Just a Highlight to Whet Your Appetite : )

As you've probably figured out by now, we are back from our trip, and we have tons of pictures and stories to tell you all, but since we didn't have the internet access that we had hoped for during the trip, we'll have to post them a little at a time now that we're back home. I had planned to blog a lot during the 1st couple of days we were back, but I didn't anticipate the tremendous jet lag that would hit me those first 2 days. We got back on Saturday around 10am and I went straight to bed, not to get up til 4pm!! But I did still sleep through most of the night as well. Anyway, enough about my sleep habits. I am finally back to normal and getting readjusted to life back here in the cold USA right now.
For some reason, David didn't have as hard a time with jet lag this time, so he has already posted a web album that we put together just to show some highlights of our trip. Since I am not ready yet to begin really posting all the stories and pictures, I'll just leave you with this link for now.

Africa Web Album

Enjoy!

Quick Update - Limited Internet Access

We made it safely to South Africa. The plane trip wasn't too bad even thought it was really long. My family met us at the airport and we headed back to their house. We are staying in a cute little cottage on my uncle and aunt's property in a suburb of Johannesburg. So far we have been shopping a little at the mall and flea market, to church, to the lion park (where we got to pet baby lion cubs and see HUGE lions up close), to Montecasino (like the Venitian in Las Vegas), and into the heart of downtown Johannesburg (which is pretty run down and scary now) and we also went up the tallest building there to get a panoramic view of the whole city. I did get some great pictures, but I don't have time to post them now. We thought we would have more access to the internet, but unfortunately we don't. We are spending 1 more night here in South Africa, then tomorrow we are leaving for Swaziland (where my grandfather just moved to) from there we will take day trips to see some beautiful scenery and natural wonders and take a couple of real safaris. We are really looking forward to it. We've been having a great time so far visiting with family and seeing the sights of this city.
Sorry I don't have more time to write. I do have some great stories to tell and pictures to show, but they will have to wait until later.

The Near Entrapment

This morning my parents, brother, David and I boarded a plane from Greensboro, NC to Washington DC, embarking on our long journey to South Africa. That flight was pretty quick, but with the water I drank earlier plus the juice on the flight, I had to go to the bathroom during the flight just before we landed. The plane we were on was pretty small and the bathroom was the size of a tiny broom closet. The flight attendant gave me the ok to go quickly before we landed, so I stepped in and tried to close the door. It was very hard to get closed, and even harder to open as I would soon find out. After pulling and pushing a while I finally got the door closed, only to find there was no light in there. So I forced the door open again and tried to find a light, but to no avail. I grabbed some tissues and decided that I would just go in the dark after closing the door for the 3rd time. So I finished my business and tried to force the door open again, but it wouldn't budge. So I pulled at the slide lock thinking that maybe it was stuck, but as I was trying to force the knob over to the right to be released, the unthinkable happened. I broke the knob right off the lock and now I was really trapped! I had visions of being thrown around in that tiny space as the plane landed and the airplane attendants having to pry me out with a crow bar while the air got hot and stuffy in the little lavatory. There was really nothing to do but laugh at the seemingly impossible situation that only I would have gotten myself into. But I had to try to be practical and find a way out before we landed. So by the dim light of the "No Smoking" sign I noticed that there was a little hole where the knob had come off, and I thought if I could just find the knob maybe I could stick it in the hole and unlock the door. I fumbled around on the floor in the dark and found the knob. When I put it in the hole I realized that it had merely come unscrewed and I hadn't snapped it off with my brute strength. I screwed it back on, forced the lock open, and with the help of the lady in the last row (who by now had realized I was stuck) finally was released from my temporary prison. I made it back to my seat just minutes before the wheels hit the runway. And boy, was I glad to get off that plane for a 6 hour layover here in DC where I am actually writing this post from my iPhone. - Just another quick plug for how awesome they are :)
In 2 hours we'll be leaving for South Africa so I won't have access to the Internet for a while, but I'll be sure to post an update as often as possible.
Happy New Year, everyone!