Travel, travel, travel

Hello. Emailing from the Sunnyside Park Hotel in Joburg. VERY interesting day.

First, Andy and I missed our flight from Gabarone to Joburg. My fault. Last night, we went to a fancy dinner with the Bishop. I glanced at our itinerary and told Andy that he could sleep in because our flight was at Noon. I got up this morning, had a leisurely coffee, and then got in the shower. When I emerged, Andy called to say, "Really bad news, dude. Our flight is at ten, not Noon." It was 9:30. Oops. So, we quickly packed and drove like the dickens to the airport. We had to switch flights, turn in the cars (one with a shattered window that required reams of paperwork), and give them our luggage. We made it on the flight with 20 seconds to spare.

We arrive in Joburg and called our friend and Pearson colleague, Bernita, to pick us up. Her husband Pierre had been waiting for Sandra and Gabriel to arrive since 8:30am. They were not on their flight. We worried over this for a spell, then decided to head to the hotel and hope that one of them would call or email explaining what had happened.

We arrived at the hotel (very nice, very colonial, and very safe) at about 1:00. I rang Jaime's room...nothing. No Sandra. No Gabriel. No Jaime. Andy was exhausted and went right to sleep. So, here I was at the hotel patio wondering if I would have help with the Oprah girls tomorrow, wondering if Sandra and Gabriel were stuck in London, and wondering if Jaime had been kidnapped in Joburg. (We've been told over and over that Joburg is a bit dangerous...).

Finally Jaime showed up. He'd been in his room reading my most recent favorite book, "The World Without Us." (If you have not read it, DO!!!). I was so relieved to see my friend. We got an email from Gabriel saying that he was on schedule and would see us in the morning. Our bad...we had his and Sandra's arrival for Sunday, when they actually arrive on Monday. Whew.

Jaime and I went to the Mandela Mall (the world's largest freakin' mall) with our driver Martin. We have a driver here all week, just to make sure us naive Yanks don't end up in any sketchy areas. We bought provisions and are now sitting on the patio discussing how we'll get great narratives out of the girls tomorrow.

So, a few travel "issues" today, but it all works out! (Oh, we had the WORST turbulence when were flying over Joburg today...a few screams...a few people throwing up...but fun none-the-less!). Jaime will be blogging tomorrow to tell you about his impressions of the first day with the girls. So, you'll have a rest from me for a bit. Look forward to blogs from Andy (I SWEAR), Jaime, Sandra, and Gabriel.

More tomorrow.

E