Well, I am here.
Yesterday morning I wasn’t so sure I would make it. My first flight from DC to NYC was delayed
three hours, causing me to arrive at JFK airport 27 minutes before my New
York-South Africa flight was scheduled to depart. As per usual with most setbacks, it was
followed by several more challenges.
Apparently if you arrive at JFK on a United domestic
flight you have to exit the airport, take a train to the international
terminal, go back through security, and then attempt to find your gate. So, here’s my abridged play by play: Run from
first plane to tram. Get on tram to international terminal while frantically
looking at my watch. Run to front of
line at security and proceed to beg the security guard to let me cut the line.
He agrees. Get in line to go through the x-ray machine. Couple in front of me decides to take
pictures of one another walking through metal detector. Security tells them to
stop. Couple continues to take
photos. TSA gets mad at couple and tells
them to erase pictures. Couple takes
another picture. TSA shuts down the line. AHHH!Enter Kelly. I turn to the couple and speaking with great enthusiasm say, “Don’t come to the U.S., break the rules and punish the rest of us. If I came to your country (I had seen their passports and knew where they were from) and did something this stupid I would be thrown in jail. Stop it!” Then I gave them the ever-famous “Phelan eyes of shame,” stepped in front of them, told TSA my flight would depart in 14 minutes and being a law abiding citizen I would appreciate it if he could please let me through. And he did! Thank you TSA.
I went through the metal detector without incident,
but apparently there was something they didn’t like in my bag. They asked me how long I had until my plane
departed; I told them 11 minutes, so they waived me through and suggested I run. And that’s just what I did. I’m pretty sure I ran a mile. They had just closed boarding, but
fortunately opened it back up for me. So, I boarded the plane out of breath and
sweating, but I didn’t miss my plane.
Fortunately my 18 hour flight to South Africa was
relatively smooth. I made it through the
Johannesburg airport quickly and made a friend in the passport control line that
I passed the time with during my layover, and then fell asleep the second I sat
on the SA-Gaborone flight, so that flight was over in no time.
The only other hiccup arose while I was standing at
the baggage claim here in Gaborone and realized everyone got their bags, except
me. I told the representative from the
University of Botswana who picked me up.
His response? “Oh they are probably lost. That happens a lot in Africa. You will probably never see those
again.” Great!
In all reality, travel in general tends to be
hectic, and in my experience, it is even more so in Africa. But I arrived safely and that’s what counts. Tomorrow I head to campus, where no doubt the
adventure will continue.
This is by far the most entertaining thing I've read in a while, best part is I can see your gestures and facial expressions as you tell the story! Awesome!
ReplyDeleteI hope they find your luggage soon or this will show us this is how they keep the economy going. Lol justing joking. I can't wait to read more about your trip this is the closest I will ever get.
ReplyDeleteahh! it is the worst when they cannot find your luggage...happy to hear you arrived safetly though!
ReplyDeleteHAHA! Thanks Number Three. Thanks Wanda and Shannon. Fortunately my luggage finally arrived. I just posted about it, "Hopefully your bags won't be completely empty."
ReplyDelete