in the motherland

I'll try to keep this short and sweet, cuz i'm tired.

well i finally made it in with few thrills and shrills. this place is simply and absolutely beautiful; a good mix of african culture and european life. everything seemed to go by so quickly. i had a 5 hour layover in washington dulles airport and was dreading that, but after talking to some people on the phone, reminiscing on good old times and how much i'll miss the US, it was already time to board the flight to SA.

the flight was OK. i sat next to a ghanian-american woman coming to see her son, his wife and kids. she was very lovely and kind of reminded me of my mom (actually she called me her son at the end of the flight). also, south african airlines, in addition to the 3 channeld of bollywood movies, a lovely/free packet of extra socks, toothpaste, and toothbrush, made a conscious effort to bring you food/drink almost every hour on this 14+ hour flight, it seemed. I was so full by the end of the flight, and im not that big on airplane food so i tried to be careful.

customs was easy and after over-hearing a convo on how horrible johannesburg airport was, i tried to be a little more cautious. i gotta say, if south africans think this is terrible, they should pay a visit to the Nigerian airport in lagos. the airport experience was not a big deal (no one trying to jack my stuff (well maybe they tried but didnt succeed), no security guards asking what you brought home for momma/daddy (i.e. bribe), no nothing). my driver showed up after about 7minutes and we were off. nice guy. funny: i got in the car getting ready for a new experience in a new place, he turns on his radio and the first 2 songs i hear are chris brown's latest and a remake of one of N Sync's songs. sweet.

hotel is even nicer than i thought. i asked the front desk guys loads of questions and told them i'd have more later. i do. i'm not really too hungry right now (tho i've already had a taste of one of the sa beers, castle, and it was delicious), but its 8PM now and i realized i haven't really slept in a long time, so i'm gonna grab light dinner and head to my room. i don't expect much craziness to be happening in the next few days, but i'll let you know if anything comes up.

i simply can't thank God enough for how seemless and peaceful the whole travel experience was. Even tho i had to drop some clothes off at the stl airport cuz my bag was too full, all-in-all i've never had an international trip go this well. I guess i can also give a plug to accenture for the preparation work on their part. anyway, i'm here, im good, and im ready for whatever is next--possibly fighting off some lions...stay tuned.