Kinan, Garrett, Brittany and I met up at Dulles and flew to JFK where Katie and Anna joined us for the 15 hour flight to Johannesburg. Surprisingly, the trip was not as difficult as I had expected because I was so exhausted. The planes had a touch screen movie system so I watched 17 Again (Zach Effron..woowoo) and Garden Sate (So Good!) I read a little bit of my book, 'The Time Traveler's Wife' (thanks Rachel for the recommendation), and played tangrams with Garrett. I drank some wine with dinner(woo 21!) and pretty much slept the rest of the way. Not bad at all.
We arrived in Johannesburg and had to recheck our baggage for the PE flight, on which I had a very nice conversation with a man who lobbies for labor union support around the world. Katie and I, who were on the early JoBurg to PE connection, got our bags and were picked up by Ashley and Nuela and taken to our new home for the next month!
Ashley Matthews has been living and working in Port Elizabeth for three months. She and several other people from Virginia Tech are completing a marketing research project at IMBEWU about the importance and lack of health education in township children. She completed her masters in Marketing Research with professor Brinberg, who organized the trip. Nulea is the international students coordinator from NMMU and is so friendly and helpful. She is British South African and has a very kind personality.
We went back to the Langerry Apartments where we have 2 bedrooms, a full kitchen and a bathroom between 3 people. There are three apartments between the nine of us here. I am living with Katie and Brittany in a second floor apartment with a balcony an a view of the beach. We each got a set of five different keys to ensure the safety of ourselves and our stuff, and there is a full time security guard and reception to make sure we make it home in one piece:-)
Katie and I hopped in Ashley's car and drove around Port Elizabeth. She took us to the township and demonstrated how nobody pays attention to traffic laws as she blew through several stop signs. She had to learn how to drive manual transmission and on the left side of the road in order to get around the city so it was definitely an interesting experience to be riding shotgun on the opposite side of the car. We made it safely back to the apartments and the rest of the VT students had arrived from Johannesburg without half of their luggage. We found out the Swiss students were late to arrive in JoBurg and would have to spend the night. We hung out for awhile before deciding to settle in to our rooms, shower up and hit the town for my birthday dinner!!!
Primi is a fun little restaurant two blocks down the road with a selection of standard foods (American, Italian, Steak) and some great cocktails. I ordered a Funghi Negri Pasta dish (Spaghetti with Black Mushrooms), garlic flatbread and a Frozen Margarita to start. By the end of dinner the group had ordered me a BJ shooter, a Mojito, a 'Black Label' Beer, and a B-52 shooter. I was feeling pretty happy for my 21st birthday—especially after the jet lag and long plane ride—when our waiter asked if I would like to do a 'Flaming Kitchen Shooter'. Of course I couldn't turn it down.
He took my hand and pulled me into the kitchen. The staff dressed me in a plastic apron and hairnet, brushed flour on my face, handed me a mop, scrub brush and a pan and took me back out to the main restaurant. Needless to say, I had no idea what I had gotten myslef into. They helped onto a chair and sang chants to me through construction cones before lighting a martini glass on fire and burning the blue liquid inside. They handed me a straw and just as I was almost finished with the drink they poured five shots into the glass and continued chanting. Now that is a twenty-first birthday!
My friends made sure to be extra careful as we walked home and put me to bed with some exciting plans for the next day!
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