Up bright and early to head back to JFK, and I must have been having a run of luck, because somehow I made it to the airport again without getting lost. Two run-of-the-mill taxi/bus/airport transfers in a row seemed like a pretty good omen. The international terminal was beautiful, my bag was apparently still under the weight limit, and I got ABP coffee before going through security. I couldn’t ask for much more.
Ran into Olivia before going through security, so we commiserated together about: a) stupidly getting coffee right before going through security, and b) the ridiculously long security line that materialized the instant we decided to get in it.
After finally making it through security, we found Laurel as well, and had a nice chat until boarding. I didn’t get in line until the very end, since all 1000 people on the flight got in line as soon as they announced that it was boarding. Pretty much the most intense security I’ve ever been through – they had a bomb dog sniffing everyone’s bags up and down the line as we went up the jetway, and oodles of TSA officials lined up to pull random people out for questioning…
… including me (because I’m so suspicious looking). Where are you going, how long are you staying, how much cash are you carrying – blah blah blah. Made a new friend in line, who was going on to Zambia after Johannesburg, and asked for my name to friend me on FB. She was from Toronto.
Not the first friend I made either! My seatmate was Blessed from Vermont, née à Zambia, and we chatted on and off throughout the flight. He is starting nursing school in the fall, and is pretty much one of the most interesting people I have ever met. Worked for USAID in Zambia. Got a grant to run an after-school program for Zambian youth for a year. Is currently a squash player/instructor and full-time student. His wife is doing her PhD in social justice, and interviewing for jobs in NYC. He wants to specialize in child development and go back to working for USAID in Zambia after working as a nurse in the states for four years. Awkward conversation point: why I was wearing a wedding ring, but am not actually married.
Sleep on the plane was not accomplished. I dozed for about 30 minutes around 4 pm our time (i.e. 12 hours to go), and possibly another 20 minutes around midnight our time (i.e. 5 hours to go). In the meantime, watched No Strings Attached (terrible), Love and Other Impossible Things (sad, but fairly good), finished Botswana Culture Smart Guide, read some articles for my placement, got over halfway through The Portrait of a Lady, did laps around the plane. Thought I was literally going to lose my mind at several points.
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