...And Suddenly We're in Africa

Post by Libby Koolik

All right, maybe "suddenly" isn't quite the right word.  But almost 36 hours (ignoring the time differences that just leave me utterly confused) after we got on a bus in Cambridge, we walked off a completely different bus at a resort in Port Elizabeth, South Africa.

As someone who would definitely not consider herself a world traveler by any means, I had no idea what it meant to physically travel from one continent to another.  I saw that the itinerary showed we had a couple different flights, but I guess I didn't fully understand what this travel "day" would be like.

Step 1: Waking up on time.
Sam told us we had to arrive at the bus stop by no later than 7:30AM on Friday.  I met up with a couple of my friends from my dorm at about 6:45, so that we could all head over together.  This involved a couple door-to-door visits to find people around 7:05, two or three runs back up to our rooms to get forgotten things, and eventually a nice shuttle ride that got us to the bus at 7:30 exactly.

Step 2: Getting to DC.
The bus took us to the Boston airport, where we ended up being pretty early for our flight.  This worked really nicely because as soon as the bus dropped us off, we were suddenly all starving for breakfast.  A couple groups emerged and went off to find something to eat while we waited to board our first flight! The overall energy level is incredibly low die to the early morning, but we're all super psyched.

Step 3: Waiting through the layover.
Once we arrived at Washington DC, we had a nice whopping five hours to kill.  Fortunately, there was a really nice Chipotle for a delicious lunch and a very comfy bench for a much-needed nap.

Step 4: Riding an airplane for 17-ish hours.
Me before the flight: "Pshhh 17 hours is nothing! I'll totally just sleep it off and I'll be there in no time."
Me during the flight: "IS THIS EVER GOING TO END!!??!"
Long story short, the flight was really long. The in-flight entertainment was incredible, but there's nothing that can make sitting down for 17 hours truly that enjoyable.  Things I enjoyed: sitting with my Terrabuddies, watching movies, learning that I can comfortably sleep if I rest my head on my seat-back tray table, playing Tetris and Trivia against other passengers, and taking a selfie every hour on the hour with Kristina and Joseff (I think she's going to post them!).

Step 5: Getting off that flight to get on another flight!
After the longest flight of all time, this flight was so nice.  It, unfortunately, got delayed about 40 minutes.  However, the flight was only about an hour, so it felt almost instantaneous as compared to the one before.

Step 6: We're Here!!!!!!!!!!!!
We've checked into the resort and we're all ready for our trip to start for real!
Tomorrow the real fun begins.

And even though logically "suddenly" is the wrong word, I just can't stop thinking:
"Wow.  All of a sudden I'm in Africa."