being awake right now defies everything jet lag should be doing to me. i have just drank a glass of wine, took a sleeping pill & rearranged my box-filled room. so, the logical thing to do next would be to.. blog!
my flight home was exhausting, to say the least.
i worked on thursday morning & then my principal took over & let me off early for the day so i could go home and pack. i flew home and frantically threw things in a bag, wrapped my sister’s wedding statue (thankfully she doesn’t even read my dang blog so she won’t see this) & was all ready and waiting for my hero molibi to pick me up when…
a) the cat starts limping across the floor. falls down. and won’t get back up again. (i currently owe the vet 600 pula & have been avoiding him)
b) i remember that my ipod has been missing & i still don’t have it now.
solution:
a) molibi, the hero, will take the cat in later. thank goodness.
b) leave with out it (bad idea. worse idea because of airplane situation –> that’s foreshadow right there folks)
so, i get chauffeured to the airport and get on my plane no problemo.
when i get on the plane i flag a stewardess and explain to her my worry about the lack of time between the landing of this flight & the taking off of my next. she looked at me very annoyed and matter-of-factly (aka: snotty) tells me ‘you won’t make it.’ and moved on to the next row. little did she know..
long story short, i flew threw the airport, sweating like a crazy person and landed myself a seat on that plane.
we then proceeded to wait for an hour and a half. (ie: ‘delay’)
when we get in the air the pilot reassures us that he will do his best to arrive on time in washington dc. i secretly sent him the message of ‘pedal to the medal mister’.
we get served dinner at about 9pm (ask me if i’ve eaten that day… answer: nope!) and i’m STARVING. i eat. take a sleeping pill. and run to the bathroom & throw EVERYTHING up. awesome. nothing like feeling like death on a plane. nothing like puking your guts out and then smashing yourself into a cramped seat next to a south african man (seriously) named ‘sunny boy’. oh, and might i mention… on this particular 747 jet, in this particular last section of the plane, in the particular section that i just-so-happened to be sitting in… wire problem with the tv’s.
no. tv. for. 18. hours.
oh, and this is where the no ipod issue should be inserted as well. omg.
luckily i had just borrowed The Book of Negros & i proceeded to read 1/2 of it on that one flight (it’s a pretty biggish book..) . it’s really, really, really, really, really good! i’m looking forward to continuing it!
so, anyways, i get to washington dc and when i see land and paste my face against the window i start cry and it hits me that… i’m home. i’m home.
we rock up to the terminal and the pilot assures us that even though we are still AN HOUR AND A HALF LATE that south african airways will assist us in sorting out any missed flights. they forgot to mention that south african airways does not have an office IN the airport. good one.
i start freaking out (no sleep, no food, ready to go home kind of freaking out) and shove my way through security, check and re-check my bags (my statue was looking a-ok!) and SPRINT to the OTHER SIDE OF THE AIRPORT. if you’ve ever been in this airport before i hope you have now gained a whole new respect for me. i was sprinting up stairs with my suitcase, running through hall ways and dodging people left and right.
i made it to the terminal with seconds to spare and mister stone heart stares as me as i say ‘i’m here! i’m here! i made it! i’m going home!!!’
nope.
my flight has left. 26 hours of flying and i’m SOL. (heh)
he let’s me know that i can just hop on the plane at 12:45 (this is 4 hours & 45 minutes later then the current time)
i throw a mini-fit.
doesn’t help.
so, i figure. welp, i’m in america gosh darn it. GET THIS GIRL A BEER!
so i rock up to the bar at 8:30 in the morning and order & pound a miller light. i try to convince the lady to bring me some dang nachos but she keeps telling me it’s breakfast (not in MY internal current clock settings!). so i go next door to the taco place and order. i hug the lady when she hands me my food and tell her how greatful i am for these nachos and that they are the first authentic nachos i’ve had in over a year.
i get online and chat to my friends, get nachos all over my key board and take a pepto.
not as bad as i thought it would be…
then, it’s boarding time! i fly home with a guy chatting my ear off the entire way (annoying) and land, sprint and run into the arms of my family. (alandon is blowing the vuvuzela i got him last year loud enough for the entire airport to hear – which i loved.)
now, i have since had 2 LONG showers, a visit to liz, joel, wes & gwen’s house (yayayayayayayayayayay!), seen some beautiful friends, made breakfast & drank coffee with my mom in the morning, gone to a hockey game, ate pizza & played cards for hours on end with the relatives.
i feel so lucky to be home. it feels exactly the same to me. i feel calm. i feel like i fit. i feel like this is exactly where i want to be right now. i feel overwhelmed by how much stuff is all around me. i feel anxious for molibi to come. i feel different. i feel the same. i feel like i should probably let this sleeping pill kick in and should blog much more tomorrow.
go siame you few blog readers of mine!
it’s good to be home!
