Welcome to South Africa: Pains and Planes

Greetings from the Oriel House lounge! – the temporary residence for the internationals during orientation week. This is the first afternoon I’ve had free to collect my scattered thoughts (and my first full day with internet - Holla!) Officially I have been in South Africa for 3 full days.

Caitie [my sweet beautiful travel companion (also from Washington College)] and I successfully arrived at Rhodes the afternoon of Sunday July 14^th. We said goodbye to family, awkwardly checked grossly overweight luggage (mine not Caitie’s), stumbled through security, and flew out of Philadelphia airport at 11 PM Friday July 12^th (The flight was delayed from its original departure time of 10 PM due to FIRES AT HEATHROW AIRPORT?!!? <<< An extremely comforting tidbit of information to receive after boarding the plane.) I had my first experience with the full body scanner and felt surprisingly less violated than I would have expected.

We landed in London around 11 AM the next morning, which, with the time difference, made it about a 6maybe7 hour flight. Inflight movie of choice: Forgetting Sarah Marshall. (Place Want-To-Go-There pin in Hawaii……now)

Not having sat next to each other on the plane, Caitie and I did not reunite until after disembarking straight onto the tarmac (#celebritystatus) and going through security again (#loljkjustlikeeveryoneelsestatus).

We then proceeded to settle in for a 9 hour layover in the famed Heathrow Airport. We sat in a boardwalk-like eating area behind a French bistro called Pret, twiddling our thumbs and waiting for our ears to pop. Given more time we would have liked to take a VERY brief field trip into London.
                Sorry London, maybe next time.

The wait was semi uneventful apart from all the designer outlets in the terminal (many perfume samples were tested) and the Ben Affleck look-alike seated a few feet away from us. Mostly we tried to stay awake and figure out where we were meant board the plane.

At 18:55 (military time is stupid) barely an hour before our departure time the board finally told us we had to board at terminal B33. Of course, this meant we had to hop on the terminal transit to another terminal. We were fine time wise, but the hurry-up-and-wait system of traveling always makes me anxious. I was very glad to have Caitie calm my nerves and together we made it to the terminal in plenty of time.

Travel Tip: Traveling with a buddy is awesome. Granted, many of the internationals made it here by their own means totally en seule but there was never a moment that wasn’t glad to have Caitie with me. I would have been absolutely fine traveling by myself, but Caitie made the whole journey that much more enjoyable. 

Traveling buddies are great for several reasons:

1. Conversation and time killers. Even if you don’t know your companion that well, time flies a bit faster with him/her by your side. 
2. Validation of concerns and questions. No one knows exactly where they are supposed to go when they travel. All airports are different. Questions like “Is this really the way I’m supposed to go? This can’t be right” or “Did we miss a turn somewhere?” are so much better when asked out loud to a buddy. In my experience it’s better to be lost with friend. Without someone there to say “Let’s just keep going” or “I think you’re right” or even “Shit…what do we do now?” uncertainties fester, allowing panic to settle in and <<<< that’s no fun for anyone. 
3. You have someone to watch your luggage when you have to pee. Thanks Caitie J

Next leg of the trip: Heathrow to Johannesburg took about 11 hours, including the one hour time difference. The plane was a three seater, but mercifully I had a window seat again and there was no one between me and the person in the aisle seat.

Travel tip: Window seat pros and cons….Window seats are great for comfort, a bit of privacy, and a good view when taking off and landing. TERRIBLE when you really have to pee and your seat mates are asleep.

It was a long flight, but I was pretty comfortable. I watched Ratatouille and a couple episodes of New Girl and 30 Rock, drank wine and slept.

Travel tip: (This is a twofer. Lucky you) 

1. Alcohol on planes pros and cons… Wine is my example here. You are at a high elevation (ostensibly) so it doesn’t take too much to feel a little more relaxed and sleepy. Great for sleeping. However, you will wake up at 3 AM (no matter the time difference) and then….please see window seat cons ^^^^
2. Long distance relationship ideas. ***Feel free to disregard. All relationships are different*** (My darling, perfect boyfriend will be in the States while I’m at Rhodes. I don’t claim to be any kind of long distance expert. I’m just sharing cute things that work for us.)While in Heathrow airport I had enough WiFi to tell my boyfriend what movies were available on the plane. We agreed to both watch Ratatouille while I was on the plane and pretend we were watching it together. Vomit. I know. Whatever. I miss him. It was awesome.

Before long we landed in Johannesburg. Finally in South Africa!! It was fun to see how the bird’s eye view varied between England and South Africa. South African backyards have a lot of pools and their fields are circular plots(?). They were beautiful and a little eerie. What is M. Night Shamalan (sp?) up to now?

This airport was a little more confusing than Heathrow. We had to get our passports checked right away. Caitie and I were right next to each other as they checked our passports. Caitie went through no problem(show off :P), but the guy looking at my visa had this concerned look on his face and I thought I was going to die. Let me into your country!!! Do you know what I went through to get that visa??

Travel tip: If you even think you might need a visa for a trip you possibly might take ever in the near future (next 10 years) start applying for your visa yesterday.

He just needed to see my itinerary for my return trip. *Exhale**Unclench* My bags came through no problem and Caitie and I awkwardly hobbled through the airport.

Two porters approached us and took our bags out of our hands and started rushing to the British Airways check-in. They were so nice and so funny, and they helped us get our boarding passes in no time at all. But of course all the fun and games ended when they demanded a 50 dollar tip. Luckily we barely had any cash on us. We gave them what we had and awkwardly bid them fair well. Be careful…

After checking bags (a bit of an ordeal but no one cares about my airport frustration so moving on!) Caitie and I searched for cell phones and call plans. We were told there weren’t many retail stores once you passed security, something we would have been sad to find out the hard way. We were successful! And the phones didn’t cost that much. Horaay R8.34=$1.00 exchange rate! They aren’t the prettiest of phones (think about the first cell phone you ever saw circa 2000) but they will get the job done. I have a bit of separation anxiety about leaving my smart phone behind, but between that and the considerable lack of easily accessible and abundant WiFi I’m actually enjoying a bit of a technology cleanse at the moment.

Travel tip: Seriously consider what you can and cannot live without. I brought my favorite shampoo as a way to pamper myself, but a lot of my other indulgences were ultimately excluded from my suitcase. Make a list!

Cell phones (i.e. bricks) in hand, we went through the least thorough security check ever. Our terminal was just on the other side and we settle in those giant egg-shaped swivel chairs (typical of a Super Villain starter kit). You know the ones we all wanted when we were younger (still do). They were so comfy! 

Unbeknownst to us, the chairs were located in a complimentary WiFi, coffee, and dark chocolate hot spot. I wish we had had more time there before boarding the plane. Boy, were we pampered!

The final flight was less glamorous than the two previous, but it was also a shorter distance. Caitie and I actually sat together for this flight which made it easy to commiserate nonverbally about the screaming baby sitting with his mother next to us. What felt like seconds after taking off we were preparing to land again in Port Elizabeth. 

Sorry kids!

 Long post. More to come. 

Thanks for reading :)