The beginning of a journey

After about 30 hours of traveling, I have finally made it to Cape Town, South Africa!  This was the first time I have ever flown standby so I wasn’t sure exactly when or how I was going to make it over here.  I almost missed my first flight out of mpls because it relatively full and there were 35 people ahead of me in the standby queue.  It came down to me and another guy named Chris who was visiting from Atlanta. He was in the Twin Cities visiting his 14 year old daughter in the hospital who was being treated for a brain tumor on her spinal cord for the third time in her young life.  Three brain tumors, three rounds of chemotherapy, all before she's old enough to drive. Who says there aren’t any heroes in the world anymore?

After changing their mind about five times, the Delta staff finally let us both on the plane at the last minute.  This was a huge blessing because it allowed me to catch my connecting flight in Atlanta instead of spending the night in the airport.  I sat next to an Afrikaner named Nadia on the 15 hour flight from Atlanta to Johannesburg during which time she indulged me in a cultural overview of South Africa.  She was born in Joburg but had spent a significant amount of time traveling in the states which allowed us to discuss the similarities and differences between the two countries and cultures.  Thanks to Hollywood University, I now also know everything there is to understand about apartheid from watching the movie Invictus during the flight.  So I got that going for me, which is nice...

When I got into Joburg, I made my way to the Kalula desk (the local discount airline) but the lady informed me that the plane was currently boarding and it was the last flight out for the rest of the night.  After issuing me a ticket, I ran to check my bag and then hurried through security, only to find the plane was delayed three hours.  It was during this delay that I was reminded of the importance of attitude and perspective.  As I was sitting at the gate reading my book, the hallways began to reverberate with the sounds of singing and laughter.  Apparently we were not the only flight to be delayed and the stranded passengers at the adjacent gate decided to turn an otherwise frustrating situation into a joyful one by forming an impromptu South African glee club in the middle of the terminal complete with harmonies and choreography.  The mood was immediately transformed and you couldn’t help but to be drawn in by their joy and energy.  It was contagious. 

When I finally boarded my plane three hours later, I greeted the flight attendants with a friendly welcome and they immediately informed me that I was the first person they had encountered on the entire flight that was smiling.  My apparent state of bliss was probably more of an induced delirium from traveling for 25+ hours, but I’m beginning to think that life really is 10% circumstance and 90% perspective.  After all, I was sitting in a chair 30,000 feet in the sky.  That's nuts.

We arrived in Cape Town after midnight due to the delay at the previous terminal.  It was too late to catch a bus into town and I was too cheap to pay for a taxi, so I opted to spend a night on a sketchy couch I happened across in a back room of the airport.  Can't beat free, right?  :)  I've found a cheap hostel in the city where I will be staying until I move into the All Nations housing this weekend.

A few cultural observations so far:
- A lot of the older men are rocking impressive mustaches.  They must be Dutch…
- Traffic drives on the left side of the road; this may lead to my untimely demise if I don’t learn to look both ways about 5 times.
- Despite the plethora of problems that plague the country, South Africans are extremely proud of their homeland and love to show it off.

I miss everyone back home but I'm STOKED to start a new chapter in my life and see where this journey leads me!

Blessings,

Kyle