Guess who's back!

Well, folks, after months of preparation, including an incredibly frustrating, down-to-the-wire drama involving my visa and passport, I have made it back to Africa! I'm typing this from the patio of my Cape Town hostel, killing time until check-in this afternoon.

Overall, it was a relatively pleasant journey. I left Austin on Monday evening after a full day of last-minute errands and triple checking every little thing on my pre-departure list. My family saw me off at security and then it was like stepping back into my most basic and truthful self, walking out onto the concourse ready for the adventure that lay ahead.

From Austin I flew to London, about a 9-hour flight. Since I am never able to sleep well the night before international travel and am very capable of sleeping on planes, I managed some decent rest on the trip. I was on an aisle seat with no one sitting next to me, meaning I had some space to get comfortable and relax.

My arrival in Heathrow felt so familiar. I've probably flown through that airport more often than any other, apart from Austin. The flight touched down a little after 9am local time, then deplaning and customs took about an hour. There was, all over the ground, what we in Texas would jump at the chance to call "snow," but that I suspect is just referred to as "frost" or perhaps even "nothing" in the UK. The cold was sharp, but not entirely unpleasant, since I'd been sure to dress strategically. I wasn't as warm as I could have been, but given that I would only be spending 8ish hours in the UK winter before carrying on to a southern hemisphere summer, I did alright. The trick, of course, was to keep moving. Luckily, London is a great city for walking. Another lucky stroke was that my bag was miraculously checked all the way through to Cape Town, meaning I didn't even have to bother thinking about it at Heathrow. I just jumped on the Underground Picadilly line, and headed into the city.

I'd planned to see Westminster Abbey, but unfortunately track maintenance meant the line I needed was closed. So, instead, I began my day in London wandering through the Albert & Victoria Museum, a place I'd somehow never been before. They had a special exhibit of wedding dresses from 1775 to the present day that was pretty interesting, along with an exhibit called "Disobedient Objects" all about the importance and impact of the creativity and objects that springs up from activism and social justice. After the warmth of the museum, I just walked out the main door and picked a direction. I walked down the road a ways and discovered Harrod's and that I was in Knightsbridge. I grabbed a hot chocolate to help stay warm, then jumped back on the Underground headed in the direction of Buckingham Palace. Four and a half years ago, when I first came to South Africa, I flew a similar itinerary and had taken a cat nap in the grass in front of the palace. The ground was wet and cold this time, so I opted not to repeat that bit, but I do love the palace and surrounding parks. I could see Westminster, Big Ben, and the London Eye a little ways off, but knew that with the line closures I'd never be able to walk there and get back to the airport in time. Still, it was a pleasant enough day.

Getting back to Heathrow, I endured the anxiety-producing wait by the screens to find out which gate from which my flight would depart. The gate was a little chaotic and I noticed more infants and young children than I have ever seen on such a flight ever before (a consequence of flying close to the holidays, I suppose). At any rate, everyone made it onto the plane and I found myself in a bulkhead window seat next to a lovely German couple and their 1-year-old-ish son.

This was another smooth flight, full of sleep, and amazingly enough, not full of shrieking children. They cried occasionally, of course, but nothing worthy of losing sleep over. Just before they served breakfast, I woke to  see the first light of the day peeking over the horizon outside my window. At first, I saw nothing but the tops of the clouds, but then they broke so that I could see the ocean and the desert of Namibia below, where I will find myself in a week or so. It was breathtaking. Gradually the desert rolled into rocky mountains, then smaller towns, suburbs, and finally, around 7am local time, we made our descent into the Mother City.

It was at that moment that I think everything FINALLY began to settle in. I'm returning to one of my favorite places on earth and I will be staying for a while. What could be better?

At passport control, I felt another moment of intense relief as I was able to hand over my passport with an approved study permit waiting patiently inside.

Through customs, then onto baggage claim, I was ecstatic to see my bag come down the conveyor belt. (I mean, my bag had to wait in London for 8 hours, too! I don't think it was unreasonable to consider that it might be overlooked). From there, I collected my South African cell phone and sat at a cafe for a bit to set it up. It's a typical brick phone with a keyboard and clicking through to each letter as I input important contacts, etc, was a bit of a nostalgic experience! I caught a cab to my hostel and made friends with Mark, my driver. We chatted about Cape Town's beauty, the holidays, and the importance of making time to enjoy yourself.

Now, I'm thinking about taking a stroll to find some lunch and a place to read my book by the water until I can check in and take a shower! I've got germs of the world crawlin' all over me and I'm not wild about that feeling. Then, I'm thinking maybe a little nap or another walk in preparation for tonight.

Two English ladies I volunteered with at Antelope Park in Zimbabwe four years ago just happen to also be in town for NYE, so we're gonna meet up for dinner, then hit the town and see what we can find! It will be so nice to catch up with friends in such an unexpected visit in such an unexpected place!

Happy New Year, everyone! May 2015 be a wonderful year!

Welcome to my blog!

Welcome to the first post on my blog! I'll use this space to record my experiences over the next four months as I prepare for departure, travel through southern Africa by overland truck, and, most importantly, at my final field placement working with children and adults affected by HIV/AIDS in the Botshabelo Community Development Trust in Magaliesburg, South Africa.

I'll fly out of Austin the week after Christmas, stop over in London, then arrive in Cape Town the morning of New Year's Eve! I'll either find myself a party or ring in the new year old lady style with a summer sunset concert in the Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens, perhaps the single most beautiful place on this entire planet of earth. Regardless, I'll have a few days to revisit my favorite places in Cape Town and you can bet money a good chunk of that will be in the gardens. Maybe a hike on Table Mountain . . . Maybe a day at the beach to enjoy the southern hemisphere's summer . . . Or maybe I'll catch a kombi van out to Hout Bay and Imizamu Yethu to check back in on my old haunts from my volunteer placement four years ago . . . I can't wait!

The next phase of my adventure will be a 25-day overland truck camping safari departing from Cape Town, then traveling through Namibia, Botswana, Zambia, and Zimbabwe, before ending in Johannesburg, back in South Africa. Pieces of the itinerary will take me back to other destinations I've been before, such as Victoria Falls, but a lot of it will be brand new! For this portion of my trip, I may post occasionally, but I will be doing my best to unplug as much as possible so I can relax and enjoy the experience before the beginning of my internship. If nothing else, I may post some highlights and photos after the trip is over . . . We shall see.

Anyway, after the tour ends in Johannesburg, the folks from my placement will pick me up and drive me out to Botshabelo for the start of my internship. If you'd like to learn more about the community and the kind of work I'll be involved with at my placement, you can watch the beautiful and touching full documentary below (or just get a taste with the trailer):

You can also peruse the links I've included at the bottom of the page on the left to connect to Botshabelo's website, the UT School of Social Work's page about international social work, etc. Soon I'll also add a new link to a fundraising page I'm working on to help offset the costs of going abroad for my final field placement.

Until my departure date, I'll be preparing for Christmas with my family and tying up loose ends. Apart from packing and getting my departure packet all organized, the only big stressor left is waiting for my passport to come back in the mail with my visa approval from the South African Embassy. There was a pretty big scare on that point yesterday, but all is well and I'm just keeping my fingers crossed until my passport is back in my hot little hand!

Thanks so much for following my blog and be sure to check in regularly for updates!