Airplanes and Airports and Langerry

I left Minnesota Tuesday at about 12:30pm. I was cruising through my check-in and security until the last moment when they decided to stop me and give me a full pat down, in front of my 20 classmates who were waiting for me. Talk about embarrassing. My flight went to Washington DC. Then a quick lunch at Potbelly's and hopped on a flight to Johannesburg. We stopped in Senegal to refuel but did not leave the plane. Then we continued that 17 hour flight to Jo-burg. What did I do for 17 hours you might ask? I watched Valentine's Day, Horton Hears a Who, and the Bang Bang Club, a South African film about 4 photographers who capture pictures of the conflict between tribes in South Africa. I read half of a book called Mockingjay. I attempted to sleep, but only managed a few hours. I ate the meals that we were given which included beef stew, raspberry and apple pancakes, and a broccoli pasta dish. All of which was better than what I was expecting. I also stared off into space for quite a while. In Jo-burg we went through customs and security and took off on our last flight to Port Elizabeth! That flight was quite a breeze compared to the 17 hour flight. In Port Elizabeth, we got to unload on the tarmac which made my day because I have never done that before! We landed on Wednesday at 9:20pm Port Elizabeth time. What a long two day flight. Our adviser picked us up at the airport and we managed to fit all of the kids and luggage into a short bus and mini trailer. The thing that we were most excited about was that the driver was driving us on the "wrong" side of the road. This may take a while to get used to. We arrived at our flats and found them rather small, but cozy. Also they did not have air conditioning. So in the few hours that I have attempted to sleep, the open windows are producing a steady stream of noise from the streets. Which brings me here. Almost 4:00am Port Elizabeth time and 8:00pm Minnesota time and I'm awake as can be. Hello jet lag. I have one more day to get the sleep schedule down before we are thrown into a 3-day orientation where I don't think "nap time" is listed in the schedule. Since it has not been daylight since I have been here, I have not taken any pictures yet. I'm sure I will go crazy taking pictures tomorrow (or in a few hours...) when we are finally able to explore a little bit and do some much-needed shopping for the essentials of our room.