We have made it to Johannesburg!
Our adventure so far...On Thursday morning, the alarm went off at 4:30 and we got ready to head to the airport. Our trip on the city bus was flawless, and we were able to get great seats together on our 7:30 flight to Atlanta (huge thanks to Ken!) We arrived in Atlanta and had eight hours before our flight, so decided to take the day and explore the city of Atlanta a bit. We hopped on a MARTA train, took in the sight of Olympic Centennial Park, and decided to splurge on a trip to the Georgia Aquarium, a big location on Ryan's bucket list as he's always wanted to see a whale shark. (spoiler alert: we saw four!) After a few hours exploring the aquarium, we headed back out into the southern sunshine and walked all around the center of Atlanta, grabbed lunch on a patio, and took the train back. It felt like a bonus day - getting to see a fun American city en route around the world!
We got great seats on our flight to Johannesburg and after a brief lavatory malfunction were on our way...and 15 1/2 hrs later we arrived in Joburg! On the flight we talked, read, watched movies, and even managed to sleep! I got to watch an interesting TED talk called "Lessons from Mandela" to get me in the mindset of what we would be heading into when we arrived. The speaker talked a lot about "ubuntu" - the African idea that we define our personhood through our relationships with other people. I am interested to see what this has looked like throughout South Africa's history and how it plays out today in post-apartheid South Africa - one of many ideas to be thinking about and lessons to be exploring during our time here!
We had a bit of an adventure finding our bed and breakfast tonight. After asking the women at the car rental agency for some general directions, we found ourselves somewhat lost on the Johannesburg freeways in the dark of night, with only a few scribbled down nonsense sounding names to guide us! Fortunately, we found ourselves a McDonalds (lattes and free wifi!) and discovered we were closer than we thought - just a few miles from where we had intended to end up! What luck! And my very brave husband managed to flawlessly keep to the left from his right hand driver seat as well! Upon arriving at our destination, everything was dark. It was only 8:30 pm, yet there was no light anywhere. I figured everyone must go to bed very early in Joburg? Either that our we'd accidentally booked lodging at a no longer functioning B&B. Lucky for us, neither was the case. Everything was in the dark because of a power outage! So, we were greeted warmly and shown our room, where we found ourselves hot showers, lovely lodging, and eventually the lights returned! We are comfortable, happy, and incredibly excited for the journey ahead of us during the next couple of weeks!
So...now we'll try to get some rest before embarking on the adventures that await. We'll be spending the next couple of days here in Joburg and have plans to see the Apartheid Museum and the township of Soweto, as well as connect with a fellow Bethel Alum who lives in SA and is active in education and advocacy here in Johannesburg. On Monday we'll get back on a plane and find our way to Cape Town.
We are so thrilled to be here and can't wait to share more about our learnings and adventures in the days to come!
~emily~
Our adventure so far...On Thursday morning, the alarm went off at 4:30 and we got ready to head to the airport. Our trip on the city bus was flawless, and we were able to get great seats together on our 7:30 flight to Atlanta (huge thanks to Ken!) We arrived in Atlanta and had eight hours before our flight, so decided to take the day and explore the city of Atlanta a bit. We hopped on a MARTA train, took in the sight of Olympic Centennial Park, and decided to splurge on a trip to the Georgia Aquarium, a big location on Ryan's bucket list as he's always wanted to see a whale shark. (spoiler alert: we saw four!) After a few hours exploring the aquarium, we headed back out into the southern sunshine and walked all around the center of Atlanta, grabbed lunch on a patio, and took the train back. It felt like a bonus day - getting to see a fun American city en route around the world!
We got great seats on our flight to Johannesburg and after a brief lavatory malfunction were on our way...and 15 1/2 hrs later we arrived in Joburg! On the flight we talked, read, watched movies, and even managed to sleep! I got to watch an interesting TED talk called "Lessons from Mandela" to get me in the mindset of what we would be heading into when we arrived. The speaker talked a lot about "ubuntu" - the African idea that we define our personhood through our relationships with other people. I am interested to see what this has looked like throughout South Africa's history and how it plays out today in post-apartheid South Africa - one of many ideas to be thinking about and lessons to be exploring during our time here!
We had a bit of an adventure finding our bed and breakfast tonight. After asking the women at the car rental agency for some general directions, we found ourselves somewhat lost on the Johannesburg freeways in the dark of night, with only a few scribbled down nonsense sounding names to guide us! Fortunately, we found ourselves a McDonalds (lattes and free wifi!) and discovered we were closer than we thought - just a few miles from where we had intended to end up! What luck! And my very brave husband managed to flawlessly keep to the left from his right hand driver seat as well! Upon arriving at our destination, everything was dark. It was only 8:30 pm, yet there was no light anywhere. I figured everyone must go to bed very early in Joburg? Either that our we'd accidentally booked lodging at a no longer functioning B&B. Lucky for us, neither was the case. Everything was in the dark because of a power outage! So, we were greeted warmly and shown our room, where we found ourselves hot showers, lovely lodging, and eventually the lights returned! We are comfortable, happy, and incredibly excited for the journey ahead of us during the next couple of weeks!
So...now we'll try to get some rest before embarking on the adventures that await. We'll be spending the next couple of days here in Joburg and have plans to see the Apartheid Museum and the township of Soweto, as well as connect with a fellow Bethel Alum who lives in SA and is active in education and advocacy here in Johannesburg. On Monday we'll get back on a plane and find our way to Cape Town.
We are so thrilled to be here and can't wait to share more about our learnings and adventures in the days to come!
~emily~
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