The Arrival

We are in AFRICA! While we may not be clever enough to correctly identify the ampersand (there it is - &) on the keyboard, we have successfully navigated ourselves half way across the globe. I think I just like the word ampersand, and am suffering from sleep deprivation.

As we flew in, we saw Cape Town's most famous landmark, Table Mountain. It's truly beautiful. (I promise, we'll take better pictures now that we've arrived.)
Our pessimism about our luggage was misplaced. It arrived, as did we, without a hitch. Even coach on South African Airways was fabulous, even for 10 hours. (My assessment of this wonderful airline was absolutely mistaken in my previous post). We had our personal entertainment system, where I watched a South African movie - Beat the Drum - that more than made up for the horrible movies we chose on United. It's the story of a little Zulu boy, Musa, whose family is killed by AIDS, and his journey as a street kid in Johannesburg (or, for everyone here, Jo-burg) where he works to earn money to buy a new cow for his grandmother. (Her former cow, and Musa's beloved pet, was sacrificed by the tribe elders to appease the ancestors to remove the plague - i.e., AIDS - from their village. I can't remember the cow's Zulu name, but it meant something like "cry to the point one has no more tears".) He also searches for his uncle to return home and take care of his family. It's a great movie, especially for the tender-hearted among us. Rent it.

The dinner they served was actually VERY good. A spicy chicken and rice, and boy was I hungry.

There was a minor glitch, namely a glass of fairly decent shiraz on the plane that has now cast its pinkish purplish shadow on my formerly "soapstone" colored pants. For those who know me well, this is no surprise at all. In any case, Stacey's pant-count is now down from 3 pairs to only 2 and that's before I even arrived. Who needs pants anyway? At least I very much amused my quite handsome and very amiable flight attendant.

Upon arrival, we caught a cab, and drove with our own Capetonian "Ricky Bobby" cab driver to the Hippo Boutique Hotel, where we now reside for three days. Thankfully, there's a computer with internet access - albeit slow - right here in our own room. Thus, we write.

Now, we're headed out to explore what appears to be an incredibly beautiful city. Not if I have anything to say about it. I am exhausted and I am going to take a nap so I'll see you later. ;)

I just woke up from my nap - I now know what jet lag really feels like. The mix of being sick and flying the past three days has made me really tired, but I feel great now. It's funny, Stacey and I have such different 'vacation' styles - she wants to do something every minute or she feels like she is missing out on something. I on the other hand know that I'm going to be in Africa for almost 7 weeks so I'm totally cool with using a couple days to just relax and unwind. I've been in "go, go, go" mode for a couple months now so I'm going to take it easy and enjoy myself (up until I work with the children and hike Mt. Kilimanjaro of course).

As Stacey mentioned, the flight over was pretty nice. Other than trying to avoid Stacey's wine spillages (if you've ever been around Stacey, you have to have an eye on her at all times because she is a disaster waiting to happen, and oftentimes you are part of the collateral damage), I got to see "The Illusionist"with Edward Norton - great movie with a great ending. We got to sit on the upper deck of what I think was a 747 - holy crap that is a huge plane. I am still amazed everytime I think that something that big gets off of the ground.

Here's what I've noticed so far about South Africa/Cape Town - the people are extremely hospitable, they all have great accents (although I can't wait to hear a language where they use that clicking sound), and there appears to be a plethora of amazing restaurants walking distance from our hotel, the Hippo Boutique Hotel (http://www.hippotique.co.za/) which has a plasma TV and computer in each room, something I don't expect to see in a couple days or so.

Oh, Stacey forgot to mention our luck with Customs - apparently in South Africa, you have to declare anything you bring (including personal effects) worth more than $3000 ZAR total - this comes out to about $400 U.S. For anything on top of that, you have to pay them some fee of 20% or so for everything exceeding that limit. You could imagine my concern when in my possession I had a $1,000+ Nikon D80, brand new 80-Gig video iPod, Stacey's new Blackberry Pearl, and about a gillion dollars worth of newly bought mountain wear for the Kilimanjaro climb. Anyways, I filled out the declaration card and went to the Items to Declare line and gave my card to one of the 4 guys working a booth with no other passengers in the entire area so I was getting ready for the full anal probe. As it turns out, he took our cards, said thank you and sent us on our way through the glass sliding doors leading to the outside world. I don't really know what happened, but I'll take it!

I am about to get ready for tonight's New Year's Eve festivities - we're going to a place called the Africa Cafe (http://www.africacafe.co.za/) for an all inclusive dinner with entertainment in the form of traditional African song and dance, it should be a blast. (Don't worry Jimmy, I'll stay away from the beef but I might go for the crocodile.) I'm hoping I can change my opinion of African food which I have always referred to as "poor man's indian food". Anyways, we'll write more again tomorrow but we wanted to wish all of you a very Happy New Year and have a great, safe time celebrating tonight!!!

P.S. Thanks for the lovely pic Ashlee, I should totally grow out two ponytails on the sides of my head, it'd be great to have a Last of the Mohicans look. Or maybe I'll just grow a mullet, that'd look really nice with my baldness up front.

By the way, Dan posted us to Digg, so check in there and digg us. You can link to it from his comment on our last post.

And, Janet, my friend from Chicago, sent some more photos from Krispy Kreme & Steak & Shake that you can check out in one of our previous posts below.

One Carry-on

We've made it to London. Do you miss us yet?

Sanjay's currently showering in the South African Airlines lounge at Heathrow. Membership has its privileges. Free shower, free - unbelieveably slow - internet.

A quick note for anyone travelling to the UK. One carry-on allowed. A single, non-bulging carry-on. No purse, no backpack, no laptop - nothing extraneous. The Brits take this very seriously. For those of you who haven't personally witnessed our struggle, both Sanjay and I worked intensely over the last 4 weeks or so to pack 2 bags - a backpack and a roll-aboard each. We thought we were doing well.

Apparently not. While we made it to Heathrow on United with all of our luggage on-board, as soon as we arrived, security informed us that it is "national law" in the UK that each passenger is allowed one and only one carry on. We, therefore, could not simply connect - we, instead, had to go through customs and then, painstakingly, repack everything - for about 2 hours. We made certain we had only one carry-on and that it contains all the essentials. The non-essentials we consolidated into our hiking duffels and prepared to check them in - and, likely, lose them forever.

Perhaps we're being overly pessimistic. But trust me, you would be too. We personally witnessed the Cyprus Airways signs being replaced by the (may-as-well-have-been-scribbled-in-crayon) South African Airways check-in signs. There were three lines (I mean "queues") of people who wanted to check-in that led nowhere. While we successfully navigated through all three lines to eventually secure a boarding pass (where, by the way, the lone agent pleasantly suggested that we repack our luggage again to bring our cheap duffel bags on board and leave our larger bags to check in), their "first-rate service" did not imbue us with a sense of confidence that whatever we checked would actually ever arrive in Africa.

We really have to figure out this luggage thing because I have no desire to spend several hours a day repacking our bags. I don't know what it is with women but they overpack for everything! Why would you possibly pack 3 different pairs of shoes (in addition to the hiking boots she's already wearing.)

In any case, our escapades here so far have ensured that we actually will not get to see London at all. That's not entirely true. Sanjay had a window seat, and he saw the Millenium ferris wheel. He took, for me, a horrible photo from my Blackberry. I think there's a ferris wheel there somewhere. In any case, from my seat I missed any view of London entirely.

I really can't complain, though. Our flight from Chicago to London was 100% painless. In fact, business class was pure bliss. Thank God for Funken frequent flyer miles. There was filet mignon and Sanjay (the beefless wonder - just kidding, Sanj, you're really a beefcake ;)) had some not-terrible pasta. We had caesar salad, focaccia, warm nuts, ice cream and a fruit and cheese plate. They spoiled us (and further added to our unwieldy luggage) by providing us with an amenity kit filled with goodies like H2O body butter and an eye mask. The eye mask was completely unecessary though. Nearly 100% reclined with a ton of legroom, both of us passed out within 20 minutes of laying down to watch our choice of 9 not-terribly-exciting bedtime-story movies. For Sanj, Miami Vice and for me, The Wicker Man.

What a shitty movie. I thought it would be full of good action sequences and hot women. I couldn't even understand what was going on, and on top of that, it had plenty of Colin Farell ass crack action. To tell you the truth, I don't know what's so appealing about him. He couldn't keep his fake American accent without breaking into his native Irish accent and come on, his ass doesn't have anything on mine. I mean, have you ever seen my ass - it is truly a thing of beauty. Anyways, if you want to go see a great Michael Mann movie, go see "Heat" or "Manhunter".

So now here we are in the South African Airways lounge - which, by the way, is far nicer than our check-in experience would have belied - and we're moving ever nearer to our destination. Are you as excited as I am?

PS: There is no ampersand on this crazy British keyboard. To log into my blog, I had to navigate to yahoo and copy one - I'll paste it here again so all that effort doesn't go to waste. @@@@@@@@@@@@

My travel partner isn't too bright - see look, the ampersand is right here @ on the keyboard.

PPS: The quotation marks are in the wrong place too - it's over the number 2. What can you expect though from a country where everyone drives on the wrong side of the roads? This directional confusion also extends to airport moving walkways in case you were curious.

PPPS: In an effort to make this blog more interactive, we're adding a new feature, the Question of the Day. I know it's very exciting - here's our first:

I've just been informed that I am coming up with the question of the day...so here it comes:

Question of the Day: What are you all doing for New Year's Eve? I would tell you what we're doing but you'll have to wait until tomorrow's episode to find out.

Song of the Day: Here Comes the Sun, The Beatles
As the sun came up over England, it cast a blinding glare through the windows of our Boeing 777. I could hear my niece Zoe's favorite band in my head (Yes, she is really that cool of a 7-year-old. Her favorite band is the Beatles.) The song and the bright sunshine (Isn't England supposed to be rainy?) struck me as a beautiful omen for the journey that lies ahead.

A Vicarious Life

Sanjay and I are now sitting in the Laptop Lane at the O'Hare airport preparing to board the first international leg of our trip - to London Heathrow. We just had our last American meal for a while - milk shakes and burgers from Steak and Shake, followed by a delicious dessert of Hot & Now donuts from Krispy Kreme. My tummy hurts. Isn't America great?

Our culinary expedition through suburban Chi-town was led by my best friend from high school, the somewhat notorious Janet Tarver, who was kind enough to meet us here - where she currently lives and works for Funken's favorite airline, United.

In spite of the unpleasant residual effects from our meal, I, for one, am psyched. My quart size ziploc bag has made it through 2 security checkpoints intact. Only about 52 more to go before I make it home. More importantly, the day is finally here. We are going to Africa.

I think Sanj is excited too, although I can't be too sure. He's a little sick. But I've told the little camper to buck up, and he seems more willing than able.

We just found out about our volunteer placements in Tanzania - Sanjay and I will both be working in small schools for young children in remote areas of Tanzania. I can't wait.

This is Sanjay typing now; from here on out, anytime you see orange text it's me speaking. So I've decided to usurp Stacey's blog instead of creating my own. And it's true, I think I got the bubonic plague right before we depart for Africa. Too many sick family members over the holidays but alas, I will survive. I did find out that I'll be working at a nursery for 3-6 year old kids - let the corruption of youth begin. What were they thinking? ;) Anyways, I am going to get another dose of Airborne now - I promise I'll be more entertaining the next time I blog.

I guess we'll sign off for today, but we'll probably catch up with you again in London.

And, because I can't sign off without some deep, meaningful comment - here's what I came up with yesterday while I was driving my car from errand to errand. Yesterday I determined that my journey, like most, is a prayer of sorts - a prayer that I might find God in the faces of strangers and then find my way back home to the often unrecognized divinity that I'm leaving (and I'm not just saying that Millie's a goddess, though that's true) . . .

Well, I tried - I suppose today isn't a deep and meaningful kind of a day. More of an adrenaline-filled sugar rush that has incapacitated my more introspective sensibilities. Maybe tomorrow.

By the way, in our absence, we are leaving it up to each of you to make absolutely certain that our blog is one of the most popular in the world upon our return. It's a big challenge, but we know you can handle it. That leaves each of you with three responsibilities:

1) Post comments liberally because, in truth, is Sanjay REALLY going to be that entertaining for 60+ days worth of entries? [Hey, I resent that.]

2) Post links to our blog from any and every blog and/or site you own.

3) Forward us to anyone you know who might need a vicarious life.

1:23am - Eyes Wide Open

Why am I up, you ask, at 1:23 in the morning?

That's right, putting my 10th grade Geometry Team skills to the test in a way even dear old Kleinschmidt (my math team coach - I know, nerd) never dreamed. It truly is amazing just how much fits in a quart sized ziploc bag. Certainly if said bag is stretched manually beforehand to ensure maximum capacity, and especially if a Mu Alpha Theta geometry geek (who, me?) is on the job.

Not too much more now to shove in my backpack - just a cocktail dress that's at the dry cleaners. I'm not certain exactly how that's going to work. I think I'm literally creating negative space - a black hole - in my shiny new Victorinox E-motion Trek Pack Plus.

I suppose many of you are wondering why I'm making the trip. To be honest, I'm not sure whether I'm running from something (my brother's death, an career that's less fulfilling than I'd like, my divorce & ex-husband, a family that sometimes feels a little too heavy, the literal physical weight I've lost) or, rather, running toward something (a new career, a new man, a new body, a renewed relationship with my loved ones) - who knows? For some reason, I think there's an answer in Africa, perhaps at the summit of Kilimanjaro. Or maybe I feel like I need to go so far away from all of this noise just to hear myself think.

Okay, so I'm waxing philosophic. It's late. I'm on my way far from home.

And I simply cannot wait.

The real reason I'm awake? I am like a kid on Christmas Eve waiting for Santa. I'm too excited to sleep.

From here on in, sleep is reserved exclusively for long flights in coach. The rest of the trip is eyes (ears, heart and mind) wide open.

I wonder what we'll see . . .

Subcutaneous Modesty

So, in truth, I've never blogged before. A blogging virgin.

Hopefully, you won't notice.

I'm in the midst of preparing myself, more mentally than physically, for a 2-month trip to Africa. I'd share the full itinerary, but it would take a really long time and, in truth, you wouldn't have a great incentive to check back in and find out where our adventures have taken us. In short, we'll be travelling from South Africa on to 6 other African countries, and then finally to the Maldives. We'll be on safari and on camels and on the beach. And in the middle, we'll be volunteering.

Oh, "us" is me and my best friend Sanjay. We own a consulting firm together - Funken Consulting.

For the worriwarts among you, fear not. I'm entirely prepared. I'm vaccinated against Yellow Fever, Typhoid and Hepatitis - I have malaria and altitude sickness drugs, and every over-the-counter pharmaceutical known in the western hemisphere. In my entire life (of 32 years) , I've probably taken 10 tylenol, but for some reason I believe I need to have my own personal pharmacy for this trip.

Right now, my biggest challenge is fitting 2 months worth of clothes and supplies for a Kiliminjaro hike into a 25-pound backpack, and fitting 2 months worth of cosmetics, insect repellant and sunscreen into a quart-size ziploc bag (can someone explain this stupid requirement to me?). That, and finding long skirts for my trip that showcase my normally subcutaneous modesty.

But worst of all is saying goodbye to my real best friend - Millicent the Magnificent. That truly sucks.