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Sunday, July 12, 2009
This is my blogging done in the wee hours of the morning…the night in Johannesburg airport:
The three of us, Michele, me and my husband Dave drove to Newark and met Fred, my son, who drove us to the airport and will keep the car with him in NJ until we return. Check-in was uneventful and we were assured that we could (attempt to) get seats together once we got to Atlanta – that was important to us for the looong trip to Johannesburg. In Atlanta, we realized that Michele’s boarding pass was different – she’d been marked by security! Not sure what that was all about, but she did get her seat assignment - the last seat on the overbooked flight! Thank goodness we were able to sit together for the flight to Johannesburg.
We boarded the plane on time, yet there was a snag in the luggage scanner so they had to check bags manually. We ended up leaving Atlanta 2 hours late which wasn’t a good thing, as there was only a 2 hour layover in Johannesburg…so unless our flight to Maputo was late, too, we were not going to make the flight.
Several hours into our 15 hour fight, Michele’s eye glasses went missing. They’d apparently dropped out of the seat pocket and we couldn’t find them anywhere. That left us uneasy the rest of the flight – knowing she’d need those glasses for our presentation and the work we had ahead of us, let alone to read and watch movies on the flight ahead. We hit severe turbulence for 2+ hours of the trip and sleep didn’t come easy on that flight. Just as we were about to get off the plan the stewardess announced that the glasses were found. There were cheers of delight by Michele & me, while a number of passengers enthusiastically congratulated her on the find. St. Anthony and a few other saints were with us!
We arrived in Johannesburg, South Africa, at 7:10 p.m. on Friday, July 10th.
July 10, Friday
Johannesburg at Night
Our flight to Maputo left at 7:10 p.m., but we missed it! After being assured that we (with our luggage) could be on the next morning’s flight, we decided to stay in the airport to be ready to check-in at the crack of dawn. So, that’s where we are right now (3:35 a.m., Sat., July 11), capturing our overnight-at-the-airport experience. We found an area in the airport with cushioned, albeit uncomfortable chairs – Michele took some lovely photos.
Oh, by-the-way, we ran into Cate McKinney, who works with the CDC in Mozambique, and is the person our AIHA poject manager, Kim Bohince, reports to about our work with ANEMO – an amazing coincidence! She was on our flight from Atlanta and has shared our airport moments. We’ve had some important conversations about Mozambique and are really quite thrilled to have this time together.
Signed, Lori
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