Saturday, May 23, 2009

NY to South AFrica! -2 or 16 hours on a plane

Forgot to add in that we took pictures of each other and awakened some of the passengers with a flash-- Well, they probably weren't sleeping well anyway! -- 5 minutes

I think we look pretty good after 8 hours.


May 21, 2009 – Thursday
With the time change and being in darkness for 16 hours. I really don’t know what time it is or what day it is but we are finally on our last leg of the journey from Johannesburg to Entebbe, Uganda.
Again, A nice strong man help put our carryons in the overhead bin. God sends muscles when you need them.
What a TERRIBLY long flight that was!!!!!!!!!!! NEVER again will I book that flight unless my destination IS South Africa and I am forced to. I thought the 12 hour flight straight to China was long. This was worse! The flight itself was great. But no human should have to tolerate a seat for that long. What made it worse I think was the fact that they turned off all the lights 20 minutes into the flight and asked everyone to close their shades so that people could see their screens in front of them. So even though there was sunshine for about 8 hours outside of our plane, we did not see it.
So….. what do you do for 16 hours?
First, you check out the screens and see all what is offered and check out the movies and read the previews and decide which ones you want to watch.
– 30 min.
2. Then you watch 2 episodes of CSI Miami – 1 1/2 hours

3. You try to take a nap because you got no sleep last night, you give up-15 minutes
4. You talk with the person beside of you and ask them why they are going to Africa and vice versa , They respond to your reason with a very loud and pronounced exclaimation so the whole plane can hear,” Oh, ARE you one of those FAB---UUU- LOOO--US people we hear about.? And you just for the fun of it, just want to say, “Why yes, I AM one of those Fabulous People you hear about all the time”, just to see their reaction because that would burst the saintly auora surrounding me. hehehe – 15 minutes
5. you check the status of your flight on your screen and get depressed because you still have 14 hours left to fly and you know behind those shades is daylight!
6. You dig out your ipod and listen to music for a while- 45 minutes.
7. You switch postitions because your bumb is numb
8. You pull out the wonderful not released yet book “SCARED, A Novel on the Edge of the World by Tom Davis and read 6 chapters. (How did I get a copy? Well, I am one of those Fabulous people who have connections in high places. – LOL – Thanks Tom! So far book is awesome!) Comes out June 1- go to http://amazon.com to order. Or Tom’s website – http://ScaredtheBook.com or http://www.CthomasDavis.com --- 1 hour
9. Switch seats with Maggie because man in front me has lain prostrate and I can’t even pull out my tray and movie screen is broken and so hangs 4 inches from my face. –5 minutes
10. Pull out travel paint set and try to set up to paint in the dark with only my reading light, Maggie lets me use her tray to hold my paint so my tray can hold the painting. Paint terribly for a while and give up as it is hard to paint in the dark. –1 hour
11. Get up and go the bathroom for a change of pace and stay there for a while because there is more space in the area and your bumb likes the different sitting- 20 minutes.
12. Repeat #’s 5, 6, 3, 8 and 10 but not neccesarily in that order.
13. Get up and walk to the back of the plane to get water. Repeat twice. 15 minutes
14. Notice that your neighbor is taking medicine. Offer to go get them water. – 5 minutes
15. You try to watch a “Chefs around the world” Show but you get bored and watch another CSI. –45 minutes
16. You stand up in your seat on your knees facing the back of the plane and scan the crowd to see what they are doing and envy the ones who have more than one seat to stretch out on. –20 minutes
17. You talk to Maggie and you both eat some sausage and crackers carried in your backpack. Then have a tootsiepop for dessert. –20 minutes
18. you wonder if it is dark outside – 2 seconds
19. You eat the meal they bring you. – 30 minutes.
21. You want to read but you have a splitting headache and you dig out the Tylenol and go get some more water – 20 minutes
22.You try to sleep again and put your ipod on and blinder over your eyes and dream of a soft bed – not! Because 2 year old behind you is wide awake and is very happy to talk.
23. you realize that for some time now your feet and legs have been hurting and you prop them up under your reading light to find that they are swollen double!
Scared you are going to get a blood clot. You find the exercises they recommended on your screen and you stand in the middle of the aisle vigorously doing them, not caring who notices!
24. You repeat several things above. – 1 –2 hours
25. you check the status of the flight and see there are ONLY 2 hours left. You figure if you watch a movie that is close to two hours in length you will be there before you know it!
FINALLY! Captain announces we are about to land and shades come up and daylight shines through! Hallelujah!!!!
Everyone stampedes out of the plane!





2 comments:

"Are These Kids All Yours?" said...

So hilarious!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Love it, and it is sooo true. Hey, in November we are taking all 7 children to England- 9 hour flight! Our trip to & from Ethiopia- LOOONNNGGG as well. It is worth it- when you get to see your children!!!! Love your entries...praying for a wonderful experience for you!!!!

Laurel said...

Love this post ... since I just did it also.

We flew ... Ghana to Nigeria (1 hour w/ 1 hour layover) ... Nigeria to Frankfurt (7 hours) ... (5 hour layover in middle of night, with 3 new children) ... Frankfurt to Seattle (11 hours) ... yes, 25 hours of travel with 3 hours beforehand at Ghana airport, and 2 hours afterwards at Seattle airport (for immigration of children). So, 30 hours between arriving at airport in Accra, and leaving airport in Seattle. Too long for this mama.

Blessings to you on the rest of your trip.

mama of 13

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