I made it!

I have arrived safely in Jozi.

Currently, I am on South African Airways, by the way, a lovely airline, flying over Dakar, Senegal. It is 2:30 a.m. in South Africa and I expect some nasty jet lag when I arrive.

My flight to NYC was uneventful, and my Joburg (named for Jacqueline Oberg) flight so far has been blissful. A delicious chicken dish that came with egg rice. I would give it a name but I am practicing just eating what is offered and not asking questions! My seat companion is a nice South Afican man from Durban, SA. He is a professor at Ohio University who is taking students over to Botswana to work with HIV/AIDS patients. We talked football for a while and then went our separate ways (he found three empty seats to rest on-I way longingly...).

My first real chuckle just arrived so I thought I'd share it while it was fresh. Having finished watching Benjamin Button, I decided to get the blood pumping in the legs, so I walked the plane. Diversity best describes the travelers. African nuns, college students to Brazilian soccer fans. Best of all, no signs of Jack, Kate or Hurley. Having sufficiently, yet inappropriately, finished stretching my legs, I returned to my seat to find an early birthday present. There, slightly moist, yet partially encrusted on the seat cover, were the remains of someone's after dinner chocolate. I touched it, both out of curiosity and concern, to discover it could easily transfer to the backside of a pair of light khaki, convertible pants. However, because these are one of the only two pair of pants I could fit into my backpack for the next six months, I have yet to do a full examination of my backside as I did not want to ruin my positive spirit. It does make me reflect on some of my packing choices, and really leaves me wishing I had packed a Tide-to-go stick. Not only would it have reminded me of two dear friends - Gail and Zwirko - it would have potentially made my entrance into Africa less noticeable. But, alas, I chose that stupid snake bite kit. I do hope, in the end, to regret that decision until December 10 as it will mean I never was snake food.