My Journey to South Africa

Sorry, everyone! I was just informed that I haven't written for two months! My bad:-(

Well, May 14, 2015, my brothers, Jon and David, left with me for South Africa. I was excited and a little nervous. Ok, ok... A lot nervous. I hate being around a lot of people that I don't know. So being in an airport? Bleh! Anywho, my parents came with us to drop us off at the JFK airport. We got our tickets and checked in our suitcases. That was the easy part.  Yeah. We gave our parents one last hug for two and a half weeks. That was the hard part.

Soon after we got in line for security. No. I don't like going through security. All I could think is, "They're going to find something I'm not supposed to have and I'm going to go to prison or something!" Ok, I know that isn't true, but you know how your mind goes a hundred miles an hour when you're nervous and have butterflies in your stomach, right?

The plan had been Jon goes first, then me, then David, that way if I was pulled aside and patted down, they would know. But David's boots had zippers for easy on and off. And even though it shouldn't have set off the alarm, it did. He was pulled aside after three times of going through the metal detector before they found the boots to be the problem. Making it through, I noticed my bookbag was being gone through by the security guard... I couldn't figure out what was wrong!

The lady turned around. "Miss," she asked, "Is this your bag?" I nodded the affirmative. She proceeded to pull out David's peanut butter and jelly. "You may not take these on the plane unless they are in the correct amount bottles." Apparently, South African Airlines had different rules than JFK! I said, "Ok," and took my bookbag from her. The pb&j were thrown out. I turned to David and have him a sad smile. He was a Champ, though. He acted like it was no problem and everything in life was grand.

Ok. Can I just say right now that I love David? I mean, he gave up quite a bit of food and didn't act like it bothered him. He also always looked out for me. He was amazing! Not to mention he gave me a really, really good shoulder massage...

Jon is also an amazing guy! He kept my "coming home" papers with him at all times to make sure I was able to come home in case we left late. He also navigated the airport, kept an eye out for me and Dave, and always knew what to do. Such a good big brother!

Well, we found our place and sat for two hours... So. Much. Fun. (I'm saying that with as much sarcasm as possible.) Thankfully, we got on the plane ok, and then we were off for S. Africa!!!!!!

More information coming soon!