The First Minutes

PEOPLE!! I'm here!!

I made it in at about 5 here, when the sun was setting (beauuuuuuuuuutiful!). I'm a little slap-happy right now because I'm so exhausted,. but trying to stay awake 'til later. My very first shower? Heaven. HEaven heaven heaven. Oh my lord. HEaven. HEAAAAVEN!!! The plane was not fun, as it rarely is. It went pretty smoothly with the minor exceptions of a complaining stomaach (that i'm told could be heard three rows away -- i had NO IDEA what to do to make it shut up. I could literally watch it go in & out.) and the semi-violent security in Senegal. It was actually pretty cool though because when we got delayed, all the passengers bonded. Now I have friends in Lebanon. WHUT.

Okay, so I'm a little crazed right now. In my defense, the keyboard is not set up the same way. And it took me thirty hours to get here. Janet picked me up from the airport & I got to drive around the intensely beautiful city (pictures to come). Their house is AMAZING & they're letting me stay here before I move into an apartment in inner-city Cape Town. I owe these people oodles. And oodles. And banoodles. Greg & I share the same birthday (though a few years apart) and we went to dinner with their kids at the Cavendish (I think) shopping mall. I had some mushroomy pasta that was amazing. It was fun driving, too. Opposite sides of the car! Drunken soccer fans! Robbie Williams!

I am seriously about to go pass out from exhaustion. So that's what I'm on my way to do. When I have slept and wake up in (x) hours, I'll try and post some semblance of consciousness. If you know what I mean.
WAIT! I have to clean first. My shampoo bottle exploded in my luggage. It's okay though, because now all my supplies for five months smell like citrus breeze.

zzzp


UPDATE:
Wow. I really was tired. And now I'm awake! Janet gave me some miracle drug called Melatonin, which readjusts your body clock. I slept aaaaall night long, which if you've traveled time zones before, you know is such a miracle I'm a bit suspicious. This house is seriously gorgeous -- and Table Mountain, the huge mountain that directs all of Cape Town, is beauuutiful.
We're about to go out to breakfast, and then I'm going to move into my apartment. I'm not sure how often I'll have internet from there, but give me a few days to get settled in and I'll see how often I can find it.

Ahh! This is right.
Oh, and tip #1: do NOT think 'That's what she said' when someone tells you that Nelson Mandela is "the glue that holds us all together".


P.S. I retract my previous statement. There is NO benefit from having your shampoo explode in your luggage. And it didn't even explode. The cap came off and it emptied. I can't even find the cap. I'm thinking some security guard had a lot of fun.