Early Adventures

After waiting 7 weeks for my visa, I was about to head to the airport when I found out I would have to wait a little longer. My flight from Manchester to Chicago had been delayed by an hour and a half, but I could still make my connection to Frankfurt.

At the airport a little later, my friend Jackie helped me awkwardly lug my 250lbs of luggage to the check in desk. "What's your destination?"

"I'm going to Windhoek, Namibia, through Chicago."

"Not tonight, you're not," replied the attendant.

My heart about dropped. The flight had been delayed even longer and now I wasn't going to make the connection. I was at a loss. Did this mean I would have to wait even longer to get to Namibia?

But God continued to provide. Due to my father's frequent flier status (he's the one who booked the flight), they put me in a taxi to Boston to catch a direct flight to Frankfurt later that night! No connection, no flying west to go east, and less time on airplanes!

My taxi driver was a friendly Egyptian man. Only about half of what he said was intelligible because of his thick accent. He immigrated here over 20 years ago and now has 5 grandkids who all have very American accents. We talked about how languages carry culture, how soccer is the universal language around the world that brings people together, and how 'Middle East' is a political term and Egypt is really part of Africa. As we parted ways I greeted him with the one Arabic phrase I know and then I was left alone on the sidewalk trying to figure out if I could drag all three of my own bags inside without paying $4 for a rolling cart (I quickly determined I could not).

All my luggage checked through to Windhoek and the rest of that night went according to plan. I got about 6 hours of inconsistent sleep on the plane, but enough to help me feel rested. In Frankfurt I found my way to the Business Lounge (thanks again to my dad's status) where I got a shower and some food and feel like a new man! My next flight doesn't board for another 4 hours so I'll enjoy the buffet line and free wifi for a little longer before heading off to Joburg tonight.