Inside 24 hours

It's hard to imagine that in 24 hours we will be somewhere in the air between San Francisco and London, the first stop on our journey. We leave SFO around 7pm and arrive in London Thursday afternoon at 1:35 pm. Our flight to Cape Town leaves London at 9pm. To pass the time in London, we have taken a room at the Sheraton Heathrow at the Day Rate. This will allow us to shower, freshen up, and rest at the hotel. Our luggage will be checked through from SFO to Cape Town, so anything we need for the hotel will be in carry ons.

Our flight to Cape Town will take around 12 hours and if we are on schedule, we arrive in Cape Town at 10:10 am on the19th. We will spend the 19th at a B & B and on to the home base on the 20th. One of the other volunteers will be at the same B & B with us so we will get the chance to meet her and share transportation to the home base on Saturday.

We have both finished our suitcaase packing and have only carry on items to put into our backpacks. My rule of thumb is if it does not fit and is not absolutely essential, it's not going. My expeience with travel is that even though I think I am economizing as far as packing goes, I usually take more than I use. I'm pretty sure that my packing job for our trip back home in July will be somewhat less organized. Rule of thumb: everything gets washed.

Since we both have our placements, our trip seems more real. I have done some research on my placement and am already wondering how effective I will be working with mothers and children who are HIV+. I am not afraid. I just need to be open minded and remember that I will need to live life on life's terms while in South Africa. Big day tomorrow, so I bid you all goodnight.
Art