I have arrived!

As the first entry of my first blog ever, I am unsure of how to begin this. So I guess I'll just dive right in and say, "So that's what 30 straight hours of traveling feels like." I left our apt in New York around 1 PM on a Wednesday, landed in Atlanta around 6 PM only to board another plane literally 30 minutes later, arrived in Johannesburg around 5 PM on Thursday (Joburg time), then boarded my last plane around 7:15 PM and finally landed in Durban at 9 PM. An hour later, I arrived at the d'Urban Elephant, my home until tomorrow morning when I am shown into my flat.

Obviously alot happened to me in those 30 hours, but the thing, is what to include here? A lot of the mundane things that happen to me either make me smile or make me think or both, and when they do I usually feel the need to share them. Usually my boyfriend is the lucky recipient of those little happenings. But without my ability to instantly text him, he will now be spared the countless number of texts that have required me to have a phone plan with unlimited texting.

Instead, I will barrage this nameless friend called blogger.com with both mundane and not-so-mundane stories. I only say this as a disclaimer. If you are reading this, hoping for only exciting reads....you might be disappointed. I have never been able to keep a journal but this blank writing screen makes me want to give it one more go. So be prepared for both exciting and everyday entries all mixed in the bunch.

The highlights of my 30-hour trip definitely began with a surprise visit in Atlanta by my parents. They were in Gainesville at the time, flew to Atlanta and were waiting at my gate to catch me on my way to my connection. For those of you who know me well, you will be able to predict my reaction: yes, a deluge of tears. It was a wonderful surprise to spend my last 30 minutes in country with them.

The flight itself was not terrible. I mean it was loooooong, yes. BUT! I watched three movies (including that new Babies one, which of course made me happy) and slept off and on for about 8 hours. And the man next to me was very kind, offering me a tissue when I got teary-eyed thinking about having said goodbye to the people I loved. So it was not bad.

On to the two best things about South Africa, at least so far. 1) The free "trolleys" at the airports, by which I mean those little carts you can throw your luggage on. It certainly made it much easier for me to haul my two ~ 70 lb suitcases through customs & immigrations. And for those of you gaping at the fact that I had two suitcases that weighed that much, listen, at least I made it here with only 2 suitcases. Again, if you know me, then you are probably oohing and ahhing at my incredible feat.

But I digress. #2) The friendliness! My goodness people are friendly. Now before you go on to think, "Oh dear, this is just naive, trusting Diana, thinking everyone's a good person," let me say that while I do in fact believe everyone has some good in them (a topic for a different time and probably a different venue), this is different. People are simply very friendly. Take for instance, the female airport employee who saw me struggling to mount the suitcases on said free airport trolley. She just strolled over, grabbed one end of the suitcase and together we managed. Then she smiled and walked away. This happened twice...both were female. Who needs male chivalry when you've got strong women around?

Then there was the cab driver who may or may not have ripped me off on the way to the B&B I checked into last night. (I said friendly, not necessarily 100% trustworthy.) We had a great conversation (or "chat" as everyone says here) where he echoed some of my boyfriend's last minute warnings about watching my drink at bars and not wandering around alone at night and then offered to take me around to used car dealerships to help me find a car. Was he hitting on me? Perhaps, which is why I mentioned the word "boyfriend" a gajillion times until he started saying things like, "I just don't want you to have trouble, you're not from here and you remind me of my little sister." Fine by me if he wanted to offer helpful advice. Fine by me if he wanted to entertain me by saying the word "chillax" every 5 minutes. (Apparently Durban is the ultimate chillax place and he just loves chillaxing. I clearly am also a fan of "chillaxing" in more ways than one.)

The cherry on the top of the Friendly pie though was one of my co-workers and her husband. They picked me up today, took me out to lunch and to a mall, then to a grocery store to buy some "snackies," then it was a quick drive through the city, ending with a short walk on Durban's famous "Golden Mile".... a mile of sandy beaches. Glorious? Yes. Made for Diana? Hell yes. At the end of the short car tour, my co-worker turns to me and goes, "I shall adopt you as a daughter while you're here. I hope that's fine with you. Have a good night lovey."

Between the free trolleys, the miles of beaches and my new adoptive families, how could I possibly not have a good time here?














***Captions seem to not be possible using blogger.com, thus I will always leave the captions at the end:

Picture #1: My first South African purchase at Caffe e Vida, a coffee shop in Joburg: "Chocolate Frio": a blend of ice, milk and 70% Lindt dark chocolate. It came with an extra piece of Lindt chocolate. Mmmm mmm good.

Pictures #2 & 3: The lovely d'Urban Elephant, a bed & breakfast run by the people who will also function as my landlords. (They own the flat I will be renting.) The picture on the left is the view of Durban from my private little porch and the pic on the right are their gardens. Lovely, lovely, lovely.