After months of planning, and over 24 hours of travel time, I finally arrived in Johannesburg last night! :)
The airplane rides were pretty heinous- it was a LONG time to sit- but I made it through! One really amazing thing did happen on the flight from Paris to Johannesburg... we flew directly next to a huge lightning storm for about 30 minutes. It was so surreal. It felt like we could just reach out and touch the clouds... and the lightning was going off constantly. There were a couple of times where I thought it was going to hit the airplane, but it never did. I really cannot describe the enormity of this storm... it must have been at least 100 miles radius. It was just amazing to see the clouds lit from within, and to see the forks of lightning shooting across them. There was even lighting forks that shot up from the top of the clouds... it was so cool!
I haven't seen a whole lot of the city yet, mostly just my hotel and the surrounding shops, so I don't have a whole lot to write about. I'm sure there will be more interesting things to report in the upcoming days. I have just been trying to soak it all in.
I was really surprised by how nice the airport is (at least the wing of the airport that we landed in). Everything looked like it was brand new, and meticulously cared for... the floors were polished marble and there was fresh paint on all the walls... I don't know exactly what I was expecting, but I definitely wasn't expecting the airport to be so nice.
Also, I'm definitely still used to being in the minority as far as race goes. There are a lot of Europeans in the hotel that I'm staying at, but outside the hotel, I have been pretty much the only white person- at least the only white person without a car! That's something that I'm sure I'll get used to pretty quickly, but for now it's a bit of an adjustment.
Well, that's about it for now! Sorry for not posting any pictures... I'll try to get some on the next post! :)
4 comments:
Hey Jen!!!
So glad to hear you arrived safely...lightning storm at all. Oh yeah- I almost forgot- Gunther is really proud of you and wishes you his best. He wrote a song for you about his teeny weeny safari bikini. I'll play it for you when you come back. :)
Have so much fun and keep blogging.
LOVE GINA
Hi Jen,
Good to hear everything went smoothly on your way down there. The lightening storm you described sounds pretty cool. I was able to see the northern lights one time on a flight and it was incredible. It's interesting reading about your perspective on Johannesburg because I have a friend who grew up there, and some of what you said matches what he has described.
Keep the comments coming and take care.
John
Gina!
I'm so glad that Gunther is proud... I'm excited to hear his song when I get back. I'm sure it will be GENIOUS... like the rest of his amazing, life changing songs. :)
Hey dad!
The lightning storm was amazing... since then we have had a ton more lightning storms. THey're all HUGE- as in they spread out for literally hundreds of miles. It's crazy... definitely different from anything else I have ever seen.
I'd love to hear what your friend has to say about Johannesburg!
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