Day 1: Part III: I should have driven.

On the Plane.

“I have no idea what time it is. What I do know is that we took off when the sun was setting, and in what appeared to be no time at all, it was dark. It’s still dark. I have no clue what amount of time has lapsed between takeoff and now. I can’t tell if that makes me uneasy or better off.

“Maybe the miles bring the reality, but I’m still not sure. I’m on top of the Atlantic Ocean, traveling toward daylight – traveling around the globe to the other side. THE OTHER SIDE – THE EASTERN HEMISPHERE! I always knew I belonged here – my heart is the heart of an Easterner.

“I want to sleep, but the crammed discomfort of being between two adults makes that difficult. I’m sure only a maximum of five hours have passed. It may be close to midnight. The turbulence is bumpy right now, and I secretly wish it would intensify a bit more – only because I’m bored and I think chaos is a funny alternative (at least in retrospection).

~

“35,000 feet above the Atlantic. Four hours and 26 minutes to go at 580 miles per hour. 6:32 a.m. at home, 12:32 p.m. in South Africa. We’ve traveled over 6,000 miles.

“I am understanding the dread of jet lag. Hours have passed too quickly too slowly, so that I feel it should be dark outside. I’ve been awake and only uncomfortably asleep for 24 hours now.”

“I’m waiting for the collapse into my new bed. But that’s not going to happen for awhile. Like maybe another 8 hours – or more, really.

“We will arrive around 5 p.m., but it’s going to take another day and night to get everyone and their bag out of this massive plane. Then we’ll have to go through customs after we search for our bags. And THEN we’ll have to find our shuttle, drive another 45 minutes to Pretoria, fill out all our paperwork and whatnot, and get our room assignment.

“That, in Africa, could, I’m sure, take entirely longer than necessary.”

“My neighbor is the only person on the entire plane with her window up and open. That’s because she’s maybe the only person who slept serenely with a blanket over her head, for HOURS. No one else wants to confront daylight yet – INCLUDING ME. NO ONE ELSE WANTS IT. I am suddenly overwhelmingly PISSED OFF at her and her lack of…majority rules mentality.”

I spent my 15 hours plane ride watching Disney movies, writing periodically, and staring miserably at the inside of my eyelids, listening to sleepy music. But I was awake almost the entire time. When I was absolutely positive that we only had about four hours left, I was punched in the face with the reality of eight. Good God.