This is an overview of the trip to South Africa. It began by mom and dad driving me to O’Hare around 12:30 p.m. on Monday and leaving me there at a little past 3. It wasn’t the most conversational ride down but there was an odd, yet satisfying, peace to everyone. That was definitely good. I’m not one, and wasn’t wanting to go there, for teary goodbyes. Thank you God.
I checked into Lufthansa and went through security, turning back was the last real-life glimpse of Ryan and Claudia Wilson for a while. I meandered my way down to the gate and found Diana standing there. Great to see her, utter elation. Then whilst we were waiting for Tara and Neysia to arrive, Tara came up behind us and surprised us. From there we waited roughly 7 hours for our flight to Franfurt and left around 10 p.m. I slept for most of the trip but traveling with the girls was comforting.
We arrived in Germany at approximately 1:30 p.m. in their respective time zone. We spent about an hour or two looking for Victor and gave up at the gate for departure. While I was asleep Vic showed up on his own, a mere 5 hours later. So we all were united (minus Mike) in Germany. 11 hours later we hopped on a plane and headed for the blessed Republic of South Africa. At 10:30 a.m. we got off the plane in Johannesburg. What a sweet feeling. Knowing we’re in Africa and only hours away from where we’re going to be living. Turns out we missed our original flight due to the delays and customs, security, but mostly the boarding pass acquisition turned out to be a smooth rock. In the way but not to obtrusive. The South African Airways flight 417 was delayed and we didn’t wind up leaving until about 6 p.m. Logan, Carolyne, Joey, Lindsey, Johnathan, Liz, Verni and company were all waiting for us at the PE airport. To see them smiling and waving really made arriving in Africa feel like home. The expectant cheers and encouragements made it seem as if we were coming home after a long holiday. Welcome to Africa...
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