12/11/11
5:15pm- Pastor Zsombor arrives as we scramble to finish cleaning/packing. Observing our scramble he informs us that we now have plenty of time because there is no longer a train that leaves at 7 and instead we’ll be waiting ’til 11.
5:35- “Plenty of time” actually means still hurry because we are renting the van and the driver doesn’t want to wait. We finish loading up the van with our backpacks and multiple garbage bags full of clothes for Pastor Zsombor to later pass out in the villages and then head on our way to the train station, hitting a patch of loose gravel along the way and very nearly getting in a rollover accident.
6:00- We arrive at the Targu Mures train station and unload all the bags onto the sidewalk. We still have 5 hours to wait and it’s about 15 degrees outside so we can’t wait to hurry inside. After Kaitlyn and Pator Zsombor purchase our tickets we say our goodbyes to him and find a warm little corner of the station to set up camp. We eat dinner, watch a movie, play truth or dare and even string up a clothes line as we wait.
10:20- We realize that the train sitting out on the first track for the last 30 minutes is our train. We pick up all of our things and board our car. We’re excited to find separate compartments inside so we spread out looking forward to a good night of sleep.
10:40- The ticket taker man comes into our compartments asking for our tickets. We find out that not only are we in the wrong seats, we’re in the wrong car. So we pick up our things and tromp through three more cares to find our assigned seats, which were not in awesome compartments.
11:00- The train starts to move. So far the three seats next to me are still empty so I lay down and try to sleep, hoping that if anyone approaches they won’t want to disturb me.
11:40- Sleeping is extremely difficult due to the train starting and stopping every 10 minutes and that fact that the car has gone from hot hot hot to freezing. I reach up to my backpack and grab my sleep sheet out because I don’t want to unpack my sleeping bag. Although I’ve used my sleeping bag almost every month, it’s my first time to use the sheet so it’s an exciting moment.
12/12/11
12:15am- My backpack falls off the rack up above and wacks both Lauren and I in the head. Yay.
2:45 am- I’ve been sable to sleep a grand total for about 30 minutes so far. My teammates seem to be sleeping alright. I look outside my window to see snow on the ground outside.
6:00 am- The train car starts to fill up with people on their way to Bucharest for work. Soon two out of the three seats next to me are filled. I give up trying to sleep and just stare out the window instead. Counting, not one, not two, not three, but four nuclear power plants along the way. Yikes!
8:40- We pull into the Bucharest train station, unload and head toward McDonald’s, where we’re surprised to see three other teams. Apparently we’re the last team to arrive.
10:45- After caving and getting an Egg McMuffin and Milkshake, we leave to catch a bus to the airport, which proves to me more complicated and difficult than ever anticipated.
11:50- We finally arrive at the airport, Africa is starting to seem so real!
5:40pm- Our Qatar airlines flight takes off on leg one of our journey. Although our flight is a little less than 5 hours they’ve really hooked us up. We have in seat on demand entertainment, toiletry packs and great food. I finally got to watch the last Harry Potter movie and started another one I had been dieting to watch, The Help.
11:10- We land in the middle eastern country of Qatar. The airport is under construction, so the airplane parks and we have to take a shuttle to the terminal. After going through security at the transfers terminal we’re told we were actually supposed to stay on the bus to the arrivals terminal since Qatar Airlines had hooked us up with a hotel for the night. We go through customs and get our passports stamped by men in Saudi Arabian attire straight off of CNN. Thrilled with a new stamp in our passports and the fact that our big backpacks are checked through until South Africa we head through customs and board shuttle buses for our hotel.
12/13/11
12:30 am- With Middle Eastern Music blaring on the radio we rumble down the highway towards downtown Doha, neon lights shining on the horizon.
12:45 am- We pull up to our hotel and are immediately confused. It’s much nicer than we ever anticipated. A giant chandelier hangs in the lobby and although it’s late the lobby is buzzing with activity. While they sort our our rooms we are ushered into the dining room for a free buffet dinner. I load up my plates because everything looks so delicious, but in reality they fed us on the plane and I’m not very hungry. So I stare at the giant waterfall in the dining room instead. This place is unreal.
1:30 am- We’re finally given our room keys so Lauren and I head up to our room in order to A) Take a shower, and B) Sleep has hard as possible, considering our wake up call is at 3:30. The room is amazing, towels large and soft, bed heavenly, and we even have a ridiculous view of the Persian Gulf, which would have been even more ridiculous in daylight.
3:45 am- The wake up call comes far to soon and was extremely unwanted considered the lobby called twice and my alarm rang three times and I didn’t wake up once. Good thing Lauren was there to wake me up. I shoot out of bed, throw on my clothes and toss everything in my daypack. In less than 10 minutes we’re in the lobby with a boxed breakfast provided by the hotel ready to leave.
4:30 am- We arrive at the airport, seamlessly glide through customs (they didn’t even care about liquids), then sit down to enjoy some of what could we our last Wifi for three months.
7:00 am- The whole flight boarding process is delayed due to the inefficient shuttle system at the airport. I’ll never get used to climbing the stairs and boarding through the back door of the airplane. Bad news is I’m in the middle seat once again. Up until the last minute I sit hoping the window seat will stay open so I can spread out but then the last few passengers board and I’m out of luck. A 19 year old Zimbabwean girl takes the seat. Cool story about her though is that she’s lived in Australia with her family for the last 6 years and this was going to be her first visit back to Zimbabwe in 4 years. She was super excited. So I hunkered down, got another toiletry pack (yay, free stuff!) and finished The Help.
4:10 – We arrive in Johannesburg, South Africa! I can’t help but sing “Waka Waka, it’s time for Afica!” It’s a surreal moment I’ve been waiting for since I signed up for the race. We make it through customs and then hunker down with teams Living Liberation and I-61 as we wait to figure out how we will be getting to our ministry site in Plettenberg Bay. It’s a perfect time to get some South Africa money out of the ATM and eat some KFC.
7:00 – Trains and buses are all full until at least Friday (this is Tuesday), so we pile into vans and head to a hostel for the night hoping something will come through so we can make it to our ministry site as soon as possible.
7:30 – We arrive at the hostel, which is absolutely amazing and has a ridiculous view of downtown Johannesburg. After putting our stuff down Ben, Molly and I head to the pool and promptly jump in. It was extremely chilly, but a moment I’d been looking forward to for months! We spend the rest of the night playing card games and figuring out a food plan for our unexpected days in Joburg.
12/14/11
10:30 am- Looks like we’ll be able to get a bus out today! A group of us head to the grocery store to pick up some food for lunch and dinner.
1:30-2:30 pm- We leave in shifts in a van to the bus station. I’m in the second shift so I sit by the pool and read while we wait for the van to come back. An hour later it comes to pick us up.
2:55- We arrive at the bus station. Apparently our bus leaves at 3:20 so we pull a home alone and rush through the giant station in search of our squadmates.
3:10- Squadmates found, we head outside into the bay to wait for the bus.
5:00- Our departure time came and went and the bus still hasn’t arrived. Our stomachs start to growl so my team decides to go ahead and make our peanut butter and honey sandwiches for dinner.
5:53 – A man comes out and announces over a blow horn that our bus has been delayed, still no idea as to win it will arrive.
7:12- The bus finally arrives. There’s only us plus a few South Africans on board so we all spread out and leave Johannesburg to an incredible sunset.
12/15/11
12:45 am- The bus has quieted down. My attempts at falling asleep aren’t going so well so I decide to look at the stars instead and try to find the Southern Cross constellation my Dad keeps asking about. I don’t find it since I have no idea what it looks like but I do see 4 shooting stars and it makes me super happy.
9:17am- Our bus stops every two hours on a bathroom break since there’s no bathroom on board. After falling asleep off and on for hours I wake up surrounded by the prettiest red rock mountains, and I know I’m going to like South Africa.
10:46- After driving endlessly through savannah and mountains we get our first glimpse of the ocean.
1:14 pm- We arrive in Knysna, our drop off point and call Mandy, our contact so that they can come to get us.
2:14 – Mandy and our taxi van arrive and we our finally off to our ministry site for the month, a cute little “farm” where monkeys wake us up every morning an Elephant Park is only a short walk away and the town is home to one of the prettiest beaches in South Africa, not to mention some of the coolest kids… but more on that later ; )
