drove to Sparrow, I was amazed at the sights I saw: beautiful homes, shopping centers, a big city skyline. This is just scratching the surface of the great “extremes” I spoke of earlier, but we will have to save the rest for later.
posted by Stacy at 5:45 AM
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